Some recent gig announcements from the Irish live circuit.
Hardware & Plain Sailing take over Mandela Hall, Belfast this Saturday October 10th for Hardware’s only event of 2026. The Irish improvised electronic live project – built around founders Brawni and Chaz Moloney performing collectively in real time with modular synthesisers, drum machines and samplers in a 360-degree setup, audience surrounding the artists – has developed through large-scale events at The Complex, Belltable, Tengu and Fuinneamh. This Belfast edition adds Barker and Kessler to the live lineup, with all four performing together as a single improvised set for four hours. A programme of visual work from Nightstaff and Reuben Brown runs alongside, presented in association with Catalyst Arts. Doors 8pm. Tickets via RA.
Lambert plays Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire on Tuesday October 13th – his only Irish date in a European tour. The Hamburg-born, Berlin-based pianist and composer has spent over a decade releasing meticulously crafted music under his masked persona, earning a Mercury KX deal and a reputation for live shows that treat the piano as both classical instrument and electronic processing device. Tickets via paviliontheatre.ie.
Circles 2026 launches on Friday October 16th and runs through to Monday October 26th, spread across the Bernard Shaw, Frame, Tengu, Pawn Shop, Fidelity and Wigwam. Subject’s annual series of electronic music events has grown into one of the most significant and carefully curated things happening in Irish club culture, and this year’s edition is the strongest lineup yet. Moodymann’s first Irish club show in almost ten years (October 16th, Bernard Shaw – sold out). Mark Broom and Dylan Fogarty in a first-time back to back at Frame (October 17th). IMOGEN playing all night long at Tengu (October 23rd) in celebration of five years of her Wigs party and imprint. Subject x Syncopated Records at Pawn Shop (October 23rd – free admission). BRIDGE at Fidelity (October 24th – sold out). Egyptian Lover bringing the Los Angeles electro-funk live show to the Bernard Shaw (October 24th, 3rd release on sale now). Leftfield DJ set at Centre Point (October 24th, 2nd release). The Tresor 35th Anniversary (T35) at Wigwam on October 25th with Regis, Fireground live, Daniel Bell aka DBX, and a deep local supporting cast. Four Four Podcast closing on October 26th (venue TBA). Tickets and full details at linktr.ee/subjectevents.
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Asher White plays the Grand Social on Monday October 27th for her debut Irish date. The Rhode Island-born, New York-based artist released her debut album Love Aggregates on Joyful Noise in August – an eclectic and ambitious record moving across freak-folk, art-funk and orchestral pop that landed her on Rolling Stone’s Future 25 list and earned strong notices from Pitchfork, NPR and Stereogum, who flagged her as an “Alex G-level prolific talent.” The Dublin show is the start of a UK and Ireland run taking in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol and a London Pitchfork Music Festival date. Tickets.
SIGNS turns Halloween into a three-stage extravaganza at The Sugar Club on Friday October 30th, 8pm to late. Headlined by Jack Tiraquon aka Space Dimension Controller – the Belfast producer whose science fiction concept albums and peak-time DJ sets make him one of the most fully realised artists in Irish electronic music – with Monsieur Pompier’s Travelling Freakshow and A Clatter & Drone also on the bill. A 2-for-1 ticket promo is running now. Tickets via Eventbrite.
Ahmed, With Love plays Arthur’s Blues & Jazz Club on Thursday November 5th, presented by Sleepover Club billed as Ahmed, With Jazz. Ahmed is debuting his project Ahmed with Love in a live band format for the very first time – a significant step for one of the more interesting Irish artists of the past few years. Pippa Molony is on support, also with a live band for the first time, followed by an open mic.
Tickets via sleepover.club. The poster is classy.
Going Coastal Weekender returns for its fourth edition in Galway City from November 6th-8th. The 2026 Weekender features live music, DJs, pop-up performances, a Music & Art Market and more across Róisín Dubh, The Blue Note, Massimo, Bierhaus, Áras na nGael and spaces throughout the Westend.Artists playing include I Dreamed I Dream, Anemoia, Sulk Hogan, Bulbs, hhH, Roo Elizabeth, Jimmy Penguin and more. Full lineup and tickets range from free to €15 for each venue at goingcoastal.ie.
Mark Ernestus plays Fidelity Studio on Friday November 20th. The Berlin producer, co-founder of the Basic Channel and Chain Reaction labels and founder of the Ndagga Rhythm Force project, is one of the genuine architects of minimal dub techno – a figure whose work spans three decades of influential releases. A rare Dublin appearance. Tickets via Eventbrite.
Young Hearts Run Free have sent word that Yule 19 – the 19th annual YHRF Christmas show on Saturday December 19th – is down to the last 60 tickets. If you’ve been meaning to get them, this is the moment. Proceeds go to the Simon Community. Tickets via Eventbrite and still no lineup as yet.
Ar Scáth a Chéile — Ceol, Teanga & Cultúr is a new winter festival taking place in Dungloe, Co. Donegal on January 29th-31st 2027, organised by the team behind Arcade – the creative space that repurposed a derelict shopping arcade in the heart of the Gaeltacht town, now home to 15 resident artists working across screenprinting, ceramics, photography and fine art. The festival celebrates the Irish language through music, culture and community, with a deeper intention to spotlight indigenous languages and their influence on music worldwide.
The first edition focuses on Irish language and culture, with plans to expand internationally as it grows. First wave artists include Trá Pháidín, whose work brings Irish language song into contact with avant jazz and krautrock; Rún, the immersive soundscape project of Tara Baoth Mooney; Natalia Beylis; Ramper; Soniphorm; Fohn; Chéilí Beag Band; School Tour; Joe Armstrong; Barrelling; and Donal Dineen’s Back Story. Mohammad Syfkhan – the Kurdish/Syrian singer and bouzouki player based in Ireland whose debut album I Am Kurdish on Sligo label Nyahh Records turned heads – is also on the bill, bringing the ecstatic energy of his Middle Eastern-influenced sets to what the festival director describes as “Irish Trad, Jazz, Psych, Ambient, Cumbia, and a Kurdish Dance party.” The Sesiún Mór on Sunday afternoon will bring many of the festival’s musicians together with local talent and will be free and open to the public, with ticketholders getting priority. Earlybird passes are on sale now; general release tickets from Friday. arscathacheile.com.
KEO return to Dublin for a headline show at 3Olympia Theatre on Tuesday March 16th 2027 – a step up from their sold-out Academy main room show earlier this year. MyMCD presale opens Thursday at 10am; general on sale Friday at 10am via Ticketmaster.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
