Event of the week
National Cinema Day
Saturday, August 31st, cinemas nationwide, cinemaday.ie
Last year, on September 2nd, more than 217,000 people relaxed into seats in cinemas nationwide, switched off their phones and then spent about two hours fumbling for their popcorn and, more importantly, watching the big screen. For this year’s National Cinema Day, movie houses in every county in the Republic are participating (with tickets for the day at a mere €5, including premium seats and 3D screenings). A broad range of movies is available, from family favourites (including Inside Out 2) to the likes of Deadpool & Wolverine, Kneecap, A Quiet Place: Day One, Trap and Twisters. You can buy tickets through the websites of participating cinemas, as well as visiting cinemaday.ie as an easy way to see what’s showing at cinemas near you.
Gigs
Flogging Molly
Sunday, September 1st, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €45.70, ticketmaster.ie
The resurgence of interest in Celtic/folk-influenced music since the death of Shane MacGowan has given bands such as Flogging Molly a distinct advantage over less-authentic competition. Fronted by the Dubliner Dave King (formerly of the 1980s hard-rock act Fastway), Flogging Molly know their riffs from their reels and are adept at inciting just the right amount of folk’n’punk boisterousness. The music is in part rooted in the fiddle playing of King’s Detroit-born wife, Bridget Regan, while the songs bridge nostalgia and heritage with the proverbial bang on the ear. Special guests are the Scottish rock/folk five-piece Brógeal.
Ride
Monday, September 2nd, Limelight, Belfast, 7pm, £33; Tuesday, September 3rd, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm; Wednesday, September 4th, Cyprus Avenue, Cork, 7pm, €38.15, ticketmaster.ie
Given their strong associations with both Oasis and Liam Gallagher’s post-Oasis band Beady Eye, Ride are likely to attract droves of people to these two shows. Of course, before Noel and Liam beckoned, Ride were one of the primary motivators in the 1990s shoegaze scene, so another box is ticked for music fans of a certain age and inclination. The success of this year’s album, Interplay, brought Ride back into the game with tunes, observed Uncut magazine, that felt “wonderfully, unexpectedly younger than yesterday”.
J Smith
Friday, September 6th, Cobblestone, 8pm, €20/€15, cobblestonepub.ie
A new chapter is about to be written by James Smith, a former member of Dublin’s Gypsies on the Autobahn, and a member of the Smith family that also has pianist Daniel Luke and rapper Kojaque in the ranks. Along with tracks from his 2021 debut solo album, (…) And You Chose Not to Laugh, Smith will perform his new single, Rotunda, which he wrote in response, he says, “to the birth of my child and the experience my wife and I had being separated due to Covid restrictions”. As he and his family prepare to relocate to France, this show will be Smith’s last in Ireland for some time, so let’s give him an au revoir to remember, shall we?
Beauty & the Beast review: On the way home, younger audience members re-enact scenes. There’s no higher recommendation
Matt Cooper: I’m an only child. I’ve always been conscious of not having brothers or sisters
A Dublin scam: After more than 10 years in New York, nothing like this had ever happened to me
Traditional
Seán Corcoran Series
From Friday-Sunday, September 6th-8th, various venues, times and prices, Drogheda, Co Louth, seancorcoranseries.com
The second edition of the festival celebrating the life and legacy of the influential Drogheda folklorist and song collector Seán Corcoran presents a terrific line-up of music, workshops, film, singing sessions and public interviews. Of particular note are Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin Trio (Friday, September 6th, 7.45pm, Droichead Arts Centre), Cróí na Féile gala concert (Saturday, September 7th, 7.30pm, St Augustine’s Church) and Catriona Crowe (in conversation with Donal Fallon, Sunday, September 8th, 1pm, Highlanes Gallery).
In conversation
Robert Harris
Tuesday, September 3rd, Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, 8pm, €31, paviliontheatre.ie
The bestselling novelist Robert Harris is on the promotional trail for his latest book, Precipice, which is set on the eve of the first World War. Asking the questions is someone who’s no stranger to people attending Irish literary events: Alex Clark, regular presenter of BBC Radio 4′s Front Row, who knows how to negotiate interviews from start to finish.
Words and ideas
Resonance
Wednesday-Thursday, September 4th-5th, Killaloe/Ballina, Lough Derg, Co Clare, various prices, times and venues, resonance-loughderg.com
Following last year’s inaugural event, Resonance returns for another bout of diverse and inclusive cultural engagement with a line-up of speakers, workshops and mindful activities. The last of these include outdoor yoga and forest bathing; workshops include augmented reality, and video storytelling; speakers include former Mountjoy and Portlaoise prison governor John Lonergan, Virgin Music UK head of data/A&R analytics Jeremiah Gogo, Nature Therapy Ireland founder Sarah Hourigan, and neon artist and podcaster David Speed. The two-day event is capped off with a performance by the inimitable Jerry Fish (Thursday, September 5th) at the Lakeside stage.
Podcasts
Cork Podcast Festival
Wednesday-Sunday, September 4th-15th, Cork Opera House/St Lukes, 8pm, various prices, corkpodcastfestival.ie
Simply put, Cork Podcast Festival doesn’t disappoint. From Rebel Army (the official Cork City FC podcast) and Left on Read (online dating experiences from Julie Haynes and Brenda Dennehy) to Young Hot Guys (comedy with Tony Cantwell, Shane Daniel Byrne, Killian Sunderman), The Creep Dive (bizarre stories with Sophie White, Jen O’Dwyer, Cassie Delaney) and the acclaimed Blindboy Podcast, there is much to engage with. So much for message groups and Zoom chats, then.
Still running
Dissolutions
Friday-Saturday, September 6th-7th, the Complex, Dublin, from 10am, €25/€15, thecomplex.ie
“An experimental film festival” is the subtitle for next weekend’s Dissolutions, which aims to present fresh, diverse and underrepresented artists through a programme of talks, workshops and screenings. The latter will include Irish premieres of the documentaries The Buriti Flower, and Shared Resources, and a focus on Palestinian cinema.
Book it this week
Dizzie Rascal, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, October 22nd, ticketmaster.ie
Westival 2024, Westport, Co Mayo, October 23rd-28th, westival.ie
John Murry, Spirit Store, Dundalk, Co Louth, November 21st, spiritstore.ie
Meryl Streek, Whelan’s, Dublin, November 29th, ticketmaster.ie
