Monday, April 9th
Jessica Lea Mayfield
Whelans, Dublin, 7.30pm €18 whelanslive.com
Blending plaintive country with austere rock, Kent, Ohio-born Jessica Lea Mayfield was initially part of her family bluegrass band One Way Rider – before she was a teenager, she was playing guitar and writing songs. Before she was 20, she had released her debut album, White Lies, and was writing and recording the follow-up, With Blasphemy So Heartfelt. That album was produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, who had been introduced to Mayfield through her hard-to-source debut, and who had been captivated by her expressive songwriting style. Said style has changed over the past 10 years from raw to raucous, but none is so deeply personal as the songs on last year's fourth album, Sorry is Gone, which documented the separation from her abusive husband. TCL
Dua Lipa
The Olympia, Dublin, €26.40 ticketmaster.ie. Also Tuesday
Moonlighting as a relationship counsellor, New Rules and IDGAF singer Dua Lipa is undeniably the biggest thing to happen in the pop charts in recent years. Since the release of her debut single Be the One in 2015, the London-based pop star has been turning heads both sides of the Atlantic. These gigs, as part of her First Loves Tour, will be a nice warm up for anyone wanting to see her play at Electric Picnic this September. LB
Tuesday, April 10th
Five Grand Stereo
Grand Social Dublin, 7.30pm, €9 thegrandsocial.ie. Also Wednesday Kasbah Social Club Limerick, 8pm, €6 dolans.ie
What's wrong with a whip-smart band that makes a theatrical concept album of "darkly humorous" songs about grubby sex, dirty money and pining for the one and only David Bowie? Not much, let us tell you. Fronted by Dubliner Chris Singleton, UK-based Five Grand Stereo makes a rare-as-hen's-teeth visit to Ireland for these two shows. The ticket admission price is as cheap as proverbial chips, while the quality is up there with the best of frisky art-pop. Most of the set will be culled from the band's very fine debut, Sex and Money, which this paper recently described as "a thrill ride for the head". TCL
Laoise
Upstairs in Whelans, Dublin, €10 whelanslive.com
Fresh from supporting Wyvern Lingo down in Cork, Laoise is the alternative pop star that Ireland needs. The Galway gal's voice takes a soulful turn over rolling synths and R&B beats and her latest single Bother, which starts off with a whisper and drums up to a roar, is a cool slice of what Laoise has to offer. This is sophisticated pop at its very best and it won't be long before she outgrows the upstairs venue in Whelan's. LB
Wednesday, April 11th
Bryde
Monroe's Bar Galway, 9pm, €10 monroes.ie; also Thursday Kasbah Social Club Limerick 8pm €10 dolans.ie; Friday Whelan's Upstairs, Dublin, 7.30pm €15 whelanslive.com
Welsh singer-songwriter Sarah Howells has chosen to present her latest batch of solo songwriting under the moniker of Bryde. A member of the indie-folk duo, Paper Aeroplanes (currently on hiatus), Howells has admitted that Bryde veers towards the darker and directly assertive side of her creative output. It seems that music without a collaborative aspect has allowed her to give much more of herself than before. Think London Grammar and PJ Harvey to a sprinkling of sparse guitar and purposeful lyrics. TCL
Thursday, April 12th
Delorentos
Róisín Dubh, Galway, 9pm €16/€14 roisindubh.net; also Friday Whelan's, Dublin, 7.30pm, €15 (sold out) whelanslive.com
Where have they been, these bold Choice Music Prize-winning musicians? Well, it seems Delorentros were in rural Spain over two years ago recording an album, but didn't like the results so they ripped them up and started again. Scrapping new material (aka The Vineyard Album) is always a tough decision, but this band has always worked from a baseline of painstaking honesty. The forthcoming fifth album, True Surrender, is released on April 27. In the meantime, you can view these gigs as equal parts catharsis and showcase for a band it's always good to have on your side. Support act on both nights is Brass Phantoms. TCL
Friday, April 13th
Columbia Mills
Button Factory, Dublin, 7.30pm, €15 buttonfactory.ie
Releasing their debut album, A Safe Distance to Watch, so late last year (November) may have scuppered the chances of it appearing on various Best Of lists, but the record is one of the few unleashed in 2017 that truly got away. If the album is a doozie in the relative comfort of ears and headphones, then live is where it – and the band - takes off. Forget about short bursts of pop songs, too – Columbia Mills take more durable routes to music that embrace propulsive beats and assured touches. Support acts include Orchid Collective, and Outsider, both of which you are advised to check out. TCL
Crazy Town
The Bowery, Dublin, €15 the bowery.ie
If the lyrics “Come my lady/Come come my lady/You’re my butterfly, sugar baby” don’t send a chill down your spine, then the early noughties craze of rap rock by-passed you. You dodged a bullet there. Crazy Town are back. Well, in a way they never left because they kept on making music even though the rest of the world moved on. If you’re willing to hand over 15 quid for one song, then this is the gig for you.
LB
Eve Belle
Project Arts Centre, Dublin, 8pm, €10 projectartscentre.ie
It all began for Dublin-born, Donegal-raised singer-songwriter Eve Belle when she held an Argos guitar in her hands at the age of 10: searching out tunes by ear, teaching herself chords, jotting down lyrics, recording her songs on an iPod Nano, and then – slowly, apprehensively – putting her music out on Soundcloud. Things started to really move, however, when Coldplay shared on its social media platforms a video clip of Belle performing a cover of the band's Violet Hill. Now signed to Rubyworks, the singer-songwriter (and TCD student) is engaged in co-writing with some high-end tunesmiths. That Argos guitar has long been consigned to history, and the words 'watch this space' seem appropriate. TCL
Goat Girl
Grand Social Dublin, 7.30pm, €12.50 thegrandsocial.ie
It has happened before, a music act signed to a prestigious indie label (Rough Trade) before it so much as released a song into the great wide world, but for London's Goat Girl this was just one small step to consolidating a feminist stance. That stance, stated the all-female band, was part of its reaction against testosterone-driven rock band gang mentality. Arriving in Ireland a week after the release of their self-titled debut album (19 tracks across 40 minutes gives The Ramones a good run for their money), Goat Girl's blend of garage, punk, goth and country runs in tandem with a keen political sensibility. The band impressed in a support slot last year, but this is their debut Irish headline show. TCL
It Takes a Village
Trabolgan Holiday Village, White Gate, East Cork, Friday April 13th-Sunday April 15th, 2pm, Weekend admission/accommodation from €275. ittakesavillage.fm
Hi-Di-Hi, anyone? A "strictly over-21s only' music/arts festival in a holiday home enclosure has never happened before in Ireland, so how this pans out will be most instructive, not least to the event's promoters. It's a good idea, however, to utilise Trabolgan's on-site self-catering accommodation (over 70 houses/apartments) and fully serviced campervan pitches (35), as well as its family-fun entertainment of swimming pool, go-karting track, bowling alleys, and much more. Add to this is the (mostly) Irish line-up, which across three nights features the likes of Lankum, Talos, Bitch Falcon, Altered Hours (Friday), Super Silly, Le Boom, Donal Dineen, Bantum (Saturday), Martin Hayes, Saint Sister, Seamus Fogarty (Sunday). Runs until Sunday April 15. TCL
