The Guide: Rhiannon Giddens, OMD, Diversity and more events to see, shows to book and ones to catch before they end

Event of the week

Rhiannon Giddens

Sunday February 25th, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm, €40, ticketmaster.ie

This garlanded American singer-songwriter has stretched boundaries for most of her career, and she continues to do so with work that includes ballet (2019′s Black Lucy and the Bard) and opera (last year’s Omar, which won her and her co-writer, Michael Abels, the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music). Her most recent album, You’re the One, from 2023, is the focus of this rare solo concert, but such is Giddens’s stature you can safely bet she will be joined by a number of stellar colleagues. (Not, however, by Beyoncé, for whom Giddens provided banjo and viola on the singer’s recently released song Texas Hold ’Em.)

Gigs

Lucinda Williams

Tuesday February 27th, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €66.95, ticketmaster.ie

Despite health concerns after a stroke she suffered about three years ago, Lucinda Williams soldiers on with a virtually unbreakable can-do attitude. Renowned as a plain-speaking songwriter, Williams is touring her 15th studio album, Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart (“defiant, reflective, sentimental, angry and bruised,” noted this paper’s reviewer). Expect a show that connects the head and the heart with equal measures of rock’n’roll strut and emotionally resonating Americana.

OMD

Tuesday February 27th, Ulster Hall, Belfast, 7pm, £55 (sold out); Wednesday February 28th, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €56.35, ticketmaster.ie

Formed by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphries in 1978 in Merseyside, and inspired by the music of Kraftwerk, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – “such a very silly name,” McCluskey said some years later – are one of music’s most influential synth-pop groups. Nothing lasts forever, though, as McCluskey admitted last year when he said their latest album, Bauhaus Staircase, would likely be their final one. With that particular death knell melodiously ringing your ears, try not to miss these shows.

Hamsandwich

Friday March 1st, Spirit Store, Dundalk, Co Louth, 8pm, €25, spiritstore.ie; Friday March 8th, Cask, Limerick, 8pm, €22, casklimerick.com

Hamsandwich have been around the block a few times, but they endure because when it comes to live shows there are few that beat the Irish band for the mix of fun and games and smart tunes. This show, which sees the band perform as an acoustic trio, kicks off a series of March dates plugging their forthcoming live album. It continues at Bank Lane, Waterford (Saturday March 9th), Whelan’s, Dublin (Thursday March 14th), Seachurch, Ballycotton, Co Cork (Friday March 22nd) and Cleere’s, Kilkenny (Saturday March 23rd).

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Literature

Ennis Book Club Festival

Friday March 1st until Sunday March 3rd, Ennis, Co Clare, various times, venues and prices, ennisbookclubfestival.com

A jam-packed weekend of events to celebrate reading starts on Friday March 1st with Sinéad Gleeson and Claire Kilroy in conversation (moderated by Edel Coffey, Temple Gate Hotel, 4pm), continues on Saturday March 2nd (Dani Gill and Alice Kinsella discuss maternal lineage in their respective works, Ennis Courthouse, 4pm) and ends on Sunday March 3rd (Literary Lunch, with the poet and novelist Theo Dorgan in conversation with the festival’s artistic director, Martina Durac, Old Ground Hotel, 1.30pm). Full details are on the festival website.

Classical

Ortús Chamber Music Festival

From Sunday February 25th until Sunday March 3rd, various times, prices and venues, Cork city and county, ortusfestival.ie

Now in its ninth year, Ortús Chamber Music Festival ventures beyond Cork city with concerts in Bantry, Midleton and Mitchelstown, with a programme that includes works by Bach, Ravel, Holst, Schubert, Prokofiev, Mozart and Brahms. A particular highlight takes place on Sunday March 3rd, 11am, at St Peter’s in Cork city, where a selection of 17th- and 18th-century works will be performed. Mairéad Hickey (violin), Kelley Lonergan (voice), Siobhán Armstrong (harp), Marja Gaynor and Aoife nic Athlaoich (cello) feature in the festival programme with Moscow-born Karolina Errera (viola) and the Netherlands’ Ella van Poucke (cello). Full details are on the festival website.

Visual art

Turning Heads: Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer

Until Sunday May 26th, National Gallery, Dublin, various prices (advance booking for time slots/admissions required), nationalgallery.ie

Prevalent in Dutch Golden Age painting and Flemish Baroque painting, examples of a tronie – a type of portrait featuring an exaggerated facial expression or a widely known character such as beggar, jester or farmer – form the basis of this exhibition. Works include Rembrandt’s The Laughing Man, Rubens’s Study of an Old Woman and Vermeer’s Girl with the Red Hat. The exhibition was put together by Dr Lizzie Marx, the National Gallery’s curator of Dutch and Flemish art, and Dr Brendan Rooney, the National Gallery’s head curator.

Dance

Diversity: Supernova

Saturday February 24th, Waterfront, Belfast, 7pm, £33; Sunday February 25th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 2.30pm and 7.45pm, €40.55, ticketmaster.ie

It’s a long way from talent contests, that’s for sure. Since the dance troupe Diversity won the third series of Britain’s Got Talent, in 2009, they have sure-footed their way across many UK and Irish tours and innumerable performances on television. Their new show, following last year’s immensely successful Connected, continues creative director/choreographer Ashley Banjo’s mix of kinetic dance moves, AV effects, spoken word and state-of-the-art video projection/screen work. Your toes will tap, guaranteed.

Still running

Scene + Heard

Until Saturday March 2nd, Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, various times and prices, smockalley.com

After three weeks of an immensely diverse programme featuring more than 100 productions showcasing more 600 creators, writers, designers and performers, Scene + Heard draws to a conclusion with a series of rehearsed readings, and musical theatre, including Space Deli: The Musical, by Rob Keogh and Kat Clinch (9.30pm).

Book it this week

Rosie Jones, Liberty Hall, Dublin, April 23rd, ticketmaster.ie

Longitude, Marlay Park, Dublin, June 29th and June 30th, ticketmaster.ie

Dropkick Murphys, Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, July 7th, ticketmaster.ie

Annie Mac, Heineken Big Top, Galway, July 21st, ticketmaster.ie