Lukas Graham, Inni-K, David Gray: The best rock and pop gigs this week

Saturday, March 30th
JULIA JACKLIN
Whelan's, Dublin 8pm, €17 (sold out), whelanslive.com
Listening to the dreamy songs of Australia's Julia Jacklin – and especially her latest album, Crushing – you'd be hard pressed to imagine that she began her career covering Avril Lavigne and Evanescence songs. Such early influences passed on the bug for making her own music, and from about three years ago that is exactly what Jacklin has done. Latterly influenced by (she readily admits) Doris Day and Bjork, Jacklin makes music for the wee small hours and the heartbroken people that mostly survive in them. TCL

NEALO

Whelan's Upstairs, Dublin 8pm, €15 (sold out), whelanslive.com
On the same night and time at the same venue, albeit in a smaller space, the Irish hip-hop community can get to see a headline show by Dubliner, Nealo. With an early background in music with the hardcore punk band, Frustration, Nealo has lately found hip-hop to be an ideal channel for his self-expression. Joining him on stage to provide sonic flesh around the bones of his words are DJ/producer Arbu, singer Molly Sterling, multi-instrumentalist Rafino Murphy, keyboard player Adam Byrne, and drummer, Fiachra Kinder. TCL

Woweembeem Weekender

Bello Bar, Dublin €10/15
The Woweembeem Weekender mini-festival kicked off on Friday night (29th) and, like all great things, it must come to an end. . .tonight. Join the festivities in the Bello Bar for live performances from Congolese musician Pepe Felly Manuaku and Elikya Band, the Irish-Libyan singer Farah Elle and the Dundalk-based Guadeloupean singer Ines Khai. And if you're looking for an after party, the Woweembeem DJs will be playing soulful and worldly tunes until closing time in Hang Dai Chinese. LB

RE: Vision 004 presents DJ Deece

Upstairs @ Judge Roy Beans, Kildare, €10.85
It's time for the monthly instalment of RE:Vision and this month the upstairs venue in Newbridge's Judge Roy Beans has DJ Deece leading the way. The Dublin DJ is a dab hand at spinning disco and house tunes and he'll be playing from start 'til finish. The last two RE: Vision nights were completely sold out so organisers advise buying your tickets in advance because there's nothing worse than being turned away at the door. LB

Ranking Roger, singer with The Beat, dies aged 56

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Female Composer Series, Pinchas Zukerman, Esther: The best classical music gigs this week

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Lily Allen, Clean Bandit to headline new Kilmainham festival this summer

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CHRIS SHIFLETT

Grand Social, Dublin 8pm, €19.45, thegrandsocial.ie
Chris Shiflett? No, doesn't ring any bells. Foo Fighters? Cue a clatter of campanologists. A few weeks ago, we had a member of The Killers (Dave Keuning) play a small Dublin music venue, and now it's the turn of a member of another multi-selling rock group to tread a much smaller Irish stage. The vibe is a little bit country and a little bit rock'n'roll, which makes sense considering his touring band features musicians that have played with Dwight Yoakam and The Chris Robinson Brotherhood. Special guest is Leila Jane, who will be performing, among other original tunes, her new single, Little Lady Blues. TCL

Sunday, March 31st Cork Sound Fair Closing Party

Dali, Cork €12 facebook.com/dalicork
As the experimental art festival Cork Sound Fair comes to a close, the send off party and final event of the festival will be taking place in the former cinema space Cork's Dali. There will be a DJ set from local heroes ELLLL, SHIV, Aoife O'Nell and Darren Li. Bliss Signal, the ambient metal project from James Kelly (Wife, Altar of Plagues) and UK producer Jack Adams (Mumdance), will also be making their Irish debut at this event. Doors are at 9.45pm. LB

Tuesday, April 2nd
DAVID GRAY
Waterfront Hall (Auditorium) Belfast, 7pm £52.50/£32.50 (sold out), waterfront.co.uk; also Thursday, April 4th, Royal Theatre, Castlebar, Co Mayo, 7pm €60.92/€50.50/€40.09 royaltheatrecastlebar.ie; Friday, April 5th/Saturday, April 6th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 8pm €42.09, bordgaisenergytheatre.ie
No stranger to Ireland? You can say that again. For most of his career, David Gray has dipped into and out of Ireland more times than we care to remember – from those career-making years in the early-mid 90s to right now with these sequence of shows, Gray has always been vocal about the respect the country's music fans have shown him. On this occasion, a new album (Gold in a Brass Age) will be plugged, but long-time fans will surely be treated to several songs that drew them to Mr Gray in the first place. TCL

Idles

Vicar Street, Dublin, €22.90, ticketmaster.ie
Having spent most of 2018 playing to full houses across the UK and the US, Idles have spent the first half of 2019 doing the same but closer to home. Onstage, the punk-rock band from Bristol are a vein-popping, sweat-breaking, loud and ferocious force to be reckoned with so if you got tickets for their sold out show in Vicar Street, count yourself to be extremely lucky. If you didn't, fret not as they're coming back to Dublin's Iveagh Gardens on July 11th. LB

LUKAS GRAHAM

Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €30.16 ticketmaster.ie
Formed in Denmark in 2011, Lukas Graham (it's a band, silly) is fronted by former actor Lukas Forchhammer. While it took some time for the band's music to filter out from their home base of Copenhagen, word-of-mouth and, in particular, the reaction to their live shows advanced their cause. Over the past four years, they have quietly but firmly become one of the popular groups in Europe, with three immensely successful soul/pop/hip-hop albums raking in the fans and the praise. You have been duly advised. TCL

Wednesday, April 3rd
ROE
Whelan's Upstairs, Dublin, 8pm, €12.80, whelanslive.com
Derry's Roisin Donald has been trudging around the periphery of commercial success for a few years now but is it only in the past year that she has racked up the gigs, the radio sessions, and the Spotify plays. A measured presence on stage, Roe started writing songs while at school and has since fused her love of fiction with the kind of intelligent pop music that is ready, willing and able to make its way into your life. Pop along and hear the tunes you'll be humming along by the end of the year. TCL

Thursday, April 4th Other Voices presents Anam

The Helix, Dublin €12/15, dcusu.ticketsolve.com
The Irish word for soul is anam and in their continued support of Irish artistry, Other Voices are hosting the Anam showcase in DCU for the second year in a row. With performances from the grime maestros Mango x Mathman, indie heroes Delorentos, alternative hip-hop duo Tebi Rex, spoken word artist Natalya O'Flaherty and singer-songwriter Katie Gallagher, it's a celebration of the diversity and variety that has given the Irish music scene a new lease of life. LB

PAUL TIERNAN

Coughlans, Cork, 9pm, €12, coughlans.ie
One of Ireland's misplaced yet very fine singer-songwriters, Paul Tiernan no longer lives here, but he hasn't stopped doing what he does best. His latest impressive album, The Invisible Man, will be launched with a series of shows this month. On all dates, Tiernan will be accompanied by musician/composer, Maurice Seezer. Tiernan continues the tour with shows in Whelan's, Dublin (Friday, April 12th), Central Arts Theatre, Wexford (Thursday, April 18th), Levis, Ballydehob, Co. Cork (Sunday, April 21st). More dates are scheduled in May and June – visit paultiernan.com for further details. TCL

Friday, April 5th CRY MONSTER CRY

The Unitarian Church, St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, 7.30pm, €17.39, ticketmaster.ie
Brothers Jamie and Richie Martin continue to keep it in the family, "it" being a smart mixture of melody-driven, harmonious, and lyrically assured songs. The pair released their debut EP, The Fallen, seven years ago, and while operating under the radar for much of that time have nonetheless arrived at a point where their music is making an impressive impact. This city centre show is the concluding date of a short nationwide tour, so expect a fit-for-purpose gig and six-pack-style songs. TCL

Thanks Brother

The Workman's Club, Dublin, €14.50, theworkmansclub.com
Thanks Brother is the new music project from Róisín O and former Miracle Bell member John Broe. The pair started writing music together in 2014 for Róisín's solo career but joined forces last year when they realised that they had an "undeniable creative chemistry". So here they are.  Self-described as "grit-pop", their music is more polished than gritty and their second single We Caught It draws from the Chvrches strain of pop, which is a grand strain to follow. LB

INNI-K

Coughlans, Cork, 9pm, €15, coughlans.ie
Dublin-based multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Inni-K leisurely follows up her 2015 debut, The King has Two Horse's Ears, with the recently released album, The Hare and the Line, which has advanced her music in special, affecting ways. This show constitutes the official launch of the record, although Inni-K continues her launch tour with shows in Levis, Ballydehob, Co Cork (Saturday, April 6th), Whelan's, Dublin (Thursday, April 11th), Black Gate Cultural Centre, Galway (Friday, April 12th), and Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co Kildare (Friday, April 26th). TCL