GIG OF THE WEEK
Awakening the Walled City
Friday,October 29th, to Sunday, October 31st; 5-10pm; Derry; derryhalloween.com
Derry people pride themselves on their Halloween celebrations, and this year the walled city comes alive with all sorts of spooktacular happenings to bedazzle, bewitch and bebother your senses. The Samhain sorcerers – aka Derry City and Strabane District Council – have opened not one, not two, but five netherworlds filled with ancient spirits, digital wonders and dark, nightmarish visions. Three of these illuminated worlds will be spread across Derry city, with one in nearby Strabane and another in Buncrana, Co Donegal. Each world will feature its own programmes, including installations, large-scale inflatables, aerial acrobatics, choreographed displays and cutting-edge live music. A highlight could be Ireland's first digital LED installation, a 360-degree yoke involving film, animation and augmented reality. The whole shebang will be conducted in a Covid-safe way, with lots of open spaces and signage and one-way systems in place.
Spleodar Halloween Arts Festival
Friday, October 29th, to Sunday, October 31st; Nenagh Arts Centre, Nenagh, Co Tipperary; spleodar.ie
Halloween is back with a bang – and a scream – with lots of events planned for families who want to get into the spirit of the night. Spleodar promises plenty of scares and spooky excitement during the midterm break, both live and online, including a radio play of Edgar Allan Poe's Tell Tale Heart (Monday, October 25th, Tipp FM, 6pm); a Ghost Stories Trail starting at Nenagh Arts Centre and stopping off at some scary places (Friday, October 29th, Nenagh Arts Centre, 5pm, free); a virtual Music Generation Workshop where three- to six-year-olds can make music using everyday household items (Friday, October 29th, 4pm, online, free); Dracuvan, in which a certain vampire starts his own mobile blood-donor clinic (Friday, October 29th, 6pm, online, free) and a sensory-friendly screening of Roald Dahl's The Witches, starring Anne Hathaway.
Féile Classical
Thursday, October 28th; 6.30pm; 3Arena, Dublin; €34.90; ticketmaster.ie
In 2018 some of Ireland's most popular bands of the 1990s reconvened at Semple Stadium, in Thurles, to relive the heady days of Féile, when Ireland's youth made the Trip to Tipp for a weekend of carousing, drinking, snogging and moshing. The fans have since grown up, and the bands have grown older, but everyone was in fine fettle for this nostalgia trip back in time. Now Féile Classical is back, and this time it's moved indoors to the 3Arena, but the spirit of Tipp will be alive and well in the line-up of acts, which includes An Emotional Fish, The Frank and Walters, Hot House Flowers and The Four of Us. The broadcaster Tom Dunne will again curate and host the event – and get up and sing with his band Something Happens. The 42-piece Irish Chamber Orchestra will bring the icing on the cake to such perennial Irish rock anthems as Celebrate, After All, Don't Go, Mary and Parachute. And Irish Women in Harmony, featuring Tolu Makay, Aimee, Erica Cody, Faye O'Rourke, Eve Belle and Ailbhe Reddy, will perform 1980s and 1990s classics such as Mandinka, Linger and When Love Comes to Town. Of course you still remember all the words.
Sligo Live: The Coronas
Saturday, October 30th; Knocknarea Arena, IT Sligo, 8pm; €42.50 plus fees; sligolive.ie
The Coronas were a bit put out when Covid-19 hit – they weren't too keen on sharing their name with the virus that's upturned everyone's lives. Most bands dream of going viral, but not like that. The Dublin three-piece decided to carry on regardless, releasing their latest album, True Love Waits, in the teeth of the pandemic and going straight to number one. Now they're embarking on a tour that rocks up at Knocknarea Arena on Saturday as part of Sligo Live. Support is from the singer Danny O'Reilly's similarly talented sis, Róisín O.
Sligo Live: Mick Flannery & Susan O'Neill
Thursday, October 28th, and Friday, October 29th; 7pm; €30 plus fees; Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo; 7pm; €30; sligolive.ie
Here's a delicious collaboration: when the Cork singer-songwriter Mick Flannery and the King Kong Kompany alumnus Susan O'Neill get together in front of a mic, the magic is almost instantaneous, as you can hear on their acclaimed tune Baby Talk. Flannery's self-titled debut album was shortlisted for a Choice prize for album of the year, while O'Neill, who also works under the acronym Son, has toured with Sharon Shannon. The duo have released a fine collaborative album, In the Game, and are playing two shows at the Hawk's Well, as part of Sligo Live, that promise to be both intimate and inspiring.
