Highlight of the Week
Girls Aloud
Prepare for an enthralling evening on 17th and 18th May at Dublin’s 3Arena, starting 6.30pm. Tickets can be obtained for €67.70 from ticketmaster.ie. Girls Aloud, a band with the phenomenal record of 20 top-10 singles in their brief time in the limelight, were brought together in 2002 through the well-known reality TV show, Popstars: The Rivals. They parted ways in 2009, had a year-long reunion in 2012-2013, and recently declared a series of 30 concerts. All are in honour of original member, Sarah Harding, who sadly passed away aged 39 from breast cancer last year. They will also perform on 20th and 21st May at the SSE Arena in Belfast, commencing at 6.30pm. Tickets range from £54.70 to £91.20, available at ticketmaster.ie.
Live Performances
Muldoon’s Picnic
Renowned Irish poet based in the US, Paul Muldoon, is coming to Ireland to present his unique blend of music, literature, and poetry. Performances start at 8pm on 13th May at Town Hall Theatre in Galway, with tickets for €20/€18 available at tht.ie; Market Place Theatre in Armagh on 15th May, with tickets at £25, available at visitarmagh.com. Continuing on 16th May at Wexford Arts Centre (tickets: €30, wexfordartscentre.ie), and finale on 17th May at Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin (tickets: €26 (sold out), paviliontheatre.ie). Joining Muldoon will be guests including Anne Enright, Glen Hansard, Colm Mac Con Iomaire and Donal Ryan; and at the closing night in Dún Laoghaire will be the novelist Roddy Doyle, composer and guitarist Hugh Buckley, poet Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, and crime writer Liz Nugent.
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton will be performing on the 16th of May at the 3Arena in Dublin. The highly anticipated concert will start at 6.30pm, with tickets priced at €86, though the show is currently sold out. Check ticketmaster.ie for further information.
Even after six decades of professional performance, Eric Clapton continues to produce captivating guitar solos which have not only inspired blues guitarists throughout the generations, but also continue to thrill his fanbase, who return, time and again, for his performances. Despite the absence of a new album, it’s expected that Clapton’s repertoire will feature some of his most loved tunes. Simultaneously, Clapton will be releasing a digital-only live album, “To Save a Child”, in July, aiming to aid the children of Gaza with all the proceeds.
For classical music enthusiasts, Kronos Quartet will be performing at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Sunday, 12th of May. Celebrating their 50th anniversary with the ‘Five Decades tour’, the line-up, though ever-changing, continues to be led by founding member, David Harrington. The performance card includes creations by Terry Riley, Laurie Anderson, Sigur Rós, Sun Ra, and Steve Reich.
The Cavan Arts Festival, a carefully curated event will encompass a variety of creative expression from Thursday, 16th May to Sunday, 19th May. Attractions range from street art, theatre and comedy to dance and music, featuring a number of notable performers across the four days.
For literature lovers, the International Literature Festival Dublin, from Friday, 17th May to Sunday, 26th May, is a must-visit. The event, taking place at Merrion Square Park, Dublin 2, offers a chance to immerse oneself in a literary world.
Since its inception in 1998, Ireland’s main literary occasion has earned a commendable standing, not only for attracting top global and local authors, but also for fostering emerging talents. Notable participants have included Marlon James, Marilynne Robinson, David Nicholls, Marian Keyes, Richard E Grant, Olivia Laing, Colm Tóibín, Kevin Barry and Sayaka Murata, to name but a few.
On the dance front, Dublin Dance Festival takes place from Tuesday, 14th May to Saturday, 25th May in various venues across town, with a tie-up of different costs and timelines. Venues include Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Abbey Theatre, Project Arts Centre, and the Ark. Highlights for this year’s event are 13 Tongues by the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Caraça by Portuguese choreographer Marco da Silva Ferreira, Night Dances by Irish choreographer Emma Martin, My Body of Coming Forth by Day by Frenchman Olivier Dubois and Cometa, a Spanish-German alliance between Roser López Espinosa and Vorpommern tanzt an for ages six and over.
In the realm of photography, Teenage Kicks Rebellious Youth begins on Friday, 17th May at Photo Museum Ireland, Dublin. Garry O’Neill, a noted sociocultural archivist, curates this exhibit exploring the subculture and street style of Dublin from the 1970s to 1990s. Garry’s 2011 book of youth-culture photography, Where Were You, is among his notable works. As part of the Bealtaine Festival by Age & Opportunity, Garry will discuss the exhibition on opening night (Friday, 17th May) alongside songwriter Gavin Friday, DJ and vintage style expert Dandelion, IFI Irish Film Archive’s Chief, Kasandra O’Connell, and Irish music historian Michael Murphy, followed by outdoor projection of archive images at Meeting House Square.
Still on the arts front, the ongoing exhibition Like the Light at the Beginning of the World continues at the Kerlin Gallery, Dublin until Saturday, 18th May.
In accordance with the title of the showcase, a dozen creators have illustrated it through a collection of artwork. This includes the pieces like “Landline Green Yellow” by Sean Scully, “I Searched for Form and Land” by Elizabeth Magill, and “Dead Talk (Archaeologists)” by Isabel Nolan. Besides, a latest piece assembled by Jaki Irvine also forms part of the exhibition.