Event of the week
Tate McRae
Friday-Saturday, May 16th-17th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €81.90/€49.90, ticketmaster.ie
It didn’t take long for the Canadian singer-songwriter Tate McRae to return to Ireland. A year after she performed two shows at the 3Olympia Theatre, in Dublin, the surge in her popularity – down in no small part to the quality of So Close to What, her most recent album – has opened the doors for a show at Ireland’s largest indoor venue. Fans can expect songs culled from all three of McRae’s hugely successful albums and from her early EPs (notably Too Young to Be Sad, from 2021, which has amassed more than a billion streams on Spotify). The show will also feature arena-theatre additions such as expertly drilled choreography and (checks notes) crane technology.
Gigs
Soccer Mommy
Sunday, May 11th, Vicar Street, Dublin, 8pm, €30, ticketmaster.ie
Sophia Allison is slowly but surely gaining ground on her contemporaries, and it’s all because the Switzerland-born songwriter and singer has perfected the art of making her confessional lyrics come across as hesitant yet vital conversations between friends. Gritty bedroom pop is at the heart of Allison’s songs: over six albums, from For Young Hearts, her 2016 debut, to Evergreen, from 2024, she has skilfully meshed lo-fi music with an alt-rock sensibility that, as Pitchfork magazine puts it, “evokes a coffee-house open-mic gig with an edge to it”.
Bernard Butler
Sunday, May 11th, First Presbyterian Church, Belfast, 7.30pm, £20 (sold out), cqaf.com; Wednesday, May 14th, Dolan’s, Limerick, 8pm, €25, dolans.ie; Thursday, May 15th, Whelan’s, Dublin, 8pm, €25, ticketmaster.ie
It’s more than 30 years since Bernard Butler, whose parents are from Dún Laoghaire, left Suede, one of Britain’s most durable rock bands. Since then his career has zigzagged between solo work, studio production, and cross-genre collaborations, including with the Irish indie rock band The Clockworks and with the Irish actor Jessie Buckley, on For All Our Days that Tear the Heart, their Mercury Prize-nominated album from 2022. The focus of these solo shows is Good Grief, Butler’s reflective recent solo album. Who knows who might join him on stage for a song or two?
Spoken word
Mike Garry and the Cassia String Quartet
Wednesday, May 14th, Pearse Street Library, 6pm, free, dublincity.ie; Thursday, May 15th, Crane Lane Theatre, Cork, 7.30pm, €22, tickettailor.com; Friday, May 16th, Levis Corner House, Ballydehob, Co Cork, 8pm, €26.50, leviscornerhouse.com
Fans of John Cooper Clarke will know of his fellow Mancunian poet, Mike Garry, who has form not only as an admired solo wordsmith but also as a collaborator with New Order, Philip Glass, David Holmes and the Cassia String Quartet. With the latter, Garry has released the album Handwritten Miracles, which forms the basis of this tour. (Also, Saturday, May 17th, Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy, Co Derry, 7.30pm, £17, seamusheaneyhome.com; Monday, May 19th, Workman’s Club, Dublin, 7pm, €22, workmansclub.com).
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Literature
International Literature Festival Dublin
From Friday, May 16th, until Sunday, May 25th, Merrion Square Park, Dublin, various times and prices, ilfdublin.com
“One Park. Ten Days. A World of Stories,” is the teaser for one of Ireland’s primary literary events, which has been spreading the word about words since 1998. There is a wealth of events to choose from; highlights include the authors Wendy Erskine and Lisa Harding in conversation (Saturday, May 17th, 4pm, €12), the launch of Erin Fornoff’s epic poem We Are an Archipelago (Saturday, May 17th, 6pm, €15) and Rebecca Solnit talking about her new essay collection, No Straight Road Takes You There (Friday, May 23rd, 8pm, €14).
Stage
Lovesong
From Wednesday, May 14th, until Sunday, June 15th, Gate Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €38/€33/€28, gatetheatre.ie
Inspired by TS Eliot’s poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, Abi Morgan’s achingly sad time-slipping play revolves around a couple’s 40-year marriage. As past and present fuse, Ingrid Craigie and Zara Devlin (the older and younger Maggie) and Nick Dunning and Naoise Dunbar (the older and younger Billy) share the stage with elegant physicality. Our advice? Bring tissues.
Dance
Dublin Dance Festival
From Tuesday, May 13th, until Saturday, May 24th, various venues, times and prices, dublindancefestival.ie
It’s happy 21st birthday to Dublin Dance Festival, which presents a range of innovative work that spans Chora, a triple bill from Luail, Ireland’s new national dance company (May 13th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre), to Oona Doherty’s Specky Clarke (May 14th until May 17th, Abbey Theatre). The festival also includes a 30th-anniversary reimagining of Matthew Bourne’s potent Swan Lake (May 20th until May 24th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre).
Arts festival
Cavan Arts Festival
From Thursday, May 15th, until Sunday, May 18th, Cavan town, various times and prices, cavanartsfestival.ie
This year’s festival, which has an earlier slot in the calendar, is as eclectic as ever. The headline event is the Blindboy Podcast (Sunday, May 18th, Townhall Arts Centre, 8pm, €32), but there are other must-see events, too. These include the first Irish preview of the comedian Alison Spittle’s work-in-progress Fat Bitch (Saturday, May 17th, Townhall Arts Centre, 8pm, €15) and the writer Pat McCabe’s multicultural presentation Radio Butty (Saturday, May 17th, Con Smith Park, 2.30pm, free).
Still running
Ralph McTell
Saturday, May 10th, Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny; Sunday, May 11th, Cork Opera House; Wednesday, May 14th, Roscommon Arts Centre; Saturday, May 17th, An Grianán, Letterkenny, Co Donegal; Sunday, May 18th, Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo; ralphmctell.com
Ralph McTell has more songs in his pocket than the evergreen Streets of London and From Clare to Here. As his extensive nationwide tour draws to a close, expect to hear those songs among a selective back catalogue that began with Eight Frames a Second, his 1968 debut album.
Book it this week
Get Happy! The Judy Garland Songbook, National Opera House, Wexford, July 18th, nationaloperahouse.ie
Belfast International Arts Festival, various venues, October 15th-November 9th, belfastinternationalartsfestival.com
An Audience with Priscilla Presley, NCH, Dublin, October 1st, nch.ie
Loyle Carner, 3Arena, Dublin, November 9th, ticketmaster.ie
