Gig of the Week: Planet Earth II Live in Concert
March 22nd, 3Arena, Dublin 7pm, €46.20-€68.70
You've seen the BBC television series; you've marvelled at the incredible cinematography and the even more incredible sprightliness of its nonagenarian host David Attenborough. Now comes the orchestral extravaganza, with breathtaking footage from the TV series in 4K ultra-high definition on a giant LED screen, and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Matthew Freeman performing the music from the series composed by Hans Zimmer, Jacob Shea and Jasha Klebe. The show is hosted by TV presenter Liz Bonnin, but don't forget the other big stars of the show – the fascinating animals onscreen. The show has been postponed twice due to coronavirus restrictions, but all tickets purchased are valid for this rescheduled show.
Sorcha Richardson
March 23rd, Cyprus Avenue Cork, 7pm, €15, cyprusavenue.ie; March 24th, Dolan's, Limerick, 8pm, €15, dolans.ie; March 25th, Roisin Dubh, Galway 8pm, €12.50/€10, roisindubh.net
Many of us first clocked singer-songwriter Sorcha Richardson when she opened for James Vincent McMorrow in the Iveagh Gardens in June 2021, at Ireland's first official concert since the Covid-19 pandemic shut down all live performances. Fans were grateful to see someone playing live for the first time in over a year, and Richardson didn't disappoint, calmly delivering such fine songs as Ruin Your Night, Petrol Station and Can't We Pretend, and staking her claim as a contemporary of Sharon Van Etten and Phoebe Bridgers. Richarson will be touring throughout 2022, with dates in Dublin's Olympia Theatre and slots at Electric Picnic and All Together Now.
Sam Fender
March 24th, 3Arena, 7pm, from €45.05
Following the massive success of his second album Seventeen Going Under – and celebrating the title track hitting the UK singles top three, a rare feat for an indie song – the Geordie Bruce Springsteen straps his guitar on his back and sets off on a major arena tour of the UK, with a quick detour to Dublin for this headliner in the 3Arena. Fender has been doing a neat line in big, rootsy, chest-swelling rock anthems since his debut Hypersonic Missiles, and this year promises to be a huge one for the Tyneside troubadour.
Abomination: a DUP opera
March 24th-April 2nd, Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm (Saturday matinee 2pm), €15-€45, abbeytheatre.ie
The story of the DUP is one of self-sabotage on an epic level, so it's fitting that the Belfast Ensemble have created an opera centred on one of the most notorious episodes in the ultra-conservative Northern Ireland party's history. In 2008, then DUP MP Iris Robinson gave a radio interview during which she condemned homosexuality as an "abomination", instantly reigniting the equality debate in the North, and galvanising the gay community in their ongoing campaign for respect and recognition. This award-winning production, written by Conor Mitchell, turns the DUP's more bigoted outbursts – "they are poofs!" – into hilarious, high-camp musical theatre.
Tony Cantwell
March 25th and 26th, Vicar St, 7pm, €26
The Dublin-based comedian has built up a huge following via his surreal stand-up routines, but he's also harnessed the power of social media to showcase his bizarre and often bewildering sense of humour. Among his more wacky and wonderful online alter-egos are Ploon, Your Ma's Mate and The Dublin Frenchman Cantwell has sold out shows at Kilkenny Cat Laughs, Vodafone Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe, and also gained loyal subscribers to his podcasts Tony Cantwell's S**tshow and his monster review show Sexy Beasts. "I am, and probably will be, for the rest of my life, kind of a niche comedian, because I'm only really gonna do what I find funny," says Cantwell, but it's clear an increasing number of people also find it funny.
An Evening with Aisling
March 26th, Listowel Arms Hotel, Listowel, Co Kerry, 8pm ,€15
As part of Listowel Writers' Week's Winter Series, writers Sarah Breen and Emer McLysaght bring their famous literary creation to life, with this evening of banter and chat hosted by radio presenter Deirdre Walsh. The duo have racked up four bestselling Aisling books – Oh My God What a Complete Aisling; The Importance of Being Aisling; Once, Twice, Three Times an Aisling; and their most recent, Aisling and the City – so there'll be plenty to talk about on the night, and fans of the quintessential country girl in the big smoke will have plenty of questions about their favourite chic culchie. Listowel Writers' Week is scheduled for June 1st-5th, so put that in your Filofax diary.
Martin Hayes and the Common Ground Ensemble
March 26th and 27th, National Concert Hall, 7pm, €29.50/€39.50
The Perspectives series continues at the NCH with this brace of concerts by Ireland's king of fiddlers, Martin Hayes, with his new band of musicians who between them have all bases covered, from trad, to jazz to avant garde to contemporary classical. With a line-up that features pianist Cormac McCarthy, cellist Kate Ellis, guitarist Kyle Sanna, bouzouki player Brian Donnellan, uilleann piper David Power and harpist and sean nós singer Síle Denver, these gigs promise to be a virtuosic exploration of new musical, taking the shared love of trad and seeing where the music takes them. "Even though there'll be plenty of space for people to develop their own parts, the larger picture will be driven by my vision for the music," says Hayes. "We'll be seeing what the tune wants to say and seeing how the band can support that."
Dita Von Teese
March 26th and 27th, 3Olympia, 7pm, from €65, ticketmaster.ie
The world's biggest burlesque artist brings her Swarovski-studded Glamonatrix extravaganza to Dublin for two nights, rescheduled from 2020, but don't expect a plain boring old striptease. Von Teese's stage productions are more haute couture fashion fest, and all eyes will be on the fabulous corsets and fetish-worthy shoes by some of the world's top designers, not to mention the elaborate production numbers, dazzling choreography and daring set-pieces, including an updated version of her famous martini glass routine.
