FRIDAY
Gabriel Garzón-Montano
The Workman's Club Dublin 8pm €19 theworkmansclub.com
If it weren't for Drake, a recent visitor to Dublin, sampling the voice of Gabriel Garzón-Montano on his track Jungle, would anyone care about him? Why should we worry about that when he has a recently released debut album as good as Jardin? Halfway between James Blake and D'Angelo without a hint of Drake, say the critics. We're on it.
Resonance
Yard 401 Belfast 10pm £7 facebook.com/resonancenight
Featuring folks from Resist, Topia and Unrelenting Noise, Resonance are the new Belfast crew keeping the city stacked high with industrial, experimental and hard techno sounds. For tonight's run-out, they've Dublin-born Berlin-based Swarm Intelligence at the top of the bill, the techno and noise producer with a string of stellar releases under his belt. Support from Industrial Dimension's Paragon, Belfast bucaneer v4ts and Resist's Koichi and Liam McCartan.
Out to Lunch
Bar Tengu Dublin 10pm €12.50 outtolunch.ie
Two strong reasons why Out to Lunch will be busy tonight. For a start, it will be hosting the after-party for James Remond's Notes On Rave In Dublin documentary (see pages 4-5), which will be screened earlier in the evening as part of the Audi Dublin International Film Festival. Then, there's the visit of Lena Willikens, the Cologne DJ with a long-running residency at Salon Des Amateurs in Dusseldorf and who is part of the Cómeme Records' crew. Support for Willikens from Out to Lunch's Simon Conway.
Dinosaur
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny (Friday); Courthouse Arts Centre, Tinahely (Saturday); Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire (Sunday); Station House Theatre, Clifden (Monday); Triskel Christchurch, Cork (Tuesday); see listings for details; musicnetwork.ie
Trumpeter Laura Jurd's young but super-talented four-piece have been getting some serious notice on the UK jazz scene with their contemporary take on 1970s Miles. Their nationwide tour concludes this week. Gonna be huge.
The Gathering
The Gleneagle Ballroom 9pm €25 gathering.ie
This annual Gathering festival continues to attract the great and the good, and this year's roster is chock-full of fine musicians, singers and dancers. The Casey Sisters, Nollaig, Máire and Mairead are a highlight of tonight's concert, where they share billing with Dermot Byrne, Steve Cooney, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and others. The weekend promises an intimate singing session led by Tim Dennehy, a glorious hooley with Dervish and Full Set and the best of Sliabh Luachra's polkas and slides with Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly. Hup!
The Mulcahy Family
Ionad Cultúrtha, Ballyvourney 8.30pm ¤15 ionadculturtha.ie
Mick, Louise and Michelle Mulcahy bring multi instrumentalism to an entirely new level with their incredible facility in accordion, pipes, harp and flute. The pure drop is what they trade in, with a delicacy and lightness of touch that lets the tunes shine in all their glory.
SATURDAY
Rub A Dub Hifi Meets Irie Vibes
City of Dublin Working Men's Club Strand St 9pm pay-what-you-want facebook.com/rubadubhifi
Heavy dubs, thumping bass and big tunes will be the order of the night as the Irie Vibes Soundsystem go head to head with the Rub A Dub Hifi crew. The York-based Irie Vibes' system has been on the go for seven years and are regular visitors to Ireland. MCs on the night are Mayoman Ras Tinny and Joseph Laibela. There's no set admission price with the organisers taking donations at the door.
HOUSE
Sense
Button Factory Dublin 11pm €20 souncloud.com/ame
Kristian Beyer and Frank Wiedemann are the me dudes, a duo of true believers who've been behind a fantastic clutch of house tunes. They started off producing deep house tracks for Sonar Kollektiv in the early years of the last decade before joining forces with Dixon and setting Innervisions in train. These days, the Innervisions collective are responsible for regular nights at places like Panorama Bar, releases from cats like Henrik Schwarz, Tokyo Black Star and Chateau Flight and a finely curated web presence. Support from Jack Dunne.
A Love Supreme
JJ Smyths, Aungier st. 8pm, €12, improvisedmusic.ie
John Coltrane's iconic masterpiece has a resonance beyond jazz, beyond even music, and it continues to inspire musicians more than half a century after its release. For this one-off celebration, Coltrane's scorching hymn of praise will be performed in its entirety by a distinguished quartet featuring saxophonist Michael Buckley, bassist Ronan Guilfoyle, drummer Kevin Brady and acclaimed Swedish pianist Lars Jansson. Unmissable.
SUNDAY
Elbow
Olympia theatre Dublin 8pm €54.50 (sold out) ticketmaster.ie Also Mon, Dublin
Just when you thought that Elbow had shot its final bolt with lead singer Guy Garvey's 2016 solo record (Courting the Squall), along comes a new group album (Little Fictions), whose richness is something to behold. Don't be surprised to see them back in the summer for festival shows.
The Divine Comedy
Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin 8pm €33.50 (sold out) bordgaisenergytheatre.ie
Neil Hannon gets stuck into latest album Foreverland, which is on the shortlist for the forthcoming RTE Choice Music Prize. Expect dapper renditions of songs from that album, as well as selections from his superior back catalogue. Special guest is Cavan singer-songwriter Lisa O'Neill.
MONDAY
Shackleton
Project Arts Centre. Feb 27 - Mar 11 7.30pm €20/€16 projectartscentre.com
Blue Raincoat's 2015 expedition, marking the Sligo-based company's 25th anniversary, now it comes to Dublin to share its discoveries. An adventurous spirit has long guided the physical ensemble and the story of Earnest Shackleton's Endurance mission has an obvious appeal; a fascinatingly blighted adventure with staggering accounts of bravery. But the company's almost-wordless version, developed with long-time dramaturg Jocelyn Clarke, takes a deliberately cooler approach. Through sombre, hypnotically controlled movements, four performers manipulate replica models and malleable materials to give a blow-by- blow account of the adventure in miniature. White sheets bundle up like icebergs, silhouettes of huddled men are cast across fragile tents, escape boats careen across the dark expanse of the theatre as bunraku puppets. It is fascinatingly uninterested in the thrills of the survival story, focusing instead on numb persistence. That is where a long-standing theatre ensemble meets an Antarctic expedition halfway: both know that exploration is a full time job.
TUESDAY
I Wanted to Write a Poem
Works by Jonathan Mayhew, winner of the Emerging Visual Artist Award 2015. Wexford Arts Centre, Cornmarket, Wexford Until March 25 wexfordartscentre.ie
Jonathan Mayhew uses all kinds of materials in meditative pieces that illuminate aspects of everyday life. His title comes from a collection of interviews with poet William Carlos Williams. When quizzed about motivation, meaning and interpretation, Williams deflects the questions back to the poems themselves. Equally, Mayhew's works "are left for people to find, eavesdrop in and engage with."
WEDNESDAY
International Collection
Hillsboro Fine Art, 49 Parnell Sq West, Dublin Until March 25 hillsborofineart.com
The Hillsboro has always looked to the international stage and this is a lavish and eclectic visual feast featuring fine modernist and postmodernist artists. The line-up includes pieces by Enzo Cucchi, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Joan Mitchell, Larry Poons, Albert Irvin, Maurice Cockrill, John Gibbons, Markus Lupertz, Sandro Chia, Alan Davie and more.
The Weir
The Gaiety Theatre. Ends Mar 4 7.30pm €24.50 gaietytheatre.ie
"Ah now, you have to enjoy it. You have to relish the details of something like this, ha?" So says Jack, a regular patron of an isolated bar in Leitrim, early in Conor McPherson's breakout play of 1997. That could also double as McPherson's treatise on storytelling, a precocious skill that supplies the energy of this work, which is not technically a monologue play – in much the same way that a tomato is not technically a vegetable. Three male patrons and one bartender are joined by a single woman, Valerie, a Dubliner in search of "peace and quiet", who has clearly come to the wrong place. The time is passed with well-rehearsed stories of fairy forts and apparitions, the vain swagger of a self-inflated property dealer, and a simple fellow who relays his tale like a fevered dream. Valerie, of course, is as rare and exotic in this bar as a glass of white wine, and she counters the men's tall stories with her own personal, anguished narrative. Whether this carries the tang of truth, or simply seems like another playwright's yarn, comes down to the spell of a good production. Director Andrew Flynn has skills that any bartender might envy, always respecting to the ingredients, while serving them with a twist.
THURSDAY
No Encore Live
The Workman's Club, Dublin 7pm €10 theworkmansclub.com
In which the headstuff.org podcast No Encore gets its thing on in a live setting. Hosts Dave Hanratty, Colm O'Regan and Craig Fitzpatrick co-present music from RTE Choice Music Prize-nominated acts We Cut Corners and Bantum, Limerick's Windings, and rising songwriter Farah Elle (right). Fun and games, people.
Beatland
Chanelle Walshe. Pallas Projects Gallery, 115-117 The Coombe, Dublin Until March 4 pallasprojects.org
Beatland is Jeannette Winterson's term for "the permeable boundaries of our bodies and how the experience of space and energy can extend beyond our five senses." Walshe's paintings are based on close anatomical studies of, primarily, the human heart and lungs – from preserved specimens in the RCSI. They explore, in Rachel McIntyre's works: "the expansive and fluid logic" of "nature and interiority", bridging "the inanimate and the vital".
Solace
Cyprus Avenue Cork 11pm ¤16/¤13.50 facebook.com/solaceeventscork
Romain Poncet is Traumer, an Avignon-born and Paris-based producer and DJ behind some enticingly tough techno sounds. After releases on such blue-chip labels as Desolat, Rekids, Sign Industry and Skryptom, Traumer set up Gettraum as the standalone imprint to show off his wares. Support from the Solace residents.
