Enjoying:Heroes and Kings of the Shahnama at Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. This weekend is the last chance to see this magnificent Indian and Iranian work.
Booking: My Life in Dresses, Sorcha Kenny's quirky story is performed at the George Bernard Shaw Theatre in Carlow on April 16th.
Listening to: Hard Bargain, the new album from Emmylou Harris. Still the queen of country music.
Looking forward to: The Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera show at Imma. It will be a wonderful chance to view at first-hand the work of the Mexican painter, one of the most singular of the 20th century.
The Irish Air Guitar championships, in the Button Factory in May. Is it art? No. Is it fun? Surprisingly.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roofin the Gate. Owen Roe goes straight from God of Carnage to the Tennessee Williams classic (by way of an interview with The Irish Times this Monday).
Relieved that Elbow weren't dwarfed by the O2: Guy Garvey and co agonised about doing arena-sized venues on this tour, and at times it did seem that the band were uncomfortable with the cavernous spaces of the O2, in Dublin, on Thursday night, but dollops of wry humour and self-conscious asides soon saw this most personable of bands triumph over the adversity of their surroundings.
The received wisdom was that their sparser, lo-energy material would suffer, but sheer force of will and music of the highest possible quality ensured a more than satisfactory outcome. Granted, it seemed as if a section of the audience were there to fist-pump and sing along to Grounds for Divorceas if it were an Oasis anthem, but the band weren't settling for that and dug deep into their back catalogue to pummel the audience into submission.
The engaging blokeishness of the band jollied things along nicely, and when they went for the big moments – such as a ridiculously beautiful rendition of the poignant The Night Will Always Win(from the current album, Build a Rocket Boys!) – they were rewarded with rapt hush and awe.
In playful mood – this being the last gig of the tour – they paused to mix some cocktails and banter away before showing off their new arena-friendly sound with a full-on rendition of Starlings.
Not everything worked for them on the night, with the audience being nonplussed by some of their song selections, but when they crash-landed into a thunderous One Day Like Thisto finish the set you were swept away by the power, agility and sentiment of one of the best rock bands at work today. Brian Boyd
Going to: NI Opera's site specific performance of Tosca tonight. Act one is in St Columb's Cathedral, act two in the Guildhall and the final act in St Columb's Hall. See niopera.com.
Saying: "There is a U2 tune that sums it up. it has a three-letter title and was performed at Live Aid." Donald Clarke on Killing Bono, in The Ticket
Pretending we never grew up:For the children's auditions for Peter Panbeing held at the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin on April 10th. You can't have Peter Panwithout Lost Boys. See grandcanaltheatre.ie.
Bemused by:Jennifer Garner being the new Miss Marple. Seriously? What next? Robert Pattinson as Columbo? Saoirse Ronan as Matlock? (You can play that game yourself all day.)
