Some recent gig announcements over the St. Patrick’s weekend period. Global music tour announcements don’t care for our national holiday unforch. Videos below.
One of the more intriguing Irish bands right now Theatre – Limerick four-piece Dara, Oscar, Sonny and Sean, fronted by Maeve – play their debut headline Irish show at Whelan’s Upstairs on Thursday May 21st.
No recorded music to speak of yet, but they’ve already sold out Third Man’s Basement in London and supported Gurriers across Europe. With support from Burglar. Tickets €17.45 plus fees, on sale Friday March 20th via singularartists.ie.
A demo is on Breaking Tunes if you want to hear something.
Cardinals have announced their biggest headline show to date at The Button Factory, Dublin on Friday November 20th – off the back of debut album Masquerade. The Kinsale five-piece have been doing things properly: supporting Fontaines D.C. at Finsbury Park, their own US headline run, NewDad’s UK/Irish tour and recently played the Savoy in Cork – reviewed here by Mia Tobin Power. Tickets €22 plus fees, on sale Friday March 20th via singularartists.ie.
Young Marco plays Yamamori Tengu on Friday April 10th, presented by Love Frequency, with Suckerfish in support. He’s one of the best DJs going IMO. Tickets from €15.80 plus fees via ra.co.
TikTok psych-pop artist Chezile plays The Workman’s Club on Tuesday June 30th. Alejandro Sanchez’s 2023 single ‘Beanie’ blew up to 1.6 million monthly listeners almost overnight – at a point when he was still living out of his car in LA. Hazy, reverberated indie-folk with a sentimental edge. Tickets on sale Friday March 20th at 10am via singularartists.ie and ticketmaster.ie.
Optimo play Hang Dai on Saturday April 5th. Jonnie Wilkes – one half of the legendary Glasgow institution – brings the same spirit of gleeful genre chaos that made Optimo one of the most beloved nights in the world and he has continued to fly the flag after the passing of his long time partner JD Twitch last year. Tickets via ra.co.
Louisville hardcore band Knocked Loose play their first ever Irish headline show at The Academy, Dublin on Tuesday June 23rd. Their third album You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To is 27 minutes of savagely aggressive hardcore with a few surprising textures thrown in – one of the most talked-about heavy records of recent years. Tickets €41.70 plus fees via Ticketmaster.ie.
London six-piece Man/Woman/Chainsaw – recently signed to Fiction Records (The Cure, St. Vincent, The Horrors) and working with Geordie Greep producer Seth Evans – play Whelan’s, Dublin on Sunday September 20th and Ulster Sports Club, Belfast on Saturday September 19th – they played here at Borderline last month. Debut album to follow later this year. Tickets on sale now via manwomanchainsaw.com.
Indie/lo-fi folk artist Hudson Freeman plays The Workman’s Club on Thursday September 12th – his debut Irish show. His album is a folk artist is the kind of slow-burning record that rewards patience, drawing comparisons to Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver while carving out something of his own. Tickets on sale Friday March 20th at 10am via Ticketmaster.ie.
Korn return to Ireland for their first Dublin show in over a decade – 3Arena on Monday November 2nd, with special guests Architects and Youth Code. 40 million albums sold, two Grammys, and a genuine claim to having pioneered a genre with their 1994 self-titled debut. Tickets €85.75 to €98.75 plus fees, on sale now via Ticketmaster.ie.
Placebo are marking 30 years of their self-titled debut with Placebo RE:CREATED – a reworking of the record built back from the original master tapes, due June 19th via AWAL. The 30th Anniversary Tour, playing songs from Placebo and Without You I’m Nothing, hits the 3Arena, Dublin on Wednesday December 2nd. Tickets from €59.50 plus fees, on sale Friday March 27th at 9am via Ticketmaster.ie.
‘Pure Morning’ is such a banger – i’ve been playing it recently.
Midland makes his Fidelity debut on Friday April 24th for an all-night-long set. Left-field house, techno, rare disco – one of the more reliably excellent DJs working right now. Tickets via eventbrite.ie.
Cian O’Ciobhán Disco Dana makes the jump to a new venue in Fidelity Studio on Saturday April 25th. Tickets via eventbrite.ie.
Arlo Parks returns to Dublin for a headline show at the Ambassador Theatre on Saturday October 17th. Her third album Ambiguous Desire – out April 3rd via Transgressive – is her most club-influenced record yet, referencing Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage, The Streets and Burial, and featuring a collaboration with Sampha. Tickets €38.50 plus fees from Ticketmaster.ie, on sale now.
I really dig the new single ‘Get Go’.
Soul Juice Jam Sessions return after a two-year pause. Neo-jazz, soul, hip-hop and whatever else shows up on the night, back at the Sugar Club on Easter Sunday April 5th. Everything fully improvised. Special guest Darah Abdurahman performs and leads the jam, with D12 Inc. on the decks. Qbanaa hosts. Tickets €12.50 plus fees at thesugarclub.com.
Cairde Sligo Arts Festival runs July 4th-11th in Sligo, with the first acts announced. The early highlights: Noura Mint Seymali (WOMEX Artist Award winner), whose Mauritanian griot tradition meets electrified desert rock is a singular thing; Junk Ensemble’s dance work STORM 1.0 at Hawk’s Well Theatre; and The Breath – RTÉ Folk Singer of the Year 2025 Ríoghnach Connolly with Cinematic Orchestra guitarist Stuart McCallum – performing in St. John’s Cathedral. Tickets and full info at cairdefestival.com.
Aldous Harding plays Vicar Street, Dublin on Friday June 5th, with new album Train On The Island out May 8th on 4AD. Produced with long-time collaborator John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning) at Rockfield Studios, the 10-track record features pedal steel, harp, Sebastian Rochford on drums and H. Hawkline on bass. First single ‘One Stop’ is out now. Tickets on sale, support from Vera Ellen. More at aldousharding.com.
Jon Spencer plays Lost Lane, Dublin on Wednesday June 3rd, presented by Foggy Notions. Spencer teams up with Kendall Wind and Macky Spider Bowman – the rhythm section from Woodstock punk band The Bobby Lees – for what promises to be another high-energy exercise in saving rock’n’roll music. His last album Spencer Gets It Lit was Marc Riley’s BBC 6 Music Album of the Year. Tickets €33 plus fees via foggynotions.ie.
Finally, Firehouse Skank is at Bohemians/Dalymount on Saturday March 28th with a live dub set from Mr. Upfull with Aminah on mic duties. Door tax €10, all profits to the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.
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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.
