Monday
Paul Simon
3Arena Dublin 7.30pm €121/€96/€76
ticketmaster.ie
Paul Simon, one of contemporary pop's most acclaimed songwriters isn't retiring just yet, which is good news for the fans. With a recently released number-one album, Stranger to Stranger, rightly commended for its vitality, there is clearly life in the old dog yet. With only several '& Garfunkel'-era songs on the set list, expect in the main a polyrhythmic Simon-centric show lasting an impressive two-and-a-half hours.
Syd Bluett - Typographical and other paintings on wood
Books Upstairs, 17 D'Olier St, Dublin Until Dec 2
The versatile Syd Bluett has followed his talents on a winding creative path encompassing graphic design, art direction, publishing, sign-writing (including several landmark premises in Dublin) and, now, painting. His paintings, which relish the process of their making, announce themselves in the manner of signs. They are, as he sees them, "entertainments for the visually literate".
Tuesday
Born to Create
Kemp Gallery, South Frederick Street, Dublin 2 Ends November 27
kempgallery.com
ADW is one of the leading lights in Irish street art. His road was circuitous, having forsaken what many would see as the holy grail – a career in the tech sector. After working in the computer games industry as a 3D artist, he turned to art full time in the post-2008 crash. It's unsurprising then that his pieces are layered with satire, humour and, rarest of all in the current climate, hope. Pop in and get some colour in your life.
Jess Glynne
3Arena Dublin 7.30pm €40.50
ticketmaster.ie
Two years ago, you'd have been hard-pressed to put a face to the name, but in the interim period, London singer and songwriter Jess Glynne has increased her profile to the degree that she can now headline this venue – which is not bad going for a singer with just one album (2015's I Cry When I Laugh) to her name. Think big songs, a powerful voice, and a considerable stage presence.
Wednesday
Chance the Rapper
The Helix Dublin 8pm €40.55
thehelix.ie
Known professionally as Chance the Rapper, Chicago-born Chancellor Bennett was inspired to choose music over anything else by Kanye West's 2004 debut album, The College Dropout. From his teenage years onwards, Bennett has marked out an impressive career path, with mixtape releases Acid Rap (2013) and this year's Coloring Book consolidating his status as hip-hop artist supreme. Bennett's appearance on John Legend's forthcoming album (Darkness and Light, out December 2) will surely cap off a quality year for him.
Thursday
Fight Like Apes
Róisín Dubh Galway 9pm Adm free
roisindubh.net
And so it goes, etc. We shall rightly mourn their passing, but we will also celebrate the fact that FLA (right) provided some of the best, exciting, sweariest gigs we've seen in the past 10 years. Thank you and goodnight, you lovable messers.
Old Anatomy - Jason Ellis
Oliver Sears Gallery, 29 Molesworth St, Dublin Until December 1
oliversearsgallery.com
Drawing on the extraordinary collection of plaster casts kept by the Department of Anatomy at Trinity College Dublin, Jason Ellis's new sculptures of anatomical fragments are meditations on beauty, mortality and time written in stone.
Flyin' Hi – Tommy Halferty at 70
Opium Rooms, Wexford St 7.30pm €25/€15
improvisedmusic.ie
With the passing of Louis Stewart, Tommy Halferty – one of Stewart's first and most talented followers – assumes the mantle of Ireland's senior jazz guitarist. In celebration of the Derry man's 70th year, a starry cast is assembling in the Opium Rooms to pay tribute, including acclaimed UK singer and long-time collaborator Norma Winstone, and bassist, composer and old friend Ronan Guilfoyle.
Honest
Bewley's Café Theatre, Powerscourt. Ends Nov 26 1pm €8-€12 (lunch €4)
bewleyscafetheatre.com
Meet Dave, a man so incapable of telling a lie in DC Moore's 2010 monologue that the first person to bear the brunt of his honesty is his 10-year-old nephew, seeking approval for his drawing. That Dave happens to be a civil servant, working in an ecosystem of unthreatened incompetents, means his life is a diplomatic minefield. On a night out to celebrate the over-promotion of a colleague, he finally explodes, leading to a drunken and destructive odyssey through London: a straight-talking bender. Performed with conspiratorial charm by Kevin Murphy and sharply directed by David Horan, the play may seem to glory in nihilism, but really its misanthropic monologue is an exercise in solipsism, exasperated and superior.
