SATURDAY 16
JUST MUSTARD
The Workman's Club, Dublin 8pm €10 theworkmansclub.com
Dundalk shoegaze/drone/trip-hop band Just Mustard are one of the most talked-about Irish music acts of the past six months. Music bookers have been falling over themselves, pretty much, to sign them up, and so far it's so good. Already this year, the band will be spending more time out of their Co Louth hometown than in it, with notable support slots (the dream-come-true biggie is surely The Cure at Malahide Castle on June 8th) and a showcase gig at Brighton's Great Escape festival in early May for the benefit of UK observers. As if all of this wasn't rousing enough for the five-piece, their debut album, Wednesday, landed on the shortlist of the RTÉ Choice Music Prize 2018. If you haven't yet checked them out, now's the time. Seriously. Note: earplugs advised. TCL
NENEH CHERRY
Academy, Dublin 7pm €35 ticketmaster.ie
There are few enough artists that you can safely describe as pioneers, but London-based Sweden-born singer Neneh Cherry is one. She released her debut album, Raw Like Sushi, in the summer of 1989 and, 30 years later – with a few interruptions in between – continues to make a firm impression. Her latest album, 2018's Broken Politics, once more sets out her position as a forward-thinking and defiant voice, which, noted Rolling Stone in its review, tackles global conflict and mess "not with histrionics, but with heartfelt, clear-eyed ruminations, sorrow, playfulness and resolve". Always a pleasure. TCL
FAMILY WITH BOO LEAN, HANDSOME PADDY AND ISLAND TIMES
Electric, Galway €5-€8facebook.com/electricgalway
From the ground floor to the roofop bar, Electric Galway will have each space filled with tunes. The Factory space hosts the Pittsburg DJ Boo Lean (Lauren Goshinski) who will be delivering house and techno, while Handsome Paddy will be shelling out the hip-hop, house and disco in the main space. Island Times and Pablo will be taking care of business upstairs at the rooftop bar with a steady mix of disco and house. LB
SUNDAY 17
SCANDILOUS: ROBYN VERSUS SCANDI POP
MVP, Dublin €8-€10 facebook.com/singalongsocial
With Robyn going up against every version of Scandi Pop in a Sing Along battle, it will be impossible for music lovers to pick a side. It's the World Cup of sad bangers and pop perfection, with Robyn going up against Sigrid, The Cardigans, ABBA, Lykke Li and many many more. Twenty per cent of all proceeds after costs is going to Joyful Noise, an inclusive community music project based in Dublin 12. LB
AJ CROCE
Whelan's, Dublin 8pm €20 whelanslive.com
People with long memories – as well as those that listen to RTÉ Radio One's Ronan Collins daytime show – will surely recall US singer-songwriter Jim Croce, whose song Time in a Bottle was written for his then unborn son. Tragically, Croce died at the age of 30, when that same son, AJ (Adrian James), was approaching his second birthday. Fast-forward a few decades, and Croce Jr has decidedly made his mark in the area occupied by the likes of Van Morrison, Ry Cooder, the Neville Brothers and Dr John. Fans of same take note. TCL
ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK
The Workman's Club, Dublin 8pm €12 theworkmansclub.com
If on a cold spring evening you wish you could locate the troublesome missing link between AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Queens of the Stone Age, then you could do an awful lot worse than hightailing it to see (and hear) Japan's Electric Eel Shock. Formed in 1994 – which means they're very much on the way to celebrating 25 years as a going if somewhat noisy concern – the trio set about touring the world in a virtually uninterrupted loop. Live, they are something else – a sequenced salvo of garage rock, punk and metal – and have to be witnessed at least once so that you can tell your grandchildren about it. TCL
MONDAY 18
MICRODISNEY
Vicar St, Dublin 7.30pm €46.86 ticketmaster.ie; also Tuesday February 19th, Cyprus Avenue, Cork, 8pm €36.50 (sold out) cyprusavenue.ie
You read about bands splitting up, getting back together again and then saying something along the lines of 'that's it, we're off, this will definitely be the last time we'll be performing as a band'? Well, this time Microdisney aren't faffing about. Lead singer Cathal Coughlan has made it very clear that these two shows will be the final times you'll see the band in action. We wish the band members well, of course, but with this sobering thought in mind, we urge you to get thee hence to the Dublin show (their hometown Cork gig is sold out) in order to salute one of the best Irish bands in recent memory. Goodbye, rascals. TCL
BOUNCE CLUB NIGHT
Róisín Dubh, Galway €5 roisindubh.net
Bounce is a club night for adults with intellectual disabilities that's hosted by Róisín Dubh once a month on a Monday night. Bounce is a fun, safe and accessible space for people of all abilities to socialise and have a bop in a traditional club space as DJs play a host of pop, rock, hip-hop and R&B songs to get everyone moving. Bounce is supported by That's Life, an arts programme run by the Brothers of Charity Services Galway. LB
JUNGLE
Olympia Theatre, Dublin €31.20 ticketmaster.ie
Busy Earnin' is one of those songs that is impossible to miss. Even if you don't know who sings it, you know the hook from the radio and you've heard it on your favourite TV show and played some video game to its beat. But the London funk and soul band Jungle are so much more than that one song. With fun at the forefront of each tune, you'll be too busy dancing all night instead of saving your moves for one. LB
TUESDAY 19
CHVRCHES
Ulster Hall, Belfast 8pm £28.50 ulsterhall.co.uk; also Thursday February 21st Olympia Theatre, Dublin 8pm €29.50 (sold out) ticketmaster.ie; also Friday February 22nd, same venue (sold out)
Scotland's Chvrches return to Ireland following last year's strong performance on the Main Stage at Electric Picnic. The Glasgow band must have made some impression with their pummeling mix of indie rock and synth-pop, as these two shows sold out very quickly. Officially, there is no new material, but that won't worry the fans – there are three fine albums to choose songs from (2013 debut, The Bones of What You Believe, 2015's Every Open Eye, and last year's Love Is Dead. Take me to Chvrches? Yep – that'll do. TCL
WEDNESDAY 20
DAVID DUCHOVNY
Academy, Dublin 7.30pm €30 ticketmaster.ie
You may have thought that David Duchovny was all about acting, but – in a similar way to another very well-known US TV actor, Kiefer Sutherland – the man has had a sideline in music for some years. With two albums, so far, under his belt – 2015's Hell or Highwater and 2018's Every Third Thought – Duchovny is well aware of the potential novelty value of curious observers wondering what he is like up close and personal, but if your thing is well-played radio-friendly rock/pop, then it's fair to say that the music holds up to scrutiny. Just no screaming "Californication" when he walks on stage, okay? TCL
HOT 8 BRASS BAND
The Button Factory, Dublin €23.85 ticketmaster.ie
In a glorious fusion of jazz, funk and hip-hop, the Hot 8 Brass Band take old favourites like Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing, Snoop Dogg's Who I Am (What's My Name?) and Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart and give them a new, brassy lease of life alongside some of their own original material. Going since 1995, the New Orleans group has experienced tragedy, losing three members to gun violence, but they celebrate their memory in their joyful music. LB
FRIDAY 22
CHURCH – THE REUNION
The Button Factory, Dublin €5-€10 facebook.com/ChurchDublin
Church nightclub had four years of debauchery and depravity, and it had music from Jamie XX, Azealia Banks, Fleetwood Mac, Major Lazer, Tove Lo, Enya and Joe Goddard on its hymn sheet. For one night only, they're inviting you back to worship at the altar in the new location of Button Factory as DJs Dave, Kyle and James tend to the musical needs of their parishioners. Get ready for one holy show. LB
BILL RYDER-JONES
Whelan's, Dublin 8pm €16.50 whelanslive.com
Memories of being a right little scallywag as a co-founder of Merseyside band The Coral are surely far behind in the rearview mirror for Bill Ryder-Jones. Indeed, his 2011 debut album If – released three years after he left The Coral – couldn't have been further removed from his previous music output. The instrumental concept album (and imaginary film score, no less, for Italo Calvino's postmodernist novel, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller . . .) framed Ryder-Jones as a composer to keep an eye on. Subsequent work has positioned him, perhaps more conservatively, as a songwriter with subtle melodic touches, but it seems whatever he puts his mind to, the end result is classy. TCL
LUX ALMA
Bello Bar, Portobello, Dublin 8pm €10 bellobardublin.com
You may have seen award-winning composer, musician and sound designer Alma Kelliher recently enough as part of thisispopbaby's show, RIOT, but a solo outing by her – under the stage name of Lux Alma – is a rare opportunity to see her in a different kind of action. Coinciding with the release of her second single The Fly (hot on the heels of the release last December of her debut single The Tomb), Kelliher promises a "bigger, more expansive live show". Fasten your seatbelts, dudes. TCL
