Event of the week
Self Esteem
Sunday, February 26th, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin; 7pm; €22.40; ticketmaster.ie
It’s a long way from being half of a little-known north of England indie folk duo to being hailed as one of the best new UK music acts of the past few years (with a Mercury Prize nomination), but Self Esteem (aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor) has worked long and hard to make the path as smooth as possible. The plaudits for her 2019 debut album, Compliments Please, were gazumped by the reaction to the 2021 follow-up, Prioritise Pleasure, which is a big, bold pop record that, via conversational delivery in Taylor’s grounded Rotherham tones, never hides the truth about her assertive views of sexuality and relationships.
Gigs
Danny Carroll
Sunday, February 26th, Róisín Dubh, Galway; 8pm; €13; roisindubh.net
The PR bumpf pitches Dublin songwriter Danny Carroll as “an embarrassing millennial” but we’re having none of that with this guy. Carroll is perhaps best known as the co-curator of the compilation series A Litany of Failures (which has showcased emerging Irish indie music acts) and the band Shrug Life, but with a debut solo album on the way, it is now time for the light to shine in his direction. The newer material, prefaced by the recently released single Affection, has Carroll apply less self-deprecation and more wisdom while never letting go of the influences that inspired him in the first place: Jonathan Richman, Jeffrey Lewis and Moldy Peaches. Very much worth your time? Affirmative. (Also Wednesday, March 8th, Spirit Store, Dundalk; Thursday, March 9th, The American Bar, Belfast; Friday, March 10th, BelloBar, Dublin.)
The Murder Capital
Sunday, February 26th, Vicar Street, Dublin; 7pm; sold out; ticketmaster.ie
Several weeks ago, The Murder Capital traipsed around some of the country’s record shops and smaller venues to plug the release of their second album, Gigi’s Recovery, by performing stripped-down, acoustic versions of the album’s tracks. This time around the band members are suited, booted and amped up to the hilt with low-slung guitars and singular antagonism, so you can expect sparks to fly. “Whoever comes to our shows has this idea of [it] being very intense, energetic and on edge, but that’s the way it has always been,” said singer James McGovern to The Ticket in early January. “Before we go on stage we always rise to that idea because it is exactly what it is.”
David Gray
Wednesday, March 1st, Opera House, Cork; 7pm; €69.50/€59.50 (sold out); ticketmaster.ie; Thursday, March 2nd, National Opera House, Wexford; 7pm; €69.50/€59.50; ticketmaster.ie
Released two years ago, David Gray’s 12th studio album, Skellig, offered a starker, softer side to his tougher creative demeanour, and this mini-Irish tour presents the album in all its collective glory with the assistance of the Skellig Choir. The second half of the show will gather some of his best-known songs (enhanced by the Skellig Choir, no doubt). Special guest is Irish singer (and sometime Skellig Choir member) David Kitt. (Also Saturday, March 4th and Sunday, March 5th, National Concert Hall, Dublin; 7pm; €69.50/€59.50 (sold out); ticketmaster.ie.)
The Big Irish Times Quiz of 2024
Nanci Griffith: From a Distance review – harrowing account of the country music star’s life that ended in isolation and alcoholism
Róisín Ingle: My profound, challenging, surprisingly joyful, life-changing year
Dancing with the Stars 2025: Who are the contestants, when is it on and more
Theatre
The New Electric Ballroom
Tuesday, February 28th to Saturday, April 1st (no show Friday, March 17th), Gate Theatre, Dublin; 7.30pm; €41.50/€31.50/€15; gatetheatre.ie
First produced by Druid in 2008 at Galway’s Mick Lally Theatre, Enda Walsh’s play – a companion piece to his The Walworth Farce – is set in a remote Irish fishing village and features three sisters, Ada, Breda and Clara, worryingly ruminating on events that occurred many years ago in the titular palace of entertainment. Barbara Brennan, Jane Brennan, Orla Fitzgerald and Marty Rea co-star in a work that brought international attention to Walsh who, noted the New York Times in a 2009 review, “has a breathtaking lyrical gift capable of encompassing daft humour and spine-chilling truths in language that still remains powerfully real”. (Also tours to The Everyman Theatre, Cork, Tuesday, April 4th to Friday, April 7th; everymancork.com.)
Classical
Ortús Chamber Music Festival
Sunday, February 26th to Sunday, March 5th, Cork City and county; various venues/times/prices; ortusfestival.ie
Founded in 2016 by Irish musicians Sinéad O’Halloran and Mairéad Hickey with the aim of offering performance platforms to a range of Irish and international musicians, this year’s Ortús Chamber Music Festival features a programme of more than 85 works. Performers include Fiachra de hÓra (viola), Peggy Nolan (cello), Swiss violinist Laia Braun, New Zealand violist Bryony Gibson-Cornish, Welsh pianist Jâms Coleman and the London-based Marmen Quartet (of which O’Halloran is a member). Festival highlights include Brahms’ String Sextet no. 1, Mozart and Fauré's piano quartets and the Irish premiere of New Zealand composer Salina Fisher’s Heal.
Exhibition
Pop Art Pioneers
From Saturday, February 25th to Saturday, March 18th, Gormleys, Dublin; free; gormleys.ie
Lovers of pop art might need to form an orderly queue as they arrive at Gormleys, which presents an exhibition of work by four of America’s most acclaimed pop artists: Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Robert Indiana. Included in the exhibition (which runs over two floors) are Indiana’s famous Love artworks, a selection of Warhol’s silkscreen portraits, Haring’s audacious graphic designs and Lichtenstein’s monumental The Den, which forms part of the artist’s intricate Interiors series. Get this one while it’s hot, it’s a rare chance to see such celebrated work in one place.
Still running
King
Thursday, March 23rd to Saturday, March 25th, Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin; €23-€25; paviliontheatre.ie
Pat Kinevane’s empathetic play tells the story of a sheltered man who leaves his bedsit for one reason: to perform as Elvis Presley. (Also Saturday, March 4th, An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny, Co Donegal; Wednesday, March 15th, Backstage Theatre, Longford; Tuesday, March 21st, Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, Co Laois.)
Book it this week
Nina Nastasia, The Workman’s Cellar, Dublin; April 18th; foggynotions.ie
Ben Howard, Fairview Park, Dublin; June 15th; ticketmaster.ie
Mother of All the Behans, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin; August 18th (limited run); ticketmaster.ie
Wilco, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin; September 8th; ticketmaster.ie
