The Guide: The events to see, the shows to book, and the ones to catch before they end

Event of the week

Jason Byrne: Unblocked

Saturday, January 14th, Black Box Theatre, Galway; 7pm; €26; roisindubh.net; Thursday, January 19th, Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick; 7.30pm; €26 (sold out); dolans.ie

Named not after any social media disruptiveness but heart surgery, Irish comedian Jason Byrne’s new tour will see him add a little bit more real-life issues to his comedy. Dubbing himself “the Six Million Dollar Byrne”, the show won’t trade belly laughs for chin-stroking, mind, but you can sense that Byrne’s spell in hospital and follow-on recuperation has calmed down his usual frenetic onstage character. The Unblocked Tour continues across Ireland throughout February and March, with two big Dublin gigs at Vicar Street on Saturday, February 17th and Sunday, February 18th. Visit jasonbyrne.ie for full details.

Gigs

Dropkick Murphys

Saturday, January 14th, 3Arena, Dublin; 6.30pm; €47.95; ticketmaster.ie

Normally, Massachusetts punk/trad band Dropkick Murphys arrive over here around St Patrick’s Day, but here they are, two months earlier, to get us into the mood. Look – you either dig the group’s Irish shtick or you don’t, but whatever way your mop flops, their brand of Celtic-tinged, socio-politicised punk (think any and every variation of Stiff Little Fingers and The Dubliners) has its many fans. Special guests are Irish band The Scratch, and Australian punk/folk act The Rumjacks (whose best-known tune, An Irish Pub Song, has racked up over 80m YouTube views). A boisterous evening awaits.

The Murder Capital

Thursday, January 19th, Crane Lane Theatre, Cork; 8.30pm; adm free; Friday, January 20th, The Workman’s Club, Dublin; 7.30pm; €13.34 (sold out)

In the lead-up to the release of their highly anticipated second album, Gigi’s Recovery, The Murder Capital schlep it out to the kind of smaller venues they used to play before their 2019 debut, When I Have Fears, catapulted them to higher ground. These album launch shows, we are informed, will feature new songs (and perhaps one or two older ones) performed acoustically. This noted, we expect nothing less than the same level of intensity the band put into their amplified gigs, so no pressure, right?

Letterkenny Trad Week 2023

Friday, January 20th-Saturday, January 28th, Regional Cultural Centre/An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny, Co Donegal; various times/ticket prices; regionalculturalcentre.com

It isn’t all about Dublin, you know, as Letterkenny Trad Week 2023 admirably proves. The Co Donegal town’s annual celebration of trad/folk/world music returns with a line-up that features the cream of the crop: Cormac Begley, Sibéal, Landless, Skipper’s Alley, Lisa O’Neill, Na Casadaigh, Jiggy, Glenalla, and TRÚ. Free events include Ceol na nÓg trad sessions (at Dillon’s Hotel) and lunchtime concerts (at The Eatery, An Grianán Theatre).

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Wornoc

Friday, January 20th, Whelan’s, Dublin; 8pm; €11; whelanslive.com

“All gossamer phrases one moment and surging release the next” is one good way of describing Dublin-based musician/songwriter Wornoc (Conor Walsh), who takes electronic and post-rock music to different levels that gather together ambient shades, cinematic reveries and myriad guitar stabs. Walsh isn’t all about rhythmic riffs and rushes, either, as highlighted by Tranquillity, his ambient/trad collaboration with Flook member Brian Finnegan (on last year’s well-received debut album, Motionless).

Dance

Piece With the Drums

Tuesday, January 17th to Saturday, January 28th, Project Arts Centre, Dublin; 7.30pm; €35/€23; projectartscentre.ie

Crash, clang, wallop – jazz and dance, anyone? Acclaimed choreographer David Bolger teams up with equally celebrated jazz percussionist Conor Guilfoyle to present a head-bopping theatrical experience that explores (says the press release) “relationships, spirituality, and our connection to rhythm, life and the cosmos”. Between the dancers (one of which, Ghaliah Conroy, is pictured with Guilfoyle) and the pulsating drums, set/costume design by Katie Davenport, and lighting by Eamon Fox, you had best be prepared for, notes Bolger, “the Big Bang, our heartbeat, our breath”.

Comedy

Des Bishop

Wednesday, January 18th/Thursday, January 19th, Seamus Ennis Centre, Naul, Co Dublin; 8.30pm; €30 (sold out); Friday, January 20th, 3Olympia, Dublin; 7pm; €30 (sold out); ticketmaster.ie

Irish-American comedian Des Bishop has previously pieced together a show by the name of My Dad Was Nearly James Bond, and with these three shows – squeezed in-between extensive US dates in February and March – he turns his attention to his mother in a show titled Mia Mamma. Similar to the paternal dramedy tribute, Mia Mamma documents the comedic elements of anxiety and grief (his mother died in 2019) as well as, he says, “the mistakes you make as a mother and a son, and the hard road to forgiveness”. For those that can’t get their hands on a ticket, Bishop returns to the same venue on Wednesday, April 19th.

Exhibition

Brian Friel – Friel Reimagined: A Playwright’s Works in Progress

Until March 5th, McClay Library, Queen’s University Belfast; adm free (booking required); qub.ac.uk/events

The first digital archive of writer Brian Friel’s selected papers (based on original archive papers held at Dublin’s National Library of Ireland) presents open access to almost 3,000 enlightening manuscript pages from five of his plays – including Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1964), Faith Healer (1979), Translations (1980), and Dancing at Lughnasa (1990). Additional interesting aspects of the exhibition are a selection of recently commissioned essays by international Friel scholars, and inspirational artworks by emerging and established artists.

Still running

Piaf

Until Saturday, February 4th, Gate Theatre, Dublin; 7.30pm (Saturday matinees, 2.30pm); from €15; gatetheatre.ie

Such is the reception to Pam Gems’ dramatic musical about French singer Édith Piaf that the run has been extended. This means getting your skates on to see an invigorating ensemble cast (featuring, as the elder Piaf, a superb Camille O’Sullivan) tackle nitty-gritty details with panache and pathos.

Book this week

Fight Like Apes, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin; March 24th; ticketmaster.ie
Jenny Keane’s Sexed Up, Vicar Street, Dublin; April 2nd; ticketmaster.ie
The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Gaiety Theatre, Dublin; April 11th-15th; ticketmaster.ie
Indiependence, Mitchelstown, Co Cork; August 4th-6th; ticketmaster.ie