Friday, September 22nd
Wild Youth Grand Social, Dublin, 7pm €15 thegrandsocial.ie Wild Youth – formed out of the smouldering ashes of Dublin band Bipolar Empire – might gradually come to regret their choice of name, but for now they are making all the right age-appropriate moves and noises. Having honed their songwriting skills over the past year, the band have proved their onstage worth over the past few months with well-received performances at Longitude, Indiependence and Sea Sessions. This headline show is the launching pad for new single Lose Control, which has been generating no small acclaim.
Lewis Watson Academy, Dublin 8pm €14.35 ticketmaster.ie Thanks to YouTube, Oxford-based singer-songwriter Lewis Watson has become one of the most sought after music acts of the past two years. From uploading videos onto his YouTube channel to releasing his 2012 debut EP (the pithily titled It's Got Four Sad Songs On It, BTW), Watson has steadily gained traction. Latest album Midnight is another firm step in the right direction, and if you're looking for someone whose songs veer to the left of David Gray and the right of Snow Patrol, then you know what to do, right?
Saturday, September 23rd
Ennio Morricone
3Arena, Dublin 8pm €86 ticketmaster.ie As he approaches the grand old age of 90 (in November 2018), the Italian composer, orchestrator and conductor known around the world as Maestro has decided to retire from public performances. The decision makes this farewell concert all the more a poignant must-see, as Morricone – bowing out under the tour title of 60 Years of Music – delivers film scores across the decades, from 1965's For a Few Dollars More to 2015's The Hateful Eight. Expect drama, tears, hugs, bouquets, and more accomplished musicians than you have ever seen on the 3Arena stage. Addio, Ennio!
Tuesday, September 26th
Hanni El Khatib
Academy, Dublin 7pm €16, ticketmaster.ie
How exactly does a kid who grew up skateboarding and listening to classic soul, doo-wop and 1960s British pop – and who then became involved in designing urban clothes – transform into a multi-instrumentalist songwriter whose music is used in TV commercials for companies such as Nike, Levi's, Converse, Audi and Nissan? If you're San Francisco-born Hanni El Khatib, the answer to that question is simple: you hook up with Black Keys main man Dan Auerbach, release an album of blues rock imbued with punk and hip-hop (2013's Head in the Dirt), and wait for acclaim to come your way. Which it did. Easy-peasy!
Wednesday, September 27th
LCD Soundsystem Olympia Theatre, Dublin 8pm €54.50 (sold out). Also Thurs/Fri, Dublin (sold out) LCD Soundsystem, formed over 15 years ago, landed with an explosive exclamation mark via debut single Losing My Edge. And now? Well, now they're back. The band that James Murphy split up in 2011 is now the band that James Murphy has put together again, and if new album American Dream is anything to go by, LCD Soundsystem will be around for some time to come. Expect electro-funk surges, choice selections from the new album and a packed theatre shouting along to Daft Punk Is Playing at My House.
Loyle Carner
Button Factory, Dublin 7.30pm €18 (sold out) From the Workman's Club gig earlier in the year to a sold-out show in a bigger venue less than 10 months later – it is surely all going according to plan for UK hip-hop/grime artist Loyle Carner. As well as his own considerable skills as a potent, expressive-narrative rapper, he can also attribute his rising profile to the success of this year's debut album, Yesterday's Gone, which was nominated for the 2017 Mercury Prize.
Thursday, September 28th
Basciville
The Workman’s Club, Dublin 8pm €13 theworkmansclub.com Wexford brothers Cillian and Lorcan Byrne know their southern bayous from their Irish glens, and we can safely predict it won’t be too long before the lads cross over from provincial hotshots to national (and beyond) names. Smooching in on the soul-blues of inspirational figures such as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Jeff Buckley and Van Morrison, EP releases such as 2016′s Blues in Red and new song Diving Hour display a canny ability to match emotion with eloquence with a particular Irish curve.
