The Guide: The events to see, the shows to book, and the ones to catch before they end

Event of the week

Queens of the Stone Age

Wednesday, November 22nd; 3Arena, Dublin, 6pm; €51.65; ticketmaster.ie

Ah, Jeez – almost 30 years? Seriously? Queens of the Stone Age, formed in 1996 in Seattle, Washington, have now what they had at the beginning: lead singer and guitarist Josh Homme, the sole constant member of the band. Homme has steered Queens of the Stone Age to perhaps unexpected heights, especially over the past 10 years, with a loose trilogy of albums, Like Clockwork (2013), Villains (2017) and this year’s In Times New Roman, each of which delivers primal alt-rock kicks. Exactly what follows that end-of-chapter trilogy is anyone’s guess, but for the moment let’s not think of that. Rather, lie back (if you can) and allow the band’s furious sonic swells to wash over you. Special guests are Australian punk band The Chats and London-based Deep Tan.

Gigs

Holly Johnson

Friday, November 24th, Waterfront Hall, Belfast, 7pm, £50/£35, waterfront.co.uk; Sunday, November 26th, NCH, Dublin; 8pm, €55, nch.ie

The former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer has spent more time in the past 30 years as a visual artist (his works have been exhibited at Tate Liverpool and London’s Royal Academy) than as a singer and performer. This year, however, Relax, his former band’s once contentious hit song, celebrates its 40th birthday, so cue the unfurling of flags and rolling out of red carpets as Johnson flicks through Frankie’s sticky back pages as well as his smoother solo years via Blast, his 1989 No 1 album.

Laura Veirs

Friday, November 24th; Liberty Hall, Dublin, 7pm; €26.40; ticketmaster.ie

Laura Veirs has released 12 albums in 20 years, so she isn’t slacking. Her recent album, Phone Orphans, is the hook for the Oregon woman’s gig, and what a hook it is: 14 songs retrieved from the raft of voice memos she has recorded in her house over the past eight years. A slight figure on stage she might be, but within her songs Veirs weaves spells that are difficult to break free of. Is this her biggest headline show in Ireland? We reckon so – go celebrate it with her.

The Undertones

Friday, November 24th, Millennium Forum, Derry, 7pm, £28; millenniumforum.co.uk; Sunday, November 26th, The Academy, Dublin, 7pm, €25 (sold out)

Age shall not wither them, and nor should it with classic songs such as Teenage Kicks, which this year celebrates its 45th anniversary. The Undertones have (whisper it) better songs, and they’ll be playing those also. The band performing in their home city is a further cause for jubilation (and, yes, this venue is a far cry from the Casbah, the tiny pub/club where they honed their craft in the late 1970s), so they have special guests: Neville Staple (The Specials), The Outcasts and, with a DJ set, Terri Hooley, the man who put them on the map.

NSO and Leonard Slatkin

Friday, November 24th; NCH, Dublin, 7.30pm; €45/€37.50/€29.50/€20; nch.ie

As part of the 175th anniversary of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, impeccable American conductor Leonard Slatkin takes to the main stage of the NCH in the company of soprano Katherine Broderick, baritone Mark Stone, members of the Riam Philharmonia and Chorale, and the National Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. The evening will feature Felix Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Overture, Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, and Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony.

Visual art

Interval Two (Dream Pool)

Until January 6th; Kerlin Gallery, Dublin; kerlingallery.com

The work of the Cork-based Ailbhe Ní Bhriain spreads across print, installation, collage, tapestry, film and CGI, the combination of which forms a visual language that avoids the familiar and the comfortable by exposing doubts, inconsistencies and disorientation. Although a widely exhibited artist, Interval Two (Dream Pool) is Ní Bhriain’s debut solo exhibition at Kerlin Gallery; it features at its centre three large, intricately woven Jacquard tapestries.

In conversation

An Evening with Dolly Alderton

Tuesday, November 20th, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm, €43.50 (sold out); Wednesday, November 21st, Ulster Hall, Belfast, 7pm, £35/£30, waterfront.co.uk

Dolly Alderton – best-selling author, journalist, podcaster and, according to her website, “weirdly tall half-Canadian” whose “most controversially held opinion is that no sandwich is as reliable as an egg mayo” – returns to Ireland for two shows to promote her new book, Good Material. They’re hosted by the Cork author Caroline O’Donoghue, who is adept at keeping conversations flowing, while Alderton is known for her sharp sense of humour and her candid views on relationships, heartache and, well, sandwiches.

Stage

The Quare Fellow

From Friday, November 24th, until Saturday, January 27th; Abbey Theatre, Dublin; 7.30pm; €45/€35/€27.50/€15; abbeytheatre.ie

The arrival of a condemned murderer at Mountjoy Prison and their subsequent execution is the central conceit of Brendan Behan’s play, which celebrates its 70th anniversary next year. Prepare for a ground-breaking reworking in director Tom Creed’s inventive version: the cast (by tradition all-male) is exclusively female and nonbinary, a twist that pointedly references the playwright’s legacy of confrontation. Performers include Barbara Brennan, Gina Moxley, Eva-Jane Gaffney and Clare Barrett.

Still running

Messier 45

Saturday, November 18th; Dance Cork Firkin Crane, 7.30pm; €15/€12; dancecorkfirkincrane.ie

Created and choreographed by Justine Doswell, in collaboration with a collective of international dance artists, Messier 45 brims with personal stories that respond to female experiences of escape, intimidation, harm, anguish, transformation and unity.

Book it this week

Róisín Murphy, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, February 3rd, 2024; ticketmaster.ie

Camerata Ireland, NCH, Dublin, February 28th, 2024; nch.ie

Tate McRae, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, April 17th and 18th, 2024; ticketmaster.ie

Belters Only, Punchestown, Co Kildare, June 2nd, 2024; ticketmaster.ie