One season ends and another begins. As the outdoor shows run out of road, it’s time to return to the indoor halls, clubs and arenas. Many would argue that live music is better suited to the indoors anyway. You need a venue with a roof on it for a show to make a real rattle in the first place. While there’s a lot to be said about watching a band under the stars, there’s also a lot to be said against standing in a field watching a band on one stage while simultaneously listening to a dodgy sound mix from another stage.
No, we prefer our live music indoors. Between now and the end of the year, there are umpteen acts bringing the party to a venue near you. Here’s The Ticket’s guide to the shows of the upcoming season. See you there.
SEPTEMBER
THE SCRIPT Dublin Castle Sep 13
Launch show for No Sound Without Silence album.
THE SATURDAYS Olympia Dublin Sep 17
Hitting the road on the Greatest Hits tour.
BRYAN ADAMS Royal Theatre Castlebar Sep 16; Waterfront Belfast 17-18
You may not think it but you know all the hits.
FIRST AID KIT Mandela Hall Belfast Sep 17; Olympia Dublin 18
Swedish sisters bring the folk once again.
SPIRIT OF FOLK Dunderry Park Co Meath, Sep 19-21
One of the last outdoor festivals of the season with members of Kila, In Their Thousands, Arborist, Tupelo and many more.
DECLAN O'ROURKE Dolan's Limerick Sep 19; Pavilion Dún Laoghaire 26; Vicar St, Dublin Oct 11; INEC, Killarney Dec 20
The singer-songwriter with the knack for perfectly pitched songs continues to do the business.
CLOUD CASTLE LAKE Whelan's Dublin, Sep 20
Launch night for the Dublin band's long overdue Dandelion EP debut release.
VANCE JOY Limelight, Dublin Sep 21; Academy, Dublin 22
The Australian singer behind the Riptide anthem lines 'em up.
JAMES TAYLOR O2 Dublin Sep 23; Waterfront Belfast Sep 24
Classic songs done right.
YANN TIERSEN Vicar St Dublin, Sep 23
Way more to the Breton musician than the Amélie soundtrack.
JOAN BAEZ Vicar St, Dublin Sep 24-25 & 27
Her songs are great but her versions of other folks' songs are even better.
VAN MORRISON UCH Limerick, Sep 25
Van the Man makes a stand for the Limerick Jazz Festival.
ALT J O2, Dublin, Sep 27
Ambitious upgrade in capacity for the Mercury Music Award winners.
GIRL BAND Joe Lee's Tullamore Sep 19; Kasbah Limerick 26; Button Factory Dublin 27; Róisín Dubh Galway Oct 9; Spirit Store Dundalk 10
One of the finest new Irish acts in the business.
BETH NIELSEN CHAPMAN Whelan's, Dublin, Sep 27
Singer-songwriter who has penned hits for Faith Hill, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and Trisha Yearwood.
THE MAGIC NUMBERS Academy, Dublin Sep 27; Mandela Hall Belfast 28
Head along for songs from new album Alias.
OCTOBER
CORK FOLK FESTIVAL Oct 2-5
A feast of folk from Mozaik, John Spillane, Karan Casey, Pauline Scanlon, Eddi Reader, We Banjo 3, Alan Kelly Gang and many more.
ED SHEERAN O2 Dublin Oct 3-6
You read it right – four nights in a row at the O2 for the man with the battered guitar.
HARD WORKING CLASS HEROES Various venues Dublin, Oct 3-5
The 12th outing for the well regarded showcase of new and new-ish Irish acts.
PRIMA VOLTA Limerick, Oct 3-5
Treaty City weekender featuring club nights, live performances, screenings and much more.
MAX JURY Dolan's Limerick Oct 3; Róisín Dubh Galway 4; Workman's Club Dublin 5
Last seen here supporting Lana Del Rey over the summer.
RIPTIDE MOVEMENT Spirit Store Dundalk Oct 3; Vicar St. Dublin 4; Set Kilkenny 10; Green Room Letterkenny 11; Spiegeltent Wexford 24; 5th on Teeling Sligo 25; Shortt's Waterford 31; Dolan's Limerick Nov 7; Róisín Dubh Galway 8
Marking a good year of sellout shows and a chart-topping album.
MOZAIK Cork Folk Festival Oct 4; Vicar St. Dublin 5; Duncaim Centre Belfast 7; Strule Centre Omagh 8; Balor Centre Ballbofey 9; Dolan's Limerick 10; Róisín Dubh Galway 11; Hawk's Well Sligo 12
Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny join forces with Bruce Molsky, Rens van der Zalm and Nikola Parov for a multinational, multi-instrumental romp.
SYLVAN ESSO Workman's Club Dublin Oct 7; Black Box Belfast 8
Debut Irish show for Mountain Man's Amelia Meath and Megafun's Nick Sanborn in their new guise.
SAGE FRANCIS Cyprus Ave Cork Oct 9; Fifth On Teeling Oct 10; Voodoo Belfast Oct 11; Sugar Club Dublin Oct 12
Underground rapper pitches first album in four years Copper Gone.
KID INK Vicar St, Dublin, Oct 13
Big-room party hip-hop flavours.
GEORGE EZRA Academy, Dublin, Oct 13; Limelight Belfast Oct 14
Bristol cream from the singer-songwriter with the striking voice and songs.
JAKE BUGG Olympia, Dublin Oct 13-14; Odyssey Oct 16
He's going to be around for years.
ELVIS COSTELLO Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin, Oct 16; Waterfront Belfast Oct 17
Expect a tune or two from his Bob Dylan New Basement Tapes set.
LADY GAGA The O2, Dublin Oct 17
Pop does not get more giddy than this.
THE HOLD STEADY Limelight Belfast Oct 17; Academy, Dublin Oct 18
Wide-eyed tales and rousing choruses.
MICK FLANNERY Olympia Dublin Oct 18; Spiegeltent Wexford Oct 22; Róisín Dubh Galway Dec 28; Dolan's Limerick Dec 29; INEC Killarney Dec 30; Opera House Cork Dec 31
The Corkman takes the air with current album, By the Rule.
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW Vicar St, Dublin Oct 20
All-action string-plucking Americana, bluegrass and old-timey crew.
WEXFORD SPIEGELTENT FESTIVAL Oct 22-Nov 2
Not one but two vintage spiegeltents to house acts such as We Banjo 3 (23), Hermitage Green (25), Join Me In the Pines (27), Julie Feeney (31) and many more.
SLIGO LIVE Oct 22-26
Appearances on the Wild Atlantic Way from Sheryl Crow, Bell X1, Horslips and many more.
CORK JAZZ FESTIVAL Oct 24-26
Starring Lee Fields, Sharon Jones, Michel Legrand, Carla Cook, The Drifters and many more.
IMELDA MAY Opera House Cork Oct 23-24; Ulster Hall Belfast Dec 13; O2 Dublin Dec 19-20
Now adding TV presenter to her rockabilly bow.
JEDWARD Olympia, Dublin Oct 24
Yep, they're still with us.
LUCIUS Whelan's, Dublin Oct 25
Return visit for the band who impressed at the Workman's Club in April.
PAUL HEATON & JACQUI ABBOTT Nerve Centre Derry Oct 26; Ulster Hall Belfast 27; Olympia Dublin 28; Seapoint Galway 30; Big Top Limerick 31; Spiegeltent Wexford Nov 1
Beautiful South pair play classic pop.
ROYAL BLOOD Academy Dublin Oct 27
Bringing the rock album of the moment with them.
BEN WATT TRIO Whelan's Dublin Oct 29
Everything But the Girl chap plugs solo album, Hendra, with Bernard Butler and Martin Ditcham.
CLANNAD UCH Limerick Oct 29; Opera House Cork Oct 30; Waterfront Belfast Oct 31; Royal Theatre Castlebar Nov 1; Olympia Dublin Nov 2
The Donegal trad family hit the road for an extensive tour.
NOVEMBER
THE GLOAMING Belfast Festival Nov 1
The Irish band of 2014's final Irish show for the year.
PAOLO NUTINI Odyssey Belfast Nov 2; The O2 Dublin Nov 3
New album, Caustic Love, is full of classic soul, funk and Motown.
FUTURE ISLANDS Vicar St, Dublin Nov 2-3
You won't see dancing like this ever again on Thomas Street.
THE SPECIALS Olympia, Dublin, Nov 3; Ulster Hall Belfast 4
This particular Two Tone revival goes on and on.
MARTHA WAINWRIGHT Spiegeltent Wexford Nov 2; Whelan's Dublin Nov 3-4
One of those Wainwrights.
MØ Academy, Dublin Nov 4
Sleek electropop from Danish singer Karen Marie Ørsted.
PAUL POTTS Opera House Cork Nov 5; Waterfront Belfast 6; Olympia Dublin 7; Royal Theatre Castlebar 8
Proof that there is life after Britain's Got Talent.
PAPER AEROPLANES Black Box Belfast Nov 7; Whelan's Dublin 8; Spirit Store Dundalk 9
Welsh duo slinging folky indie pop.
KYLIE MINOGUE The O2 Dublin Nov 8; Odyssey Belfast Nov 9
She's come a long way from doing The Loco-Motion.
THE WEDDING PRESENT Button Factory Dublin Nov 8
Playing the Watusi album in full.
ERASURE Ulster Hall Belfast Nov 8; Olympia Dublin Nov 9-10
With support from Chad Valley.
SLASH O2 Dublin Nov 10
The cat in the hat with a guitar solo for everyone in the audience.
ANDREA BOCELLI O2 Dublin Nov 14
The Italian tenor putting opera into the big halls
MARKETA IRGLOVA Unitarian Church, Dublin Nov 15
Expect tunes from new solo album, Muna, and Swell Season favourites.
LYKKE LI Vicar St, Dublin Nov 16
Swedish pop queen prepares to soar.
CHET FAKER The Academy, Dub Nov 18
Dexterous electro-soul from Melbourne's Nick Murphy.
MASTODON Academy Dublin Nov 19; Limelight Belfast Nov 20
Metal lads thrum their way through Once More 'Round the Sun.
JAMES BLUNT O2 Dublin Nov 20
Droll tweets, bland songs.
PASSENGER O2 Dublin Nov 22; Waterfront Belfast 23
Your guess is as good as ours as to the reason for this lad's popularity.
LA ROUX Limelight Belfast Nov 19; Academy Dublin Nov 20
Elly Jackson's new album, Trouble In Paradise, is damn good.
THE STYLISTICS Vicar St, Dublin Nov 22
Classic Philadelphia soul.
WALLIS BIRD Half Moon Cork Nov 19; Dolan's Limerick 20; Monroe's Galway 21; Academy, Dublin 22
Giving current album, Architect, another shake.
DARIUS RUCKER Vicar St , Dublin Nov 23
The Hootie & the Blowfish dude goes country.
ENRIQUE IGLESIAS The O2, Dublin Nov 23
Bringing sex and love (as in the new album) to the docks.
ROBERT PLANT Ulster Hall Belfast Nov 23; Olympia Dublin Nov 24
The legend returns, this time with The Sensational Space Shifters.
LITTLE DRAGON Vicar St, Dublin Nov 25
Playing slow-burning, stately pop from new album, Nabuma Rubberband, and sundry other releases.
THE WHO The O2, Dublin, Nov 26; Odyssey Belfast 28
Everyone should see The Who once in their life but probably leave it at that.
DECEMBER
SHANE FILAN Waterfront Belfast Dec 1; Olympia Theatre, Dublin Dec 2
Bankrupt lad from Westlife adjusts to smaller spaces in new solo guise.
PRINTER CLIPS Set Theatre Kilkenny Dec 4; Vicar St Dublin Dec 5; Triskel Cork Dec 6; Róisín Dubh Galway Dec 7
Bell X1's Paul Noonan and friends hit the road.
THE BLADES Olympia, Dublin Dec 5
One-night stand for the band who did two nights on Dame Street last year.
CHRIS REA Olympia Dublin Dec 6; Waterfront Belfast Dec 7
Yep, he'll probably play Driving Home for Christmas.
KASABIAN The O2 Dublin Dec 8; Odyssey Belfast Dec 9
Some people do love that band, you know.
ELTON JOHN The O2 Dublin Dec 9
C'mon, you know you love Elton.
NICK MULVEY Whelan's Dublin Dec 9; Limelight Belfast 10; Triskel Cork 11
Electric Picnic highlight returns for more.
PETER GABRIEL The O2 Dublin Dec 10
Possibly the most idiosyncratic arena act you'll see this season.
MICHAEL BUBLÉ Odyssey Belfast Dec 11-13
There's a lad called Bubbles who plays hurling for Tipperary but he's not related.
ENNIO MORRICONE O2 Dublin Dec 12
The master at work.
MADNESS Odyssey Belfast Dec 15; O2 Dublin Dec 1
It would not be Christmas without a visit from the Nutty Boys.
BONDAX Academy, Dublin Dec 20
The new Disclosure.
