Saturday November 4
The Academic
Vicar St Dublin 7.30pm €20 (sold out) ticketmaster.ie
What is it with Mullingar? First, it was Joe Dolan, then it was The Blizzards. And now, after Niall Horan has turned the Midlands town into a One Direction tourist attraction, it's the turn of The Academic. A band most certainly in search of the lost pure pop chord, they have recently caused something of a viral stir with the extremely clever video for their song Bear Claws. The Academic are more about a crafty online presence, however, as their punchy pop/rock songs easily prove. Today Dublin, tomorrow the world – make way for the next Irish band to mark your cards.
Tony Clayton-Lea
Dublin Beatles Day
The Workman's Club Dublin 2pm/8pm €20/€15/€5 eventbrite.ie
It started off several years ago as the Dublin Beatles Festival, but this year it has been downsized to one day. Despite the reduction, for Beatles fans it remains a must-see. Events include a performance of the acclaimed play, John Lennon's Last Day (2pm, €15), the Beatle Brain of Ireland quiz (3.30pm €5), and a two-set gig from The Rockits (8pm, €20), the resident 1960s pop music band of Liverpool's Cavern Club. TCL
Sunday November 5th
Kiasmos
Vicar St Dublin 7.30pm €29.40 ticketmaster.ie
Faroe Islands native Janus Rasmussen is the guy behind the nifty electro-pop outfit, Bloodgroup; Iceland's Olafur Arnalds is best known for his beautiful merger of string compositions and soft piano. Having met in Reykjavik some years ago, the musicians decided to work together, and so began Kiasmos. Prepare, then, for electronic music that ducks and weaves between hard-hitting beats and subtle, signature whirls. Electronica gig of the week, no question. TCL
Monday November 6
Zola Jesus
Whelan's, Dublin €22 whelanslive.com
When it comes to theatrics, Zola Jesus's gothic pop music will haunt your dreams . . . in a good way. On the back of her 2017 album Okovi, American singer Nicole Hummel is coming to Whelan's but fans will particularly look forward to hearing songs from her 2010 album Stridulum. Dramatic and chilling, aided by the build up of strings over sombre synths, her music finds a way to creep into your psyche and stay there. Perfect to tackle the Monday fear. Louise Bruton
Tuesday November 7
Little Mix
The SEE Arena, Belfast £27.50-£49 ticketmaster.ie Also Wednesday, same venue
Little Mix's Glory Days tour is set to be a lively and celebratory event, especially since Glory Days is the longest reigning girl-group number one album since the Spice Girls' debut 1996 album. And that ain't no easy feat seeing as we've had Destiny's Child, Girls Aloud and Sugababes in the interim. As one of X Factor's biggest success stories, Little Mix are chart darlings and pop charmers. A live show from them will give you a new lease in life. LB
Wednesday November 8
Seamus Fogarty
The Workman's Club Dublin 8pm €13 theworkmansclub.com
From Co Mayo boreens to London streets, to say that Seamus Fogarty's life has changed dramatically in the past five years is an understatement. A location change aside, Fogarty hasn't removed himself from the place of his birth. Indeed, his recently released second album, The Curious Hand, hums with the atmosphere of Mayo through sampled conversations and other items of "found sound" all the way from home. Fogarty has been variously described as a balladeer, alt-folk singer and electronica alchemist. Go see what all the fuss is (deservedly) about and make up your own mind. TCL
Thursday November 9
Orchid Collective
The Church (Hanover Street) Cork 8pm €8 hanover.ie
Over the past year, this Dublin band has developed to a point where all seems set in place for much bigger and better things in 2018. New single, L.A.Z.Y., is a perfect example of how Orchid Collective instils an assured and dreamy indie-pop sensibility into a tune that's as radio-friendly as any you can think of. Slowly but surely, province by province, the band is gaining ground, and if you hanker after music that has flourishes of Explosions in the Sky and Alt-J, yet sparks with individualism, then you know where to look. TCL
Jake Bugg
Live at St.Luke's Cork 7.30pm €25 liveatstlukes.com Also Friday Dolans Limerick 8pm €28 dolans.ie; Saturday Black Box Galway 9pm €27.65 ticketmaster.ie
UK singer-songwriter Jake Bugg has had a curious time of it in the past few years. Five years ago, his self-titled debut album landed with a cool thud, but since then it has been – creatively as well as commercially – diminishing returns, as one album chased another towards the lower reaches of the charts. This year's Hearts that Strain record (Bugg's fourth in five years, so he's no slacker in the songwriting department) is the man's best since his debut, so, you know, fair play, and let's wait and see. TCL
Bedouine
Grand Social Dublin 8pm €13 thegrandsocial.ie
Everyone that loves music likes to be presented with a surprise, and one of those certainly landed this summer with the debut album from Armenian songwriter Azniv Korkejia, aka Bedouine. The New York-based musician (formerly a film music editor) released her self-titled work to international praise, and while the songs reference the understated, sweet melodies of old-school classicists such as Nick Drake, Carole King, and Townes Van Zandt – as well as contemporary songwriters such as Laura Marling – it is Korkejia's individuality, from one song to the next, that takes hold of the listener and doesn't loosen its grip. TCL
Gordi
The Button Factory, Dublin €15 ticketmaster.ie
Gordi's debut album Reservoir is one of this year's best albums and there's a small chance that you haven't heard it. Gordi is Sophie Payten, a 24-year-old singer from Canowindra in Australia, and, like our moody pop teen Lorde, her delivery of emotionally-heavy indie-pop is breathtaking. If you catch her now, it could be an opportunity for you to gloat in years to come that you saw her before she hit the big time and you paid just 15 quid for a ticket. LB
Bananarama
The SSE Arena, Belfast £43.50-£75 ticketmaster.ie
Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward and Siobhan Fahey, the smart-talking, no prisoners-taking trio are officially back as Bananarama. This will be the first live tour that Fahey has ever done as a member of Bananarama, leaving in 1988 to work on music as Shakespears Sister and as a solo act. Reunited, this will be nostalgia-heavy night with hits like Really Saying Something and Robert De Niro's Waiting taking you back in time to singing in front of the mirror with your hairbrush. LB
Friday November 10
Jane Weaver
The Workman's Club Dublin 8pm €16 theworkmansclub.com
Thankfully, some left-of-centre musicians refuse to give up – they constantly seek a form of enlightenment and worth in their chosen area of expertise. Liverpool songwriter/performer Jane Weaver is one of these. She is also unique in that her music over the past 15 years has covered pop, psych, new wave, krautrock, folk, ambient, and punk. Weaver is a dab hand at them all, something that is highlighted to perfection on her latest album Modern Kosmology, which The Ticket described on its release in May of this year as the epitome of "absorbing, non-mainstream music". You have been duly advised. TCL
Eilen Jewell
The Sound House Eden Quays Dublin 8pm €17.50 ticketmaster.ie
Boise, Idaho singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell has gone from busking on the streets of Santa Fe and Venice Beach to performing in small music clubs in Boston. She has advanced her career somewhat over the past 10 years, taking her quite special brand of Americana all over the globe to much acclaim. Her latest album, Down Hearted Blues, is so good it gives singer-songwriters a respectable name, but we can safely say that if she doesn't play a song or two from her 2010 album, Butcher Holler: a Tribute to Loretta Lynn, then there'll be trouble. Kind of. TCL
Maceo Plex
District 8, Dublin district8dublin.com
Maceo Plex – the techno Viking himself – will be gracing District 8 with his presence and you should consider yourself lucky to have the opportunity to soak yourself in his glory. At his first ever headlining show in Dublin, his Ellum label mate Architectural will also be making his Irish debut on the night, along with resident DJ Jack Dunne. Tickets are selling quickly but District 8's Facebook event page is hopping with people looking for and selling tickets. LB
Mark Geary
St Stephen's Church, Dublin €14.04-€19.96 eventbrite.ie
Dublin Singer-songwriter Mark Geary is launching The Fool, his first album in five years, in the very special surroundings of St Stephen's Church aka The Pepper Canister. Presented by Homebeat, The Fool is said to be "a collection of well-honed lyrical songs with catchy hooks which often belie the deep emotions at play". Wicklow singer Anna Mieke Bishop and Kerryman Brendan O'Shea will provide support on the night. LB
