Event of the week
Paul Simon
Wednesday, May 20th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €216.20/€96.25, ticketmaster.ie
It’s a surprise, given the severe hearing loss in his left ear and subsequent thoughts about needing to retire from live performance, to see Paul Simon touring again. It’s also a pleasure. He decided to carry on after the success of Seven Psalms, his acoustic album from 2023; the name of this tour, A Quiet Celebration, flags a change of pace and a focus on optimal acoustics, precisely placed stage monitors and a set list that takes the singer-songwriter’s hearing loss into account.
The concert is in two parts. The entirety of Seven Psalms is followed by a selection of peerless songs, including Graceland, Slip Slidin’ Away, Homeward Bound, The Boxer and The Sound of Silence. A victory lap by any other name, and a well-deserved one at that.
Gigs
Richard Ashcroft
Saturday, May 16th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €70.70 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie
For music fans of a certain age, last year’s Oasis gigs at Croke Park were unforgettable experiences fortified not just by the Gallagher brothers but also by the main support act, Richard Ashcroft. The Verve’s former lead singer and songwriter will be concentrating on promoting his latest album, Lovin’ You, but will also inevitably perform songs such as Bitter Sweet Symphony, Lucky Man and The Drugs Don’t Work. Special guests are the Welsh indie band The Royston Club.
Kraftwerk
Sunday, May 17th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €172.75/€97.75/€72.20; Monday, May 18th, Waterfront Hall, Belfast, 7pm, £170/£54.40, ticketmaster.ie
Having changed the face of popular music, Kraftwerk are quite entitled to celebrate their 55-year history. With just one original member, Ralf Hütter, the group (“formation” might be a better description) perform as a quartet of robotic, motionless mannequins positioned at sound-desk lecterns, delivering a blend of bass-heavy techno rhythms, earworm electropop and fluid electronica.
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Doja Cat
Tuesday, May 19th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €118.90/€103.90/€93.90, ticketmaster.ie
Doja Cat is one of the world’s bestselling female rappers, with a lengthy list of awards to her name, as well as canny stylistic revisions. The singer arrives in Ireland with her Tour Ma Vie, named after last year’s album, Vie. Advance reports suggest fans will have a ball: expect a physical, playful performance and a neon-driven stage-production fusion of cyberpunk and Top of the Pops.
Spoken Word/Theatre
We Are an Archipelago
Wednesday, May 20th, Mount Carmel Chapel, Loughrea, Co Galway, 8pm, €19, tickettailor.com; Salmon Bookshop, Ennistymon, Co Clare, 7pm, €tbc, salmonpoetry.com
The North Carolina poet and performer Erin Fornoff, who lives in east Co Clare, is an evocative performer whose flair with words can generate both tears and laughter. She brings her semifictional spoken-word/play on tour with live score and songs by I Have a Tribe’s Patrick O’Laoghaire, the multi-instrumentalist Oisin Walsh-Peelo and the jazz drummer Dominic Mullan. Also Saturday, May 23rd, Seamus Heaney Homeplace, Bellaghy, Co Derry, 7.15pm, £15, seamusheaneyhome.com; Saturday, May 30th, Kerry Writers’ Museum, Listowel, Co Kerry, 12.15pm, €11.50, writersweek.ie.
Classical
West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival
From Wednesday, May 20th, until Sunday, May 24th, various venues, times and prices, Blessington, Co Wicklow, westwicklowfestival.com
The 10th edition of West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival features performances by the event’s founder and artistic director, Fiachra Garvey (Wednesday, May 20th, Russborough House, 8pm, €42), the Bechstein Trio (Thursday, May 21st, Russborough House, 8pm, €42), the Marmen Quartet, Friday, May 22nd, Russborough House, 8pm, €42) and, perhaps unexpectedly, the striking US jazz/soul singer China Moses (Saturday, May 23rd, Tramway Theatre, 8pm, €32). The festival closes with a programme of operatic and popular classics by the soprano Jennifer Davis, the tenor Nicky Spence and the pianist Dylan Perez (Sunday, May 24th, St Mary’s Church of Ireland, 3.30pm, €32).
Literature
Ballyscullion Park Book Festival
Saturday, May 16th, and Sunday, May 17th, Bellaghy, Co Derry, various times and prices, ballyscullionparkbookfestival.com
Subtitled A Celebration of Literature, Music and Art in the Heart of Seamus Heaney Country, this festival features in-conversation events with Jung Chang (Saturday, May 16th, 11am), Lionel Shriver (Saturday, May 16th, 2pm) and Irish Times books editor Martin Doyle (Saturday, May 16th, 4pm), plus Don’t Panic!, a panel discussion on the negative aspects of social media with Shriver, Charlotte Blease and Martina Devlin (Sunday, May 17th, 4pm). Of particular note for crime-writing fans is A Life of Crime (Sunday, 10am), featuring James Murphy and Alec Marsh on the enduring appeal of murder mysteries.
JLF Island of Ireland
From Friday, May 22nd, until Sunday, May 31st, various venues and times, free, jlflitfest.org
The international edition of the acclaimed Jaipur Literature Festival debuts in Ireland for a series of events in Belfast (May 22nd-May 24th), Armagh (May 26th-27th), Dundalk (May 28th) and Dublin (May 29th-31st). Events include Fragments of a Nation, with Aanchal Malhotra, Kishwar Desai and Marie Coleman in conversation with Susan McKay (Saturday, May 23rd, 4pm, Ulster University, Belfast), For and Against a United Ireland, with Fintan O’Toole and Sam McBride in conversation with Dearbhail McDonald (Wednesday, May 27th, Market Place Theatre, Armagh, 7.30pm) and The Alchemy of Writing, with Ruchir Joshi and Sinéad Gleeson in conversation with Manasi Subramaniam (Robert Emmet Theatre, TCD, Dublin, Sunday, May 31st, 1pm).
Still running
Festival of Voice 2026
From Friday, May 22nd, until Sunday, May 24th, NCH, Dublin, nch.ie
The second Festival of Voice gathers prominent Irish music acts (Saint Sister, Rachael Lavelle), community choirs, emerging artists and international names (the Grammy-winning composer Eric Whiteacre). A particular highlight is Jóhann Jóhannson’s Drone Mass, with Chamber Choir Ireland and Crash Ensemble (Sunday, May 24th, 8pm, €35/€25).
Book it this week
- Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics, Gleneagle Arena, Killarney, Co Kerry, July 3rd, ticketmaster.ie
- What Did You Do Yesterday podcast, Vicar Street, Dublin, September 2nd, ticketmaster.ie
- Dún Laoghaire Folk Festival, Pavilion Theatre, Co Dublin, September 9th-13th, foggynotions.ie
- Jon Hopkins, NCH, Dublin, November 23rd, foggynotions.ie
