Fatboy Slim and Kamasi Washington: the best rock and pop gigs

SATURDAY MARCH 2

Fatboy Slim
3Arena Dublin 6.30pm €61.92 ticketmaster.ie
Norman Cook is 56 years of age come July, but Fatboy Slim seems ageless. Cook has been around the block – first as a member of The Housemartins, then as a founding member of Beats International, more durably, as the aforementioned DJ and producer. Highly regarded as a remixer (for the likes of Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, Cornershop) and collaborator (from David Byrne to Damon Albarn), it is as a live entity he is best known. Expect a righteous, riotous night of tunes, beats and renditions of Praise You, and The Rockafeller Skank. TCL

Ken O'Duffy
Whelan's Upstairs Dublin 8pm €10 whelanslive.com
As happens far too often, too many superb bands are too quickly forgotten. One such was Saville, a Dublin outfit who released, among other bits and pieces, the much-admired 2008 album Nostalgia. Former Saville member, Ken O'Duffy, hasn't been twiddling his guitar-playing thumbs, however, as later this year will see the release of his debut solo album, The Last Night at the Gentleman's Club. Before that, however, O'Duffy will be releasing a single or two, the first of which is Where the Water Rushes Grow. TCL

Tank and the Bangas
The Sugar Club, Dublin €25 thesugarclub.com
If they haven't landed on your radar yet, work New Orleans group Tank and the Bangas into your life. They mix hip-hop with slam poetry, served up with soul and a slice of comedy. Due to demand, they are putting on a second show on the same night. Doors for the first gig are 7.30pm, and the second show kicks off at 11.30pm. Support on the night comes from Fehdah. LB

Outsiders Music Festival
Cyprus Avenue Cork 9pm €12.50 cyprusavenue.ie
Anyone with ears knows Ireland is having a moment with a diverse and exciting range of urban music. The inaugural Outsiders Music Festival aims to highlight the array of talent we have. Acts performing include Kestine, Tebi Rex, Jay Ronic, Olympio, and the swiftly emerging JyellowL, who is plugging his latest radio single, True Colors. Aside from this show, JyellowL is support to The Game, who plays Monroe's, Galway (Sunday, March 3rd), Ulster Hall, Belfast (Tuesday 5th), Big Top, Limerick (Wednesday 6th), The Helix, Dublin (Thursday 7th), and Factory, Waterford (Friday 8th). TCL

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The Ruts DC & The Professionals
Button Factory Dublin 7pm €25 buttonfactory.ie
The Ruts were one of the UK's better 1977-1979 punk bands. Their attempt to make the world a better place through a robust mix of punk and reggae imploded when lead singer Malcolm Owen died of a heroin overdose in 1980. A back-to-basics version of the band has continued since then. One of the bands that inspired The Ruts were The Sex Pistols, whose members Paul Cook and Steve Jones formed The Professionals in 1979. Jones is no longer a member, but Cook keeps the ship afloat, with new frontman Tom Spencer dishing out the dirty guitar chords and gutsy vocals. TCL

SUNDAY 3

Kamasi Washington
Olympia Theatre, Dublin €41.61 ticketmaster.ie
In the Venn diagram of jazz and hip-hop, Kamasi Washington's name stands tall in bright lights. The saxophonist, producer and composer from Los Angeles has worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Lauryn Hill, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Snoop Dogg and Chaka Khan over the years, and his 2018 album, Heaven and Earth, made it on to a number of publications's end-of-year lists, with The Irish Times giving it five stars. Expect a rich and lavish show. LB

Christian Löffler
Dali, Cork €12/€15 eventbrite.ie
Almost one year since he played in The Sugar Club, German electronic musician Christian Löffler is taking his audiovisual set to Cork. Performing songs that he composed in a log cabin that overlooked the Baltic Sea, he incorporates a feeling of "emotional and physical loss, getting lost, as well as arriving" into his tracks, which work off a hypnotic house beat. While his inspiration may come from the lows, his live set will leave you on a high. LB

MONDAY 4

KT Tunstall
Olympia Theatre Dublin 7pm €46.87/€35.88 ticketmaster.ie; also Tuesday, March 5th, Elmwood Hall Belfast 8pm £27.50 qub.ac.uk
Most artists come to the point where they have to really tell it like is, and so Scottish singer KT Tunstall's two most recent albums (2016's Kin, and last year's Wax – the third collection in a proposed trilogy arrives later this year) have focused on the subtle balance between mind, body and soul. Despite such delicate yet necessary topics, the music remains as sturdy and committed as it has ever been. TCL

THURSDAY 7

RTÉ Choice Music Prize
Vicar Street, Dublin €28.10 ticketmaster.ie
Tonight's the night when 10 judges, all working in some capacity in Irish music media, dissect a shortlist of 10 albums to pick the best Irish album released in 2018 and the public cast their vote for the song of the year. Nine of the 10 album nominees, including Saint Sister, Kojaque, Just Mustard and Wyvern Lingo, will perform on the night. RTÉ Choice Music Prize Conversations will also be making a return this year, with tickets available to buy on eventbrite.ie LB

Peter Björn & John
Whelan's Dublin 8pm €20 whelanslive.com
This titular trio celebrate their 20th birthday this year, so congrats to Peter Morén, Björn Yttling and John Eriksson on sticking it out for so long. Congrats, too, for creating some especially good music that – latterly, at least, in the form of last year's album, Darker Days – has explored global concerns, personal affairs and what the band members describe as "exploring the shadows of our own psyche". Check out the support act, by the way: Join Me in the Pines, the very fine side project of BellX1 member Dave Geraghty. TCL

LANY
Olympia Theatre, Dublin €24.85 ticketmaster.ie
LANY are a perfectly fine synth-pop band with dreamy vocals but, for entertainment purposes, let singer Paul Klein over-explain the group's name. "We knew we wanted a four-letter word because of design and aesthetic purposes, but as you can imagine, all the four-letter words in the entire world are taken," he told Teen Vogue. They liked the "span across the country" between Los Angeles and New York and so … LANY was born. Some things are better left unsaid. LB

Maria Somerville
Róisín Dubh, Galway €8/€10 roisindubh.net
To coincide with the release of her debut album All My People, Connemara singer and musician Somerville, who covers a plethora of genres – including post-punk, traditional Irish and humming pop – is hitting the road for an Irish tour. Kicking off in Galway, you can catch her in Cork (March 8th), Limerick (9th), Belfast (16th) and Dublin (22nd). She's also performing at Sherkin's Open Ear Festival on June 1st and on Inis Oírr on June 16th. LB

FRIDAY 8

Country2Country
3Arena Dublin 6.30pm €109.33/€84.34/€55.86 ticketmaster.ie
Another year, another Country2Country event, and while the contemporary C&W fans are well catered for, there are surely more than several lovers of the genre (which by now takes in a mix of folk, Americana and the broader reaches of the singer-songwriter area) who will wonder why Lyle Lovett isn't a headliner. This said, there is much to attract the fan base. On Friday, March 8th, Lady Antebellum headline (with Hunter Hayes, Dustin Lynch, Carly Pearce). On Saturday, March 9th, the headline act is Chris Stapleton (with Lyle Lovett, Ashley McBryde, Drake White & the Big Fire); the headliner on Sunday, March 10th, is Keith Urban (with Brett Eldridge, Cam, Chase Rice). TCL