BAND OF THE WEEK
Girl Band
Bar Sub, Belfast 9pm £7 Also Thurs, Galway
It's ducks in a row for Dublin's Girl Band. From the assuredness of early track Lawman and subsequent signing to Rough Trade, to their debut album, Holding Hands with Jamie (see Album of the Week review, page 12), this bunch first consolidated and then quickly inherited the title of Best Live Band in Ireland.
FILM FESTIVAL
The Fingal Film Festival
Movies@Swords, Co Dublin Sep 25th-27th, fingalfilmfest.com The annual fest kicks into action today with another impressive array of screenings and special events. Opening film Surviving Auschwitz is the story of a successful Tunisian boxer who was later interned in that concentration camp. Treehouse Republic Animation will host a series of workshops. It all ends with an awards ceremony at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dublin Airport. Donald Clarke
TRAD BOOK LAUNCH
Colin Harper, John McSherry and Francis McIlduff
Hodges Figgis, Dublin 6pm Adm free facebook.com/ johnmcsherrymusic
A lauded analysis of our rich and lengthy piping tradition, written by Harper and McSherry, is launched tonight with piping from McSherry and McIlduff. Set to become a go-to for musicians, scholars and lovers of piping alike. Siobhán Long
TRAD
Frank Harte Festival
Teachers Club, Parnell Sq All weekend goilin.com
The late singer, song collector and architect Frank Harte collected and shared songs from our rich history with a generosity of spirit that begets this most “come all ye” of annual gatherings. Singers and musicians, storytellers and historians gather for a weekend full of sessions and concerts. Dublin’s songbook will be dusted off and celebrated in style.
GOSPEL-SOUL
Leon Bridges
Olympia Theatre Dublin 8pm €21 olympia.ie
Bridges, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, may be best known to some as the man behind the track Coming Home (recently featured in a commercial for the iPhone 6). But for those who can tell the difference between Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, Bridges's authentic '60s soul sound is the most important thing to be aware of.
HOUSE
Hidden Agenda
Button Factory, Dublin 11pm €15/€12 hiddenagenda.ie
Bondax are the house fiends from Lancaster working things out in considerable style. Adam Kaye and George Townsend have spent the past few years pushing infectious hooks, dastardly grooves and sunnysideup vibes on tracks such as All I See and at festivals and club nights worldwide. Certainly, the latter has kept the pair busy with a relentless touring schedule spreading the word far and wide.
TECHNO
DVS1
District 8 Dublin 11pm €18/€15 facebook.com/dvs1.hush
Zak Khutoretsky has been a part of the electronic music landscape since running illegal clubs on his home patch in Minneapolis in the 1990s. The St Petersburg-born DJ has long demonstrated a real killer touch when it comes to improvisational sets with tough edges, heavyweight pizzazz and a very distinctive sound. Inbetween standout sets at Berghain and other techno temples, he’s also shown that he’s fairly decent in the studio as well, with well- received releases for Ben Klock’s Klockworks, Derrick May’s Transmat and his own Hush imprint.
NATIONAL ANTHEMS
House Nation
Wiley Fox, Dublin 10pm 10 facebook.com/thewileyfox
It’s a second run for House Nation at the Eden Quay venue formerly known as The Pint. The line-up for tonight’s session includes Zenzo (Afro Village), DJ V-King (King Touch), Bart (Polska Techno) and guests. Expect a run all around the houses with deep house, tech- house, techno, Afro-House and Progressive House.
JAZZ CITY
Limerick Jazz Festival
Various venues, Limerick Fri- Sun limerickjazzfestival.com
Limerick gets its jazz on this weekend with a full programme that puts US visitors, vocalist Paul Jost and vibraphonist Tony Micelli alongside heavyweight local talent, including saxophonist Richie Buckley and trumpeter Linley Hamilton. Best of the weekend could well be Friday night, when creative Spanish alto player Perico Sambeat teams up pianist Phil Ware and his trio, before heading for Dublin’s JJ Smyths on Saturday night.
