Friday
The Leitrim Equation
Samuel Beckett Theatre, Trinity College 8pm #20
leitrimequation.ie
A testament to the benefits of public funding support, The Leitrim Equation has been an ongoing musician in residence programme, supported by Leitrim County Council. Fresh from their triumphant visit to RADA in London, this concert features tunes, songs, dance and spoken word poetry illustrating the rich and diverse landscape of this most under rated of counties.
Mr Scruff
Button Factory Dublin 10pm €20
mrscruff.com
You know what you get when Andy Carthy (right) pays his annual visit to town. For the past two decades or so, the Manchester DJ has been making dancefloors move with a killer mix of soul, funk, hip-hop, jazz, reggae, Latin, Afrobeat, ska, disco, house, funk, breaks and whatever else comes to hand. Away from the clubs, his studio productions continue to bloom, while a cuppa in his Teacup Kitchen cafe in Manchester comes highly recommended.
The Tommy Halferty Trio w/Seamus Blake
Aula Maxima, UCC, Cork (Fri); JJ Smyths, Dublin (Sat)
Guitarist Tommy Halferty concludes his all-too-brief Irish tour with heavyweight New York saxophonist Seamus Blake this afternoon (Cork) and tomorrow night (Dublin). A fluent and forceful voice, Blake is one of the most sought-after sidemen on the US scene and Halferty’s hard-swinging trio is the perfect foil for his fiery post-Coltrane improvising. Not to be missed.
Susannah De Wrixon with Strings Attached
John Field Room, NCH, 1pm, €17/15
nch.ie
Dublin thespian and ex-Nuala Susannah De Wrixon injects her singing with the nuances of an actor and the timing of a comedian. With Irish jazz legends, pianist Jim Doherty and bassist Dave Fleming, she has been excavating the Great American Songbook for the past decade, including last year's excellent Skylark CD. Here she adds the Delmaine String Quartet for an afternoon of classic songs.
Federico Albanese and Michael Price
Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire 8pm €23
paviliontheatre.ie
Italian composer Federico Albanese, who moves from classical fare to pop and psychedelia, shares a bill with pianist Michael Price, who has a film and TV credit list that includes Casino Royale, Sherlock and, eh, X Men. Expect a heavy emotional payload and much swooning in the aisles.
Saturday
Republik
Crystal, Waterford, 10.30pm, €15/€10
republikmusic.net
Dutch spinner Job Jobse is the name at the top of the bill for tonight’s outing at Republik. The Amsterdam native is one of those who owes a debt to the city’s much admired 11 club, where he initially cut his teeth. Since then, he’s worked with Innervisions at Berlin, booked the Trouw club in Amsterdam, established the Drukpers night and Life and Death label and established a reputation for his deep house skills beyond the Netherlands. Support from Kenno and Warren Sauvage.
Noel Hill and Frankie Gavin
Westbridge pub, Milltown Malbay, Co Clare, 8.30pm, €15
oac.ie
Two titans of traditional music, this concertina and fiddle duo are guests of this year’s Concertina Cruinniú, a fitting tribute to a diminutive instrument whose natural home is Clare.
Pink Swagger
Secret location, Dublin, 11pm €15.90/€12.80
huntandgather.ie
Get your glitzy swag on as the Hunt and Gather team dust off and tart up their All Fur No Knickers night for a special St Valentine’s weekend bump-and-grind session in the city. Tonight’s Pink Swagger event promises to be “a deliciously tacky and outrageously opulent affair” with a musical brew of guilty pleasures, nostalgia, funk, hip hop, r’n’b and power ballads from Code (live set), Tara Unicorn (otherwise known as 2XM’s Tara Stewart) and Colin Devine.
Watermät
District 8, Dublin, 11pm, €18/€15
eventbrite.ie
The man with the Bullit, French house craftsman Laurent Arriau, created quite an introduction for himself with that track, which was a big clubland hit in 2014. Long bnefore Bullit came along, however, Arriau had been producing electro house and pop tracks for various French artists. Since it all went off, he’s produced a slew of other tracks (including All My Love), as well as an enthusiastically received remix of The Magician’s epic song Sunlight.
Crookers
Opium Rooms, Dublin, 11pm, €15/€12
opiumrooms.ie
Italian DJ and producer Francesco “Phra” Barbaglia is here to make you jump. The man known as Crookers has been putting out party bangers since 2003, initially with his sidekick, Andrea “Bot” Fratangelo, until the latter bailed in 2012. Mixing house, hip hop, electro and almost anything else which comes to mind, Barbaglia’s tracks are made with parties in mind. Releases such as Tons of Friends and Sixteen Chapel track the way Crookers’s sound has developed over the years and how it can sweep from ghetto house to minimal techno.
Sunday
Valentine's Sing Along Social
MVP, Upper Clanbrassil Street, Dublin, 7.30pm €5
facebook.com/singalongsocial
Big ballads and big hair will be the order of the day at this Valentine’s night singalong to the greatest love songs ever written. Bellow your heart out and feel the love as €100 from the door goes to the Peter McVerry Trust.
Ennio Morricone
3Arena Dublin 8pm €156/€131/€106/€86
ticketmaster.ie
Acclaimed film composer Morricone premiered his “60 Years of Music” world tour in Prague three weeks ago, and now arrives in Dublin to a background of even more praise and plaudits. This massive production features more than 200 musicians and singers, the combination of which effortlessly complements Morricone’s classic movie scores. Pricey tickets? Yes, but uniqueness doesn’t come cheap.
Funk Actually
Bello Bar, Portobello, Dublin, 7.45pm, €8/€5
bellobardublin.com
Singer, flautist, guitarist and impresario Danny Groenland, otherwise known as Danny G and the Major 7ths, leads a cast of hipsters, funksters, and groovy soul sisters, including drummer Dennis Cassidy, pianist Johnny Taylor, and singer Rebecca Sinnamon, in a witty celebration of St Valentine’s Day. Forget the flowers, the chocolates and the candle-lit rip-offs – get some funk in your Valentine’s soul and dance!
