Pick of the week
Longitude Festival
Marlay Park, Dublin, July 15th-18th
longitude.ie
You get the feeling that Longitude is a festival with a sense of humour. Behold the sylvan setting, with the Dublin mountains as a backdrop, with little wooden bridges over ponds and trees to take shade or shelter under, depending on what time of the day it is. But sweet suffering Paul on the road to Damascus, you sure have to work hard to get there.
Despite the fact that the festival has been running since 2013, transport to and from Marlay Park remains a complicated business. Yes, Dublin Bus goes there, but on evidence of previous years, don’t expect a massive increase in services. You’ve got five lines to choose from: the 16, 116, 161, 14 and 15. All will be packed. Many will sail gaily past you like merry little sardine cans on wheels.
A better option are the coaches run by Marathon Tours from George’s Quay. These sell out so buy tickets in advance online. They are also cheaper this way: it’s a tenner in advance or €15 on the day. Services run at noon, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00 and 18:00. See bushiredublin.net for more details, which we are disappointed to note has nothing to do with angry shrubbery.
Stage times are well out at this point and if you are a fan of both Róisín Murphy and The National, you have a tough decision to make come Sunday night. Further down the bill, there are plenty of highlights.
Action Bronson delivered an absolute stormer of a set at Primavera in June, making him unmissable for that 6.45pm slot on Friday.
Indie folk artists Daughter have gotten plenty of people hot under their crocheted collars. You'll need to ditch the office early to make their set at 5pm on Friday.
On Saturday, we're a bit bemused that Stormzy is mid-bill at 5.15pm though he is main stage like a boss.
Just before Stormzy is MØ. We've seen her a few times and never left disappointed. She's got electric presence and the energy of 10 Duracell bunnies on the lash on Red Bull.
If you haven't heard of Christine and the Queens at this point, you're clearly not a fan of the internet and may want to check out a TV show called Game of Thrones.
Also on the bill is Shura – her album was our favourite from last week's bunch. Here's a little bit of what you can expect.
Friday
Tina May/Phil Ware
JJ Smyths, Dublin 9pm €15
jjsmyths.com
UK vocalist Tina May began her career in Paris when she satin with legendary be-bop drummer Kenny Clarke. Since then, she has worked with star pianists such as Nikki Iles and Enrico Pieranunzi. She flies into Dublin this week to add Dublin keyboard master Phil Ware to the list, with in-demand bassist Damian Evans and experienced UK drummer Steve Brown.
Optimo
Electric Garden Galway 10pm €10/€8/€5
electricgalway.com
As always, Galway is en fête during July with arts and races. Optimo's visit should guarantee good times. As they've shown with clubs, record releases, remixes and parties, JD Twitch and Johnny Wilkes are firm believers in the power of eclecticism and cross-genre magic. Since their long-running weekly club in Glasgow came to a close, the pair have spread the Optimo word on everything from post-punk to house worldwide. Support from Bap to the Future's Lolz.
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Big Top, Galway 7pm €49.50
giaf.ie
Now into his 60s, Elvis Costello thankfully shows no signs of slowing down. By this stage in his career, the prolific song- writer has such a broad range of material to choose from that even his most knowledgeable fans really don't know what to expect. Support is from The Undertones, who, like Costello, are still around, still throwing shapes. Funny old world, eh? As part of Galway International Arts Festival.
Tunes in the Church
Dublin Unitarian Church, St Stephen's Green 8pm €15
tunesinthechurch.com
flute and harp player Oisín Morrison heads off another strapping programme of concerts under the Tunesinthechurch.com umbrella. With concerts every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in July and August, and every Friday, Monday and Tuesday in S. Nicholas' Collegiate Church in Galway, this series takes the pulse of the tradition in earnest. Intimate music for listening punters.
Riza
[ cuislecd.comOpens in new window ]
Niwel Tsumbu continues to draw together excellent players and create something fresh and musically interesting with his Riza project, which features Eamonn Cagney, Emma Garnett, Sallay Garnett and Paddy Groenland. It’s part of the Dingle Global Rhythm Festival.
Saturday
Lil' Louis
Opium Rooms, Dublin 11pm €15/€12
opium.ie
Marvin Burns was there at the start of the game. As Lil' Louis, Burns produced a track called French Kiss in 1989 which set his name up in lights. Before then, Burns had learned the ropes as a DJ around Chicago at clubs such as River's Edge before going on to make his own tracks such as How I Feel for Dance Mania. Post-French Kiss, there were albums such as Journey With the Lonely and From the Mind of Lil' Louis as well as a host of remixes and collaborations. Truly one of those who was standing tall at the start and is still in the picture today.
Kristian Narin
Tivoli Dublin 9pm €20
kristiannarin.com
Game of Thrones fans will know Kristian Nairn as Hodor, the simple-minded giant from the TV show, but Nairn has another life and that's as a progressive house DJ, musician and producer. A longtime resident at Belfast's Kremlin club, Nairn has also been a member of Daddy's Little Princess and AJ Suzuki. He's joined for tonight's rave- up by Richie Raine.
Tw!tch
The Bunatee, Belfast 10pm £10
twitchbelfast.com
Dutch producer Martyn Deykers has been a long-time favourite at Tw!tch. His adventurous, innovative approach to electronic music is evidenced by the span of his three albums to date. He has covered a lot of ground between his Great Lengths debut, 2011's Ghost People and 2014's The Air Between Words – the latter featuring some lovely collaborations with Four Tete and Inga Copeland. No matter how he slices it, Deykers is always capable of producing sleek, playful, haunting work.
Mick Hanly
Pier Head Hotel, Mullaghmore 10pm €16.43
eventbrite.ie
Hot on the heels of the release of his latest album, Homeland, Mick Hanly takes to the road in the company of Donal Lunny. Celebrating life in all its ragged glory, Hanly's strength lies in telling stories that capture life's minutiae while still managing to touch universal truths.
Sunday
West Cork Literary Festival
Bantry, Co Cork Until July 23
westcorkmusic.ie
Few people need an excuse to head to Bantry in Cork, but at least with the West Cork Literary Festival you can put on a few cultural airs and graces to go with it. Kicking things off today is Carol Drinkwater at 3pm in Bantry House, followed by the official opening reception at 6pm and novelist David Mitchell in the Maritime Hotel at 9.45pm. There is an excellent spine of workshops and practical-minded sessions at the core of the festival, so if you've been planning to get that idea out of your head and on to a page, this is the perfect place to start.
Pieter Hugo: Thirteen Works
Gallery of Photography, Temple Bar, Dublin Until Aug 21
galleryofphotography.ie
The starting point for Pieter Hugo's formalised, strange, sometimes contentious, portrait-based photographic works (left) is his problematic view of himself as a white South African. He has been drawn to many individual and groups who are anomalous and do not seem to fit in, in ways from the subtle to the startling.
