Unmute Turns Three in Hanoi With a Three-Day Anniversary Across Two Stages This November

The floor at Unmute doesn't just shake. The whole room, soundsystem included, rides on hundreds of industrial springs suspended inside a bigger room, so the vibration moves through the space rather than staying underfoot. On November 5, the Hanoi club turns three.

The Room That Floats

Unmute opened three years ago inside a 24-hour fruit and vegetable market in Hanoi, a 300-capacity, multi-level space split into Cuốn Club Room on the fourth floor and Tan Bar on the two floors above. Cuốn Club Room runs on a custom 4-way soundsystem built with Mark Own Audio, aimed at hosting "new sound textures that are versatile, genre-free, and dancefloor-focused." Lam Dao founded the club with Jiro Endo as architecture curator. Unmute was soft-launched in August and swiftly filled its programming calendar through the rest of that year.

Three Days, Two Stages

The anniversary runs three days across two stages, from November 5 to 7. The line-up mixes artists from Vietnam and the wider region: AVR, Con.R, Emmytee, Erik Luebs (live), Hibiya Line, Isabella Mavleeva, Kekexili, Kiki Raikkonen, Komga, Lam Dao, Nam Phung, park:ING, PH00000NG, Taofu, Tiny Giant, Underthinking, Viet Anh, YELLOWUHURU, Yasmin and YKK. Lighting comes from Japan's Jiro Endo, known for curating the visual experience at Wonderfruit's The Quarry. Park L., the club's music and creative manager, says the ambition goes beyond shared bills: "The goal isn't just for Vietnamese artists to share a line-up with international names but to build a platform where our artists can stand on their own and gain international recognition."

The celebration doesn't stop after the weekend. Programming keeps running through November with more guests already booked, including Pangea, Piezo, Carrier and Animistic Beliefs, with further names still to come.

Three Years In

Co-founder Lam Dao says the scene around the club has changed since it opened: "I think the scene has become more diverse, and people are more open to different sounds and experiences." Music and creative manager Park L. credits the shift to the booking side: "What excites me most is seeing new talent emerge and discovering sounds I wouldn't have expected to hear in Hanoi three years ago." Open decks, free entry and special theme nights let the team test new artists and ideas before they make the regular programme.

Founder Hoàng Khôi still corrects people on the physics: "many people still think only the floor vibrates, not exactly true: the whole room you are in, with the soundsystem, is sustained by hundreds of industrial springs within a bigger room." Three years on, in a scene that keeps losing rooms, Unmute is still standing on its springs. Khôi points to the pressure behind that scarcity: "Hanoi is undergoing a 100-year development plan. The city is changing every day and it is hard for us to find a better place than where Unmute currently is."

If You Go

Unmute's third anniversary runs November 5 to 7 at the club's address in Hanoi, with extra anniversary dates continuing through the rest of the month.

Cover photo and figures: courtesy of Unmute, via Mixmag Asia.