SONGWRITER
Rhodes
Whelan's Upstairs Dublin 8pm €16 whelanslive.com
Managed by the same people who "look after" London Grammar, Hertfordshire's David Rhodes is on track to win the race for this year's top prize of genuine crossover success. With songs as rousing as Close your Eyes, Raise your Love, and Run, think along the lines of Sam Smith success, Emeli Sandé success. Catch him in a tiny venue before the sparks fly.
THEATRE
Once
Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Previews until Jul 13 Opens Jul 14-Aug 22 8pm €29.50-85 oncemusical.ie
"He's a Romantic," says Girl, the Czech kook, of her favourite composer, Mendelssohn. "But dead, right?" enquires luckless Dublin busker, Guy. Oh, Guy, aren't they all? Such is the tone of Enda Walsh's nimble and clever book for the musical based on John Carney's endearing 2006 film: sensitive to the original while cutting through its treacle. Guy and Girl may still "meet cute" but the romance is passionately chaste: they just make beautiful music together. Brought home to Dublin by Landmark Productions, it's another Irish story set in a pub, but for a more intimate, conspiratorial quality, like a session during a lock-in. There are still endless variations on Once upon a time.
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The terrifyingly talented guitar duo are back on their adopted home soil for a rare Irish date. They might have started out busking on our streets, but these days you’ll rarely get the chance to see them outside of a festival or stadium stage. They also pull off the neat trick of managing to make an enthralling show out of a two-piece acoustic set-up.
