Gig of the week: Fionn Regan
May 6th/7th/13th/14th, Pepper Canister Church, Dublin, 8pm, €23, ticketmaster.ie
He’s been nominated for a Grammy and a Mercury Music Prize, appeared at Glastonbury, guested on Conan O’Brien, was photographed by Annie Liebowitz for Vanity Fair, made a video with Cillian Murphy, was sampled by Bon Iver and had his songs played on Normal People and Grey’s Anatomy. Yet the Bray singer-songwriter still feels deliciously outside the mainstream, a treasure still to be discovered. Here’s a chance to catch this fantastic artist doing what he does best: performing his intricate songs and literary lyrics in an intimate setting over four nights, and demonstrating just why his music routinely garners four- and five-star raves from The Guardian, Observer, Sunday Times, Uncut and NME.
An evening with Colm Mac Con Iomaire and guests
May 5th, Kilmuckridge Memorial Hall, Co Wexford, 7.30pm, €10/€12, bealtaine.ie
The musician, composer, arranger and co-founder of The Frames and Kila has been a linchpin of the irish indie, folk and trad scene for the past 20 years, bringing together music of all hues in a swirl of innovative sound. As part of Bealtaine Festival, the Dubliner now based in Wexford plays a special, intimate concert at Kilmuckridge Memorial Hall, where he’ll perform songs from his three acclaimed solo albums, with plenty of other surprises and delights in store, I’m sure. Brotherly Irish duo Basciville will provide solid support. On May 28th, Mac Con Iomaire rejoins his bandmates for The Frames’ 30th anniversary show at Royal Hospital Kilmainham, postponed from 2020 and renamed The Frames: 32.
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Our Little World
May 6th-20th, Mud Island Community Garden, North Strand, Dublin 10.30am and 12 noon, €5 (school)/€10 (family), ticketsolve.ie
It’s one of the best-kept secrets in Dublin’s northeast inner city – an oasis of nature and nurture developed by local volunteers on a derelict council site. Now it is about to become a virtual wonderland via Our Little World, an immersive theatre experience for kids aged 7+, written by Owen Roe and Michelle Forbes, directed by Louise Lowe and produced by Exit Pursued by a Bear Productions. In the show, kids will find themselves in a magical place where they’ll meet Ziggy, Florian and MakeMake, and join them on all sorts of amazing adventures. There are two shows per day, with schools performances on May 10th-13th and May 17th-20th, and family performances on May 7th,8th,14th and 15th.
The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child
May 7th, National Concert Hall, Dublin, 12.30pm, 3pm and 5pm €19 (child)/€25 (adult)/ €82 (family), nch.ie
“He has terrible tusks and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws.” Every child knows and loves the Gruffalo, and here’s a chance to meet him once again, not in the deep dark wood, but in the National Concert Hall, with these special screenings of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, with the National Symphony Orchestra performing the score by René Aubry live. The books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler have become children’s classics, and the award-winning animated films feature the voices of Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coletrane, James Corden, John Hurt and Rob Brydon.
Spiritualized
May 7th, 3Olympia, Dublin, 7pm, from €29.90, ticketmaster.ie
While the rest of us were driven demented by the lockdowns of the last two years, Jason Pierce aka J Spaceman was in his element. “I felt like I’d been in training for this my whole life,” he says. The frontman of space-rockers Spiritualized is an old hand at creating odes to isolation and alienation, and their 1997 album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space perfectly captures that sense of being cast adrift in your own head. Pierce savoured the empty streets and quietude during lockdown, and used the headspace to work on the band’s latest album, Everything Was Beautiful. Catch this lonely planet boy from the 1990s before he floats off again.
Dermot Lambert (Blink)
May 8th, The Wild Duck, Dublin, 4pm, €12, thewildduck.ie
The Alternative Sunday Social Club is back up and running, and they’ve got a special treat in store on Sunday, when the leader of Irish indie faves Blink returns to the venue, on a mission to blow away the ennui of the past two years of pandemic onstage inactivity. Those lucky enough to catch his gig here in February 2020, just before the live world shut down, will remember the magic as Lambert played Blink classics and fresh tunes, with help from his “very clever band”, a full choir and his young daughter on piano. Lambert promises to pick things up from where he left off two years ago, in other words keep making it up as he goes along. The whole thing will be filmed as part of documentary on the making of the classic album A Map of the Universe by Blink, so make sure not to pick your nose.
Ashley Campbell
May 8th, Debarras, Clonakilty, Co Cork, 7.30pm, €18, debarra.ie
Having a famous parent can be a curse, especially if said parent’s immense talent has decided to skip a generation, but for Ashley Campbell, being the daughter of country music legend Glen Campbell is confirmation that she didn’t just lick it off a stone. A supremely talented singer and accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Ashley cut her teeth on tour with her dad, playing banjo and keyboards, before kickstarting her own solo career in Nashville. Her first single, Remembering, was a poignant, personal reflection on looking after her dad when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s (he died in 2017). This promises to be an intimate evening with a future country legend.
Love Song Part 1
May 8th, Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 8pm, €10/€15/€20, bealtaine.ie
Subtitled Communities of Dissent – Silver Stars and Beyond, this curated song cycle by Dublin musician Seán Millar, part of the Bealtaine Festival, draws from his decades of engaging with communities going through profound change. Formerly known as Dr Millar, the singer-songwriter has never been afraid to use his musical talents to challenge and confront, and for this show, he’ll be joined by a choir of performers and guest singers, along with some of his many musical friends, including Miriam Ingram, Neil Watkins, Martin McCann, Gillian O’Connor, Ray Corcoran, Pom Boyd and Tommy Coombes.
