What’s on Friday: Sufjan Stevens, Minimum Maximum, Subject and Dubfire

PICK OF THE WEEK

Sufjan Stevens
The Helix, Dublin, 7.30pm

What plaudits can you pile upon young Sufjan Stevens that haven’t already been thrown upon his slender American shoulders? He’s one of the finest songwriters of his generation. He’s got a bewildering appetite for new projects and ventures, whether it’s the lush pop music of The Age of Adz or the noisefest of Enjoy Your Rabbit. And then he might be just as happy to drop off the radar altogether for a year or two.

Carrie & Lowell, his latest, beautiful record, found him, much like Bjork, in devastatingly sad form, mourning the death of his mother, the Carrie of the title. The Lowell part is his stepfather, who seems to have had more of an impact on his upbringing than his mother, and who now runs his record label, Asthmatic Kitty. This is not a record of bitterness; it is one of loss and forgiveness.

What does all this mean for his two-night stint at the Helix? Stevens has a reputation for glittering live shows, packed with pomp and glamour. The reviews on his latest tour suggest that while the shows are of course built around the new record, he’s shining a bright light on the darker corners, and building into something uplifting. We can hardly wait.

OUTDOOR SHOW

Minimum Maximum

Civic Offices, Dublin 6.30pm €5 minimummaximum.net

This is the first in a series of shows organised by Happenings and Nialler9, taking place in the outdoor ampitheatre at Dublin’s Wood Quay. The gigs start in neat post-work time slots, and all for just a fiver. Tonight’s three points of power are I Have a Tribe (above), Stomptown Brass and Saint Sister. Laurence Mackin

TRAD

Alan Kelly Gang with Eddi Reader and John Douglas

Live at St Luke’s, Cork 8.30pm €20 coughlans.ie Also Sat, Kildare; Tues, Mayo; Wed, Roscommon; Thurs, Dublin

Managing to rehabilitate the piano accordion is a feat in itself, and Roscommon musician Kelly has done that almost single- (double?) handedly. But to also compose some of the best tunes in recent years and convene a quartet of such inimitable grace and style . . . well, that's hitting it out of the ballpark. With special guests Eddi Reader and John Douglas, Kelly embarks on a nationwide tour. Catch them throughout the week for some sublime tunes and gorgeous songs from Reader, the queen of interpreters. Siobhán Long

BIRTHDAY

Subject

District 8, Dublin 11pm €20/€18 subjectevents.com

A busy weekend for the hard- working Subject team, with two big nights to make their eighth birthday. Tonight it's Berghain resident Marcel Dettmann in the house for a four hour tour-de- force (Dettmann also plays Crystal in Waterford on Saturday). On Saturday night, the Subject party continues with Chicago house music don and French Kiss hit-maker Lil Louis in the Opium Rooms. Jim Carroll

HOUSE

Dubfire

Button Factory, Dublin 11pm €15 dubfire.com

Back in the day, Ali Shirazinia was one half of Deep Dish, the Washington, DC deep house thrillers who reigned supreme in the late ’90s. These days the man known as Dubfire gets to play the biggest rooms with his brand of minimal techno. Aside from his HYBRID live show, Dubfire’s work in the studio has produced some decent floor- fillers, remixes and releases for his SCI+TEC label. JC