Going out this weekend? Here’s the best of what to see and do

Selected highlights chosen by Michael Dervan, Jim Carroll, Rosita Boland, Tony Clayton-Lea, Siobhán Long, Aidan Dunne, Peter Crawley, Cormac Larkin and John Lane

FRIDAY

CLASSICAL
RTÉ NSO/Josep Pons
NCH, Dublin 8pm €15-€35 nch.ie
The RTÉ NSO is going Spanish. Some of the most famous Spanish-flavoured music is French, and the NSO is presenting a musical sandwich with works by Turina and Falla as the Spanish bread and pieces by Lalo and Ravel as the French- sourced filling.

Conductor Josep Pons and violinist Leticia Moreno |(above), both making Dublin debuts, are both Spanish. And, by curious coincidence, there's another programme from the Iberian peninsula at the NCH on Monday. The Catalan Chamber Orchestra under Joan Pàmies, with soprano Marta Arbonés and violinist Joan Espina, play works by Toldrà, Cervelló, Montsalvatge and Casals, and find room for an Irish work, too, Seóirse Bodley's teenage Music for strings. MD

INTO THE GROOVE
Jellybean Benitez
Index, Dublin 11pm €12/€10 facebook.com/djjellybeanbenitez
It's hard to believe that this is the first time that John "Jellybean" Benitez (left) has landed in Dublin airport for a DJ-ing gig. This is an Irish debut which has been a long time in the works. His list of credits is a who's-who of 1980s pop, featuring the likes of Madonna, Whitney Houston, Talking Heads, Debbie Harry, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. He's still in the DJ game so you can expect a set of classic New York disco from him tonight. Support from Kelly- Anne Byrne, Billy Scurry and Damp Wax. JC

STRING THEORY
Darol Anger and Republic of Strings
National Opera House (Jerome Hynes Theatre), Wexford, 8pm, €16/€14 Tel. 053 9122144/ nationaloperahouse.ie Also Sat, Baltimore Fiddle Fair; Tues, Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray; Wed, Glór, Ennis; Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar musicnetwork.ie
Jazz, bluegrass, folk and classical sounds collide and coalesce in the most iridescent ways when Darol Anger's in town with his current compadres The Republic of Strings. Anger's a natural collaborator, having worked with Dave Grisman, Bill Frisell, Martin Hayes, Stephane Grapelli and countless others. Composer, producer and master fiddle player Anger brings so much more than tunes on the road. Oh and he just happens to be an Associate Professor of Music at Berklee College in his spare time. SL

SCI-FI
Dublin Sci-Fi Film Festival
Various venues, Smithfield, Dublin Fri-Sun, dublinscifi.com
The inaugural Dublin Sci-Fi Film Festival takes place over the weekend in Dublin city centre and comprises screenings of new features, documentaries and short films, along with classis such as The Fifth Element, Barbarella and Forbidden Planet. For more, see this. JL

FREE STATE
Crash Ensemble
The Studio, NCH, Dublin 8.30pm €15/€10 nch.ie
FREE STATE is Crash Ensemble's name for its annual showcase for younger composers. The concert's 10th iteration features works selected by the players themselves through an open call in which the scores were presented anonymously. The successful composers are Donal Sarsfield, Robert Coleman, Daniel McDermott, Timothy Doyle, Eric Skytterholm Egan and Finola Merivale. MD

EP LAUNCH
Elaine Mai
The Workman's Club 8pm €10 theworkmansclub.com Also Saturday, Róisín Dubh Galway 9pm Adm free roisindubh.net
Influenced by her singer mother, Co Mayo songwriter Elaine Mai started playing guitar as a teenager, but she first came to nationwide prominence five years ago when she was the featured vocalist on Le Galaxie's Love System. Since then, Mai has become a go-to singer for various music acts, as well as forging her own path as a solo singer-songwriter of the electro-ambient persuasion. Last year's single Enniscrone, and her recently remixed version of the Liza Flume song Sheets, are swiftly trumped by new EP The Colour of the Night, which Mai launches tonight in Dublin and tomorrow in Galway. TCL

PYG OUT
Hot Wax
Pygmalion Dublin 9.15pm €10 pyg.ie
It took some time for the Ostgut Ton label to realise the talent it had on its hands in the shape of Panorama Bar veteran Massimiliano Pagliara. The Italian-born and Berlin-based DJ had been thrilling that venue's regulars for a while now, but it was only in February that the Berghain in-house label got around to releasing his work. He's also a good man for collaborations, working up a storm with Fort Romeau on Violet Hour. Support for Pagliara from Gavin Boyce and Kev Struttin. JC

ART
Glitch Festival Dublin 2017
Rua Red, South Dublin Arts Centre, Tallaght, Dublin Until June 10 ruared.ie
The annual digital arts festival kicks off with artists David Beattie, Cliona Harmey, David Lunney, Richard Forrest and Robin Price inhabiting Rua Red's white cube creating new works with Livestock performances artists occupying the Performance space. All that to May 11th. Thereafter, the works made by the five artists, in whatever form they happen to take, "the material traces of an onsite experimentation period in the gallery" or "Traces of the Live Event," will be on view, plus Cécile Baboile, Cathy Coughlan and in Gallery 2, Final year students from the Creative Digital Media BA programme at IT Tallaght until June 10th (plus live performance event May 13th). Matthew Nevin and Ciara Scanlon curated. AD

HIP-HOP
Nadia Rose
Sugar Club Dublin 8pm €15 eventbrite.ie
So far, it's all about having fun, but London rapper Nadia Rose (left) must surely know that when success comes knocking having a laugh can often be sidelined. Rose (who is the cousin of Stormzy) gained a substantial following last year when videos for her freestyling tunes Station and D.F.W.T. went viral. What a difference two years can make, though – in 2015, she fed her head at university while making ends meet working in a bookie's shop. Now she's signed to Sony, is on conversational terms with Alicia Keys, and poised to face up to Lady Leshurr in the most successful UK female hip-hop artist contest. TCL

STEAMPUNK JAZZ
Stephanie Nilles
Hot Spot Music Club, Greystones 8pm €8 thehotspot.ie
Peripatetic pianist and singer Stephanie Nilles is like a character from a Tom Waits song, a barroom savant mixing up a cocktail of blues, barrelhouse and burlesque with dark punk-ish overtones.

It all started out so well for the Chicago-born, New Orleans-resident pianist with a degree in classical piano, but she was increasingly drawn to darker corners, taking her first songwriting steps on the arch anti-folk scene of New York's lower east side. Waits, Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonious Monk and Bessie Smith all echo through comic songs and murder ballads such as Love Me Or I Kill You, and Egyptians are from Egypt, with support from trumpeter Thomas Deakin. CL

FAIR FIDDLES
Baltimore Fiddle Fair
Various venues, Baltimore, all weekend fiddlefair.com
Celebrating its 25th birthday this weekend, Baltimore Fiddle Fair has all the flair of the carefully curated gathering that it is, crossed with the priceless advantage of its intimate coastal setting. With concerts in garden amphitheatres and in the snuggest of snugs, this year's fair gathering has drawn a heady mix of artists.

Scottish fiddle and harp duo Catriona McKay and Chris Stout mix it up tonight, along with the superb Buttons and Bows, a double bill that will set the pace for the weekend ahead. The Foghorn String Band (above), Tim O'Brien, Altan, No Crows and percussive dancer Nic Gareiss with Allison de Groot will keep the ante upped for the rest of the weekend. Darol Anger and his Republic of Strings add further to what is a highly imaginative line up this year. SL

MAY MUSINGS
A Walk In The May Dew
The National Library , Dublin 11.30am Adm free folklore.ie
Intriguing gathering of singers and academics who will examine the rich folklore associated with the month of May, including its cures, superstitions, customs and rituals. The brainchild of Michael Fortune and Aileen Lambert, today's seminar will be complemented by a singing session in An Góilín this evening at the Teacher's Club. SL

THEATRE
The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival
Various times and venues, Dublin gaytheatre.ie
The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival continues this weekend. This is the 14th year of the festival, during which its 4,000th performance will be staged. The plays cover a range of arresting topics, from Mormon missionaries, to lesbian gangsters in the East End of London, to a gay Traveller boxing champion. RB

SATURDAY

FUNDRAISER
The Gig
Olympia Theatre, Dublin 8pm €35 ticketmaster.ie
Fundraising gig for ISPCC Childline, presented by Dublin radio station FM104 under the banner "Help a Dublin Child", with a youth-oriented line-up that will, no doubt, generate the occasional scream or three. We can't help but notice, however, that the line-up is decidedly male- centric; much as we admire the quality pop/rock likes of Little Hours, Hudson Taylor, The Academic and Picture This – and, indeed, the gents that populate them – the only scent of a woman on the bill is Jess Kav (left) – lead vocalist of the equally respected Barq. We're not ones for stating the obvious (and we're fully aware it's for a very important cause) but, like, lads – seriously? MC is comedian/impressionist Al Foran. TCL

WELL WELL WELL
Well Fest festival
Herbert Park, Dublin 4. Weekend tickets €65 or €40 for either Saturday or Sunday wellfest.ie
The Well Fest festival, takes place this weekend, billed as a health and fitness event. There will be a number of classes and workshops, so if the sun shines on Dublin town as it's forecast to do, the participants could be building up quite a sweat in Herbert Park. We're promised John Kavanagh, coach to Conor McGregor; "Instagram yoga sensations The Southern Yogi and GypsyOn," from the US; All-Star winning Gaelic footballer Enda McNulty; British fitness and health personalities; The Happy Pear duo; Svava Sigbertsdottir, inventor of The Viking Method, a multi-disciplinary fitness regime; and many others. RB

ACID TECHNO
Boston 168
Cyprus Avenue, Cork 11pm €17.50/€15 cyprusavenue.ie
Turin natives Vincenzo Ferramosca and Sergio Pace are on a mission with machines. Since the start of the decade, the pair have been producing tough acid techno which has turned many heads along the way. Be it releases on their own Old & Young label or for imprints such as Attic Music, Enemy, Odd-Even and Invovle, Boston 168 have been creating thumping techno full of psych twists and acid squawks. In their own words, it's "acid, dirty and rotten" and "a flow that comes directly from analogue machines". It's their first visit to Cork and techno fiends can expect a strong, raw and powerful live set. JC

OPERA
Radamisto
Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick 8pm €25/€20, and on tour, niopera.com
The Irish première of Handel's Radamisto comes courtesy of NI Opera on a tour that will see performances in Limerick, Cork, Dublin and Belfast. The production was originally to have been directed by NI Opera's Oliver Mears, but now that he's been elevated to the post of director of opera at the Royal Opera House in London he's been replaced by Wayne Jordan.

The designer remains Annemarie Woods and the ICO is conducted by David Brophy. The title role is taken by Doreen Curran with Aoife Miskelly (above) as Polissena, Kate Allen as Tigrane and Sinéad Campbell-Wallace as Zenobia. MD

GO BUTCH
Butch
Button Factory Dublin 11pm €10 buttonfactory.ie
Bülent Gürler is Butch, the German DJ and producer who has certainly been around the houses and has perfected a very likeable blend of hypnotic house and techno as he has gone about his travels. Support from Ross McMahon and Jack Thompson. JC

WATERBOY
Byron the Aquarius
Wigwam Dublin 11pm €12/€5 wigwamdublin.com
Good things come to those who wait. Alabama native Byron Blaylock has been producing beats for around a decade now, initially kicking off in 2007 with Onra on The Big Payback EP for Just Like Vibes. Since then, Blaylock has appeared on labels such as Rush Hour, Warp (with Flying Lotus), HHV, Circulations and Giant Step, as well as working with Eminem producer Denaun Porter from D12.

Byron made serious waves in 2016 with high-stepping and inventive EPs for for Theo Parrish's Sound Signature and Kyle Hall's Wild Oats labels. A man with a great handle on jazz-rinsed deep house, Blaylock is someone coming into his own right now. JC

METAL
Iron Maiden
3Arena Dublin 8pm €74.50 ticketmaster.ie
Forty years is a long enough time to be in any profession, but you have to hand it to Iron Maiden – although a few personnel changes have occurred since 1975, the metal band remains one of the most stable (and commercially popular) within the genre.

Playing just the one Irish date on their hugely successful Book of Souls Tour (so named after their 2015 double album), Iron Maiden (above) are unique, loud, flashy, still fit for purpose and quite possibly the last of their kind - not many rock bands these days have their own customized Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet flown by a band member; lead singer Bruce Dickinson, is a qualified pilot. Seeing is believing, etc. TCL

ALL DAYER
Genesis
Eglantine Bar Belfast 4pm £7 eglantinebar.com
You could argue that it's not really an all-dayer if it's only getting going at 4pm, but we'll call that a moot point and move on. Tonight's bash from Genesis is headlined by Salzburg-born former breakdancer Demuja who moved on from spinning on his head to spinning house, disco and techno. After finding a lot of support on the international club circuit, the one-time drummer turned to productions and has minted well-received tracks for Nervous, Food Music, 124 and his own Muja label as well as falling in with the Red Bull Music Academy crew in Vienna. JC

SUNDAY

ART
Beyond Caravaggio
National Gallery of Ireland, Clare Street, Dublin, until May 14. €15, concessions €10. Advance booking is advised at nationalgallery.ie
Running since February, this is the final week to visit the Beyond Caravaggio exhibition at the National Gallery, which features peerless works by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) – including The Taking of Christ (below) and The Supper at Emmmaus – as well as some fantastic paintings by 30 artists who came under the influence of the master in one way or another, including Guido Reni, Orazio Riminaldi, Mattia Preti and Artemisia Gentilesch. You'll never wash your eyes again. JL