Weekend Gig Guide: Dublin Bowie Festival, Steve Davis, Avenged Sevenfold and more

FRIDAY
Dublin Bowie Festival
Various venues/times/ticket prices, Dublin tickets.ie
The closing weekend of Dublin Bowie Festival has all manner of Bowie-related treats. Visit dublinbowiefestival.ie for the full list of events, but our personal favourites include Veda's Lashes to Lashes (The George, 8pm €12, tonight), Bowie Ball with the Salty Dog Allstars (Sugar Club, 10.30pm, €10, Saturday), Bowie Brunch with Today FM's Ed Smith (Woolen Mills, 12.30pm Adm free, Sunday), Vinyl & Wine presents Low (Liquor Rooms, 6pm, sold out, Sunday), and Gerry Leonard (above) gig & Q&A (Whelan's, 8pm €15, Monday). The festival concludes with a showing of the documentary Bowie Is (Lighthouse Cinema, 9pm, €15, Tuesday).

Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi
Black Box, 8-10 Donegal Square North, Belfast 9pm £10 028-90246609 cqaf.com
Experimental/psychedelic musician Kavus Torabi and Steve Davis, snooker player extraordinaire, bad ass DJ and lover of all things electronica and IDM, show just why, since 1996, so many people have been tuning into their weekly show on Phoenix FM. Expect a set from the very cutting edge of music.

First Fortnight
Workman's Club, Dublin firstfortnight.ie This evening sees the festival's Therapy Sessions taking place in the Workman's Club. This year the first session features electro music barons Le Galaxie (above) and Jeremy Hickey aka RSAG.

SATURDAY

David August
District 8 Dublin 11pm €18 district8dublin.com
German pianist and producer David August is a man capable of joining some dots which rarely end up in the same sentence. A member of piano-makers Steinway's prestigious artist programme and also a favourite at Boiler Room, August has the skills to make both of these very different musical constituencies hum with anticipation. Since the release of his 2013 album Times, August has found much favour for his live sets, while releases for Innervisions, Counter and Ninja Tune have shown his sure touch when it comes to textured electronic music.

The Museum of August Destiny
Pearse Museum, St Enda's, Rathfarnham, Dublin pearsemuseum.ie Admission is free but booking advised, either 01-4934208 or via pearsemuseum@opw.ie
Six artists offer their own thoughtful takes on how an independent Ireland lived up to the aspirations mapped out in the Proclamation. To wrap up the exhibition, today at noon five of the featured artists – Sarah Pierce, Anthony Haughey, Mark Clare, Aideen Barry and Amanda Coogan (Dragana Jurisic won't be there) – will discuss their work, with curator Dr Emily Mark- FitzGerald as moderator.

Mind Against
Opium Rooms Dublin 11pm €12/€10 opium.ie
It was Berlin where Italian techno producers Alessandro Fognini and Federico Fognini first began to work out that two heads were better than one. Over the past couple of years, their blend of psychy sauces and big room hooks have grabbed them a lot of attention. It's a worldwide appeal: after this Dublin show, they head to Mexico, the United States, Canada and Brazil.

Circus
Academy Dublin 10.30pm €10/€8 theacademydublin.com
The venue's marquee club night is a three-room bash which aims to keep everyone happy. There's house, hip-hop, club bangers and future sounds in the main room, with grime, hip-hop, R&B and 1990s anthems in the Green Room.

Avenged Sevenfold
3Arena Dublin 8pm €55.65 ticketmaster.ie
Metal starts and closes the month of January at this venue. Black Sabbath play 3Arena on Jan 20th, but the kickstarter band is California's Avenged Sevenfold, whose latest album The Stage, is being hailed as "a masterpiece". You have been duly informed.

First Fortnight
St Patrick's Hospital, Dublin firstfortnight.ie Aidan Murphy hosts the Cistin songs and stories session at St Patrick's Hospital. This year's line-up features Gavin Glass, five piece prog act Ana gog, folk act Meet Mongoose and the St Patrick's Staff Choir.

SUNDAY

Amiina
Black Box Belfast 7.45pm £12 blackboxbelfast.com cqaf.com
Iceland's Amiina began as support musicians to Sigur Ros, but since the group set out on its own some years ago, they have forged an equally distinctive sound. Fantomas is the title of their most recent album and their latest stage project – a live score to a classic silent film of the same name. As part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival

Ó Loclainn/Drennan/Carpio
Arthurs, Thomas St, Dublin 4pm, €10, arthurspub.ie

There have been various high-profile tributes to Louis Stewart since his death in August last year, but this may be the most poignant. The great guitarist’s quartet at the time of his death included bassist Neil Ó Loclainn, pianist Myles Drennan and drummer Sean Carpio. Their new trio promises to make evident what may be learned from playing with a master of modern music.