Event of the weekHot Press: History in the MakingFriday, February 6th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €88.75/€68.20, ticketmaster.ie
Founded in June 1977, Hot Press is an enduring presence in Irish cultural life, hanging in there when other independent publications have come and gone. The magazine may be beginning its 50th-birthday celebrations somewhat sooner than expected, but there’s no denying that the line-up for this show typifies the broad range of Irish music that Hot Press has been covering since its inception. From Van Morrison, Clannad and The Boomtown Rats to Picture This, Florence Road, Denise Chaila and Jazzy – not to mention Dermot Kennedy, and Noel and Mike Hogan of The Cranberries – expect a knees-up from start to finish. Special guests include Michael D Higgins (who will be accompanied by the musician Myles O’Reilly). Curiously, one act that Hot Press has championed from the start of their career are conspicuous by their absence from the line-up. Wherefore art thou, U2?
GigsImelda MaySaturday, January 31st, Glór, Ennis, Co Clare, 7pm, €44, glor.ie; Monday, February 2nd, Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny, 7pm, €44 (sold out), watergatetheatre.com; Tuesday, February 3rd, Cork Opera House, 7pm, €47 (sold out), corkoperahouse.ie; Wednesday, February 4th, UCH, Limerick, 7pm, €44, uch.ie
Imelda May
For some acts, a nationwide tour amounts to half a dozen gigs. Not for the redoubtable Imelda May, who, throughout February and March, visits almost 20 venues for what she pitches as an intimate evening of pared-back music, poetry and storytelling.
The FramesWednesday, February 4th, Spirit Store, Dundalk, Co Louth, 7.30pm, €42.50 (sold out), spiritstore.ie
If there’s any Irish band that began their career slogging it across the country’s small-venue circuit as they honed their stagecraft, it’s The Frames. Glen Hansard, Colm Mac Con Iomaire and friends (Joseph Doyle, Graham Hopkins and Robert Bochnik) have occasionally regrouped for big shows; now, for the first time in decades, fans will get to see the band up close, personal and quite possibly sweating. While the shows will inevitably highlight the impressive dynamics of such a fine band, they also emphasise the increasingly uncertain role that grassroots venues occupy in our cultural life. The short tour is, says Hansard, “an opportunity to give something back to the venues that helped shape our journey.” Fair play. Also, Sunday, February 8th, Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick; Monday, February 9th, DeBarras, Clonakilty, Co Cork; and Wednesday, February 11th, Cleere’s, Kilkenny. All shows sold out.
Madra SalachThursday, February 5th, Cyprus Avenue, Cork, 8pm, €12.50 (sold out), cyprusavenue.ie; Friday, February 6th, DeBarras, Clonakilty, Co Cork, 8pm, €14.50 (sold out), debarra.ie
Madra Salach
Put aside the conservative traditions of Amble and Kingfishr, and make room in your life for Madra Salach, a six-piece Irish band that blends the idiosyncrasies of Lisa O’Neill, John Flynn and Lankum with the soundscapes of Portishead, Boards of Canada and Just Mustard. Post-folk, anyone? Also Saturday, February 7th, Róisín Dubh, Galway; Friday, February 13th, Mike the Pies, Listowel, Co Kerry; Saturday, February 14th, Kasbah, Limerick; Sunday, February 15th, Spirit Store, Dundalk, Co Louth. All shows sold out.
Visual artDorothy Cross: BloodlinesUntil Saturday, February 14th, Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, free, kerlingallery.com
Bloodlines Series (Jackknife dive)
Central to the work of the Cork-born visual artist Dorothy Cross are themes of memory and personal history. Bloodlines leans into these topics with a unique series of archival photographs taken by her father in the 1940s, which (seemingly) float under sheets of handblown glass with fluid red and white seams. Although still visible, the images, says Cross, “are elusive fragments of a personal history, of people that once existed, caught in time”.
StageInfinityFrom Friday, February 5th, until Saturday, February 14th, Cork Arts Theatre, 8pm, €22/€18, ticketsource.com
Playwright Hannah Moscovitch
Hannah Moscovitch’s drama features theoretical physicist Elliot (Timmy Creed), composer Carmen (Martha Dunlea) and their daughter, mathematician Sarah Jean (Bláithín MacGabhann). Each is embroiled in the rarely boring nerve centre of love and life: Elliot and Carmen need to resolve their differences through dating, pregnancy, marriage and parenting, while (via a time jump) Sarah Jean attempts to unravel the dilemma of romance. Deadpan humour, snappy lines (“I can offer you 15-20 minutes of sex followed by 45 minutes of crying”) and perhaps esoteric dialogue about string theory smarten up the pace from start to end. Julie Kelleher directs.
OperaThe Cunning Little VixenSaturday, January 31st, Siamsa Tíre, Tralee, Co Kerry, 7.30pm, €30/€27, siamsatire.com; Thursday, February 5th, Everyman Theatre, Cork, 7.30pm, €30/€27, everymancork.com 
Cunning Little Vixen
Sophie Motley directs Leos Janacek’s three-act opera from 1923, which the composer adapted from a serialised novella by his fellow Czechoslovakian Rudolf Tesnohlidek. As implied by the title, this is no cosy fairy tale but rather a serious reflection on the cycle of life and its innate joys and sorrows. The American soprano Amber Norelai, the Irish soprano Jade Phoenix and the Irish baritone Benjamin Russell feature. In English with English surtitles. Touring Ireland until Sunday, February 22nd.
Still runningKinsale Beatles FestivalSaturday, January 31st, and Sunday, February 1st, various venues, times and prices, kinsalebeatlesfest.com
Dr Alison Bumstead
The Beatles-adjacent line-up at the second Kinsale Beatles Festival is most impressive. From authors such as Ray Connolly and historians such as Mark Lewisohn to scholars such as Dr Alison Bumstead and trusted friends (Dublin-born Freda Kelly, secretary of the group’s official fan club from 1962 to 1972), expect a fab weekend to unfold. The MC/event moderator for the weekend is the broadcaster and singer Tom Dunne.
Book it this week
- Aldous Harding, June 5th, Vicar Street, Dublin, ticketmaster.ie
- Charlie Puth, July 19th, Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, ticketmaster.ie
- Ólafur Arnalds, NCH, Dublin, October 3rd-4th, nch.ie
- Kevin Bridges, 3Arena, Dublin, November 6th-8th, ticketmaster.ie