Wyvern Lingo: Awake You Lie Live Stream
Thursday, February 25th, 8pm, €8/€12, universe.com
The brilliant Bray trio are not waiting around for restrictions to be lifted – they're going to perform a special show at the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray, and you are virtually invited. The gig is to celebrate the launch of their second album, Awake You Lie, which reawakens many of the trio's musical obsessions from the 1990s and noughties, running the gamut from R&B bangers to indie anthems. The icing on this musical cáca milis is the soulful voices of Caoimhe Barry, Karen Cowley and Saoirse Duane, proving that three really is a magic number. Who needs Haim when we've got three of our finest women in music right here on our digital doorstep. The band will preview tracks from the album a day before its official release, with Bray visual artist 1iing Heaney bringing her digital artwork for the album cover to life right there in the venue.
Smart Ageing X Future Beauty - An Irish Times Event
Thursday, February 25th, 7.30pm, free, eventbrite.ie
We have been pulling our hair out during lockdown, but now, as we look forward to eventually coming out the other side of this pandemic, our thoughts will turn to keeping our locks for as long as possible. Future Beauty co-founders Nikki and Liz Dwyer will be joined by an expert panel to discuss the latest salon treatments, products, supplements, medication and procedures available in the battle to halt or reverse hair loss. Consultant dermatologist Prof Caitriona Ryan, hair transplant surgeon Dr Kevin McDonald and renowned hairdresser Dylan Bradshaw will bring their considerable expertise to bear on teasing out what works and what doesn't work in meeting those follicle challenges head-on.
RADA Talks: Kenneth Branagh And Ralph Fiennes In Conversation
Friday, February 26th, 8pm, £6 (€7), dice.fm
Depending on how you look at it, this could either be an exciting, intellectually stimulating meeting of great theatrical minds or an insufferable luvvie-fest featuring two boring, old thespians. I'm betting it will be the former. Both actors will be sharing insights from their extraordinary careers and secrets of their craft – and you can bet they'll bounce off each other with wit and consummate showmanship.
The Unthanks Winter Weekend Online
Friday 26th-Sunday 28th of February, various times, various prices, crowdfunder.co.uk
With live concert activity remaining shut down for the foreseeable future, musicians are having to come up with creative ways to engage with their fans. The Unthank sisters, Rachel and Becky, are putting their talents to work for this special Winter Weekend of performances, short films, podcasts, workshops, archive performances, Q&As and even family events such as cook-alongs. The Tyneside sisters are genuine musical treasures and well worth preserving, so get on their website, choose your preferred pay level and join this special weekend of song and spirit-lifting.
Bicep Live Global Stream II at Saatchi Gallery
Friday, February 26th, 8.30pm, from £14 (€16.30), dice.fm
The Belfast DJ duo's first live stream, broadcast to 70 countries across five time zones, was such a massive success, they just have to do it all over again. And we're ready for another home workout as we dance to the choice cuts and master beats the pair will undoubtedly have in store for us. Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar are Bicep, and they've been making sounds together since they were childhood friends. They released their second album, Isles, to huge acclaim last year, so we'll be looking forward to this special live performance from London's Saatchi Gallery, with visuals by Black Box Echo.
Pokemon Day Concert with Post Malone
Sunday, February 28th, midnight, pokemon.com, streaming on YouTube and Twitch
It's been 25 years since the Pokemon phenomenon wormed its way into our collective consciousness, and we still haven't caught 'em all. To celebrate the first quarter-century of the addictive little critters, this virtual concert features Texas hip-hop/R&B artist Post Malone, who promises a Pokemon party to end 'em all, with lots of surprises in store. And don't rush off before the encore is finished – if you stick around after the gig, you'll get exclusive announcements on Pokemon's P25 music programme.
An Evening with Kazuo Ishiguro
Tuesday, March 2nd, 7pm, £7, £14 and £21 (€8-€24), eventbrite.com
This is a first for the Nobel prize-winning author – a live-streamed in-conversation event that will plug him directly into his global readership. It is fitting that he's going virtual, as he'll be chatting about his new novel, Klara and the Sun, which follows a robot companion looking to make a connection with humans, but who soon learns how unreliable and capricious they can be. This is a rare chance to ask questions of the author who has been praised for uncovering "the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world". I would prefer to leave that abyss well covered up, but there's no doubt Ishiguro's novels have something important to say about the human condition.
International Women's Day Virtual Breakfast
Friday, March 5th, 8am, €20, hopeshop.ie
Need a good reason to get out of bed? The inspirational line-up for the first-ever virtual International Women's Day breakfast should have you leaping out of the leaba and ready to take on the world. Hosted by the Hope Foundation, this year's breakfast will be served via Zoom. Among the champion guests at the virtual breakfast table will be television personality and general practitioner Dr Pixie McKenna, Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu, political correspondent at the Irish Examiner Aoife Moore and Cork Social Democrat TD Holly Cairns. Chat topics will include gender bias, equality in business and staying motivated at a time when motivating yourself is hard. Presenter and fashion guru Brendan Courtney will be handling MC duties. "We really hope that this event will inspire others to challenge biases, question stereotypes and celebrate the achievements of women around the world," says event organiser Mary Morrish.
Other Voices Cardigan 2021
Saturday, March 6th-Sunday, March 7th, othervoices.ie
Other Voices has in recent times branched out from its spiritual home in Dingle, Co Kerry, with strands in Ballina, Co Mayo, and the Welsh town of Cardigan. With all that Brexit has wrought, it's good to see the Republic and Wales coming together in a musical joint effort, and it is a reminder of the many similarities between our two cultures. Other Voices Cardigan is part of Gwyl 2021 festival and, as Other Voices founder Philip King says: "Mae'n hyfryd o beth i bob un ohonom yn Other Voices i ddychwelyd i Gymru." ("It's a great delight for all of us at Other Voices to be returning to Wales.") Guests at the event are Juice Menace, Ani Glass, Aoife Ní Bhriain, Berwyn, Catrin Finch, Sinead O'Brien and The Gentle Good.
Black Country, New Road: Live Stream from the Queen Elizabeth Hall
Saturday, March 6th, 8pm, £10 (€11.60), dice.fm
We're just two months into 2021 and already we have a new band that's shaking up the music scene and splitting opinion down the middle. For many, Black Country, New Road's sound – an explosive blend of electro, jazz, math-rock and ambient – is a refreshing splash of sonic energy, perfect for shaking off the Covid cobwebs of 2020. Coldplay fans, however, might find their free-association approach to music and lyrics a little outside their comfort zone. But we highly recommend you check out the debut album from this adventurous London seven-piece, entitled For the First Time, and keep an open mind (and a couple of earplugs). The band were supposed to be playing a gig in Whelan's in Dublin on Saturday 27th, which has now been put back, so this special live stream from Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank will have to serve as the next best thing.
