The Guide: The events to see, the shows to book and the ones to catch before they end

Event of the week

First Fortnight

Friday, January 6th, to Sunday, January 15th; various venues/times/ticket prices; Belfast/Donegal/Dublin/Wexford; firstfortnight.ie

So called in order to associate the start of each new year with an understanding of mental health, the charity First Fortnight provides, among many other important things, free mental healthcare to the cultural sector. Its 2023 festival continues its diverse offerings, including Notifications Off (Cube at Project Arts Centre), which sees visual artists Helen Delany and Brenda Aherne weave into their tapestry contributions from the likes of Aisling Bea, Róisín Murphy, Gavin Friday and Laura Whitmore; and Therapy Sessions, hosted by spoken word artist Stephen James Smith in Dublin (Workman’s Club) and Wexford (Arts Centre).

New Year’s Eve

Saturday, December 31st; North Wall Quay, Dublin; 4pm-midnight; €14.90; ticketmaster.ie

Returning after three years, New Year’s Festival Dublin presents Ireland’s biggest new year celebration with a Festival Village that, from 4pm-7pm, will feature music (including The Blizzards, Tolü Makay, Katie Phelan), DJs (Dara Quilty, Emma Power), various stripes of entertainment and a wealth of foodie treats. From 8pm music will be provided by Galway singer-songwriter Brad Heidi, Cork singer Lyra, Dublin singer-songwriter Gavin James (who is well used to playing big events such as these, having previously headlined it) and the ubiquitous Westlife, who will count down the old and ring in the new.

New Year’s Day

Sunday, January 1st; Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin; 1pm-6pm; free

Ah, the day after the night before – and how will your head be, we wonder? Whatever the state of mind, fresh air and music might help, so wrap up and head out to hear tunes from the likes of Cormac Begley, Clare Sands, Liam Ó Maonlaí and Lorraine Nash, as well as street performances and the brass neck (among other things) of the Pride of Plains Marching Band.

Gigs

NewDad

Saturday, December 31st; Róisín Dubh, Galway; 8pm; €26; roisindubh.net

Celebrating five years as a band in 2023, NewDad have, perhaps, arrived at a place within the music industry much sooner than they might have thought. Their batch of singles (including Swimming, Cry, I Don’t Recognise You and Blue) released in 2020 brought them more than 2 million streams on Spotify as well as catching the attention of the prestigious Steve Lamacq show on BBC Radio 6 Music. That digital station has continued to support NewDad as they leapt from month to month with EP Waves in 2021 (“swaggering”, noted Far Out magazine) and Banshee in 2022 (“a promise of intimacy”, according to The Line of Best Fit). In other words? Go, go, go.

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Sprints & Thumper

Saturday, December 31st; Whelan’s, Dublin; 9pm; €25 (sold out); whelanslive.com

We can think of nothing better than to spend New Year’s Eve in the company of two of the finest guitar bands in the country. We have mentioned Thumper more than several times in these pages and, without wishing to appear like a paid-up member of their fan club (er, hold on, we are!), they can’t come recommended highly enough. Co-headliners Sprints, meanwhile, perform guitar-thrusting tunes emboldened by the sprechgesang delivery of Drones, How Does the Story Go?, Kissing Practice, Delia Smith, Manifesto and more.

Whelan’s Ones to Watch 2023

Thursday, January 5th, to Sunday, January 8th; Whelan’s, Dublin; 7.30pm; €20 (weekend ticket) or €7 (separate nights); whelanslive.com

There are few times during the year when new and emerging Irish music acts get a chance to perform and make people aware of what they have and what may or may not make them different – or good. Esteemed Dublin venue Whelan’s gets its spoke in first with this annual gathering of fresh acts and raw recruits. Running across four evenings, expect a blend of invigorating, interesting, intriguing and all points in between, from acts you will be hearing from even more next year and acts you will more than likely never hear of again. Acts include Still Blue, Last Apollo, Gurriers, Katie Phelan, Spearside and Of All Living Things.

Comedy

Katie Boyle

Tuesday, January 3rd; Workman’s Club (Vintage Room), Dublin; 8pm; €19; theworkmansclub.com

We have heard the story before (a New York City-based Irish comedian who performs almost every day in numerous comedy clubs as well as running a weekly comedy show at Queens-based arts theatre, QED) but not the jokes. Inevitably, Boyle hosts a podcast (The Shift, on which she and her guests discuss, and crack up over, relationships and sexual intimacy from an Irish perspective). Back in Ireland with her I’ll Do It Myself stand-up show, Boyle is joined by US comedian Leland Long. We have never seen Boyle in a live setting but her various YouTube clips are good. Definitely worth a punt, we say.

Exhibition

Stephen McKenna: The Sixties

Until January 14th; Kerlin Gallery, Dublin; free; kerlingallery.com

Anglo-Irish artist Stephen McKenna (1939-2017) studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1986. These rarely seen works by McKenna (painted in his 20s while living in London during the titular decade) are influenced by that era’s free-form avant-garde, pop cultural experimentation and the reverberating heritage of surrealism. The artist’s works, the exhibition notes say, move from “abstraction to figuration with ease” and “adopt a vivid multi-chromatic palette and a dreamlike elasticity”.

Still running

Beauty and the Beast – The Musical

Until Sunday, January 8th; Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin; 2.30pm/7.30pm; €26; bordgaisenergytheatre.ie

There isn’t too long before school starts again and with frequent matinee showings of this completely new production of the Olivier Award-winning stage musical, now might be the time. Note: children under the age of three will not be admitted.

Book it this week

RTÉ Concert Orchestra: Radiohead, A Jazz Symphony at NCH, Dublin; February 8th; nch.ie

Nathan Carter at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin; April 14th; ticketmaster.ie

Aitch at Fairview Park, Dublin; June 25th; ticketmaster.ie

Damien Dempsey at Iveagh Gardens, Dublin; July 7th/8th; ticketmaster.ie