Event of the week
Another Love Story
Friday-Sunday, August 23rd-25th, Killyon Manor, Hill of Down, Co Meath, 1pm, €235, anotherlovestory.ie
Is Another Love Story the last open-air music and arts festival of the (so-called) summer? Following Electric Picnic’s three-day hands-in-the-air extravaganza, the serenity of Another Love Story’s 10th edition could be exactly what hardy gig-goers require. There is live music, of course (including Sampa the Great, David Kitt, Oisin Leech and Qbanaa), DJs to beat the bands (including Colleen Murphy, Claire Beck, Donal Dineen and Nialler9), but don’t forget about the festival’s community-driven arts strands, which include poetry, film, wellness and crafts.
Gigs
AC/DC
Saturday, August 17th, Croke Park, Dublin, 5pm, €86.25, ticketmaster.ie
While 75,000 music lovers are lapping it up at Electric Picnic, diehard rock fans will gather to see the final show of AC/DC’s extensive European tour. And with good reason: this could be the last Irish gig by one of the world’s most successful rock bands. Never say never, of course, but with their sole original member, the school-uniform-wearing lead guitarist Angus Young now looking towards his 70s and Brian Johnson, their sandpaper vocalist, soon to turn 77, time might be against them. Not to worry: this is the band that brought rock songs such as Thunderstruck, You Shook Me All Night Long, Highway to Hell, Back in Black, Whole Lotta Rosie and the biblical Let There Be Rock into the sitting room and refused to let them out. What’s the betting on the All Roads Lead to Dublin T-shirts selling out? Safe, we’d say.
Killer Mike
Thursday, August 22nd, National Stadium, 7pm, €41.20, ticketmaster.ie
Twenty years after he released his debut album, Monster, Killer Mike (Michael Render) remains at the top of his game: his sixth (autobiographical) work, Michael, won the 2024 Grammy for best rap album, while his latest album, Songs for Sinners & Saints, looks set to hoover up more acclaim for the acutely incisive lyricist. Render’s views on social injustice and systemic racism are mirrored in his songs, so expect righteous hip-hop from start to finish.
Jeff Buckley’s Grace
Friday, August 23rd, Whelan’s, Dublin, 8pm, €37.50, whelanslive.com
On August 23rd, 1994, the US musician and songwriter Jeff Buckley stopped off at Whelan’s as part of a promotional tour for his debut (and only) studio album, Grace. Tonight’s gig is produced by the people at Turning Pirate/Hibernacle, who know how to celebrate an anniversary. Confirmed musicians and singers tackling Buckley’s songs include Diane Anglim, Rhob Cunningham, Faye O’Rourke and Ailbhe Reddy (with a very VIP guest to be announced closer to the show).
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Wider than Pictures
Friday-Tuesday, August 23rd-27th, National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin, €41-€67.50 widerthanpictures.ie
Now in its third year, this series of open-air shows in the courtyard of the National Museum’s arts and culture branch maintains its promise of featuring a broad range of quality acts. Starting on Friday, August 23rd, with the Scottish pop-soul band Deacon Blue, the series continues with James Blunt (Saturday, August 24th), The The (Sunday, August 25th), James (Monday, August 26th) and Gossip (Tuesday, August 27th). Kudos to the gigs’ promoter, Singular Artists, for featuring a rake of Irish support acts, including Wine Mom (with Deacon Blue), Gareth Dunlop (with James Blunt), A Lazarus Soul (with The The) and Sprints (with Gossip).
Festivals
Féile na Gréine
Friday-Sunday, August 23rd-25th, various venues and times, free, Limerick city, feilelk.ie
Féile na Gréine, an arts festival with grassroots community and alliance at its heart, hosts emerging and experimental music in venues throughout Limerick city. Some acts have already filtered through, if not to mainstream then certainly above underground, including Landless, Anna Mieke, Elaine Howley, Córas Trio, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, The Bonk, Tandem Felix, Silverbacks and Mynameisjohn. Others, including Efa O’Neill, Fiona O’Connell, Olan Monk, Some Images of Paradise, and Princ€ss, look equally up to the task.
Visual art
Jack Butler Yeats: The Wandering Gaze/An Misló Swuner
Until Saturday, September 28th, the Model, Sligo, themodel.ie
Created in collaboration with Sligo Traveller Support Group, this exhibition gathers a range of Jack Butler Yeats’s works (including watercolours, oils, sketchbook drawings and illustrated prints) relating to travelling people within Irish society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Curated by Dr Julie Brazil (and developed with assistance from Oein DeBhairduin, the National Museum’s Traveller culture-collections development officer), the show features artworks sourced from numerous other galleries, including the Niland Collection, National Gallery of Ireland, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Hugh Lane Gallery and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, as well as from private collections.
Traditional
Masters of Tradition
Wednesday-Sunday, August 21st-25th, various venues, times and prices, Bantry, Co Cork, westcorkmusic.ie
Ireland’s premier festival of traditional Irish music, curated by the fiddle player Martin Hayes, blends artist performances (including secret concerts, where the performer isn’t known until minutes before), interviews and visual art. Interviewees include Bill Whelan, Toner Quinn, Tim Goulding and Peadar Ó Riada; performers include Hayes, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Geraldine Cotter, Nick Hart and Bríghde Chaimbeul.
Still running
Crawford Art Gallery Heritage Week
From Saturday, August 17th, until Saturday, August 24th, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, free, crawfordartgallery.ie
As it prepares to close for redevelopment, Crawford Art Gallery aligns with National Heritage Week 2024 (Saturday, August 17th, until Saturday, August 24th) to present a sequence of lunchtime talks with the gallery’s experts, including director Mary McCarthy and conservator Dr Chiara Chillè.
Book it this week
Write by the Sea, Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford, September 27th-29th, writebythesea.ie
Arooj Aftab, NCH, Dublin, October 13th, nch.ie
The Pogues, 3Arena, Dublin, December 17th, ticketmaster.ie
Amir Shah, Sugar Club, Dublin, January 30th, ticketmaster.ie
