Event of the week
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Tuesday & Wednesday, November 12th & 13th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €89/€65, ticketmaster.ie
Eighteen albums in 40 years is pretty productive, but when it comes to Nick Cave nobody expects quantity to outweigh quality. It helps, of course, that on releases from From Her to Eternity, his 1984 LP, to Wild God, which came out in August, Cave has written many excellent songs across a range of styles, from gothic Americana and disorderly rock to ballads imbued with the man’s often rapturous delivery. An intriguing bonus at these Dublin shows is the inclusion of Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood, who has temporarily joined the Bad Seeds while illness causes Cave’s long-term bass player, Martyn P Casey, to sit out tour dates.
Gigs
Fionn Regan
Saturday, November 9th, Black Gate, Galway, 7.30pm, €27.50 (sold out), blackgate.ie; Thursday, November 14th, Cleere’s Theatre, Kilkenny, 8pm, €27.50 (sold out), cleeres.com; Friday, November 15th, Unitarian Church, Dublin, 7.30pm, €28, ticketmaster.ie
The Wicklow songwriter Fionn Regan doesn’t tour the length and breadth of Ireland too often, so when he does we should pay attention. He recently released a new album, O Avalanche, and, as usual with Regan’s output, it’s required listening. These dates become all the more appealing because the venues he’s visiting are so small you’ll be able to see the sweat on his upper lip. This tour runs until Friday, November 24th; Regan returns to larger venues in February.
The Script
Monday, November 11th, and Wednesday, November 13th, SSE Arena, Belfast, 6.30pm, £130/£41.50 (sold out), Thursday-Saturday, November 14th-16th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €51.20 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie
More than 18 months since the death of Mark Sheehan, the band’s cofounder, The Script return to Ireland for what will surely be a series of emotional homecoming shows. They recently released their seventh album, Satellites, which continues to balance arena-friendly pop-rock with beating-heart ballads. “What we are well accustomed to is underscored here by a genuine sense of loss and something authentically rewritten,” we noted when it come out. Expect tears to trickle and adrenaline to surge. Special guest is the Scottish singer-songwriter Tom Walker.
Nas
Wednesday, November 13th, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €89.40 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie
Plaudits for 51-year-old Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones haven’t stopped since the release, 30 years ago, of his debut album, Illmatic. He’s regarded as one of the best rappers of all time, and Illmatic is similarly acclaimed, not only as a landmark in East Coast hip-hop but also as one of the greatest hip-hop albums. Nas will be performing the record – which draws on music styles from rap and blues to avant-garde jazz across modern-day classics such as NY State of Mind, The World Is Yours and Halftime – in its entirety.
Literature
Oscar Wilde: From Decadence to Despair
Until Wednesday, January 29th, Old Library, Trinity College Dublin, €26, tcd.ie
Oscar Wilde, among Trinity College Dublin’s most renowned graduates, receives a celebratory 170th-birthday exhibition, the title of which references the writer’s extraordinary rise to fame and his dramatic fall into notoriety. The exhibits include personal photographs, letters, theatre programmes and more that highlight Wilde’s formative years, his time living on the Continent, his gilded social circle and his tragic exile. More than 100 extra exhibits are available to view online as a digital collection; more details from tcd.ie/library.
Film
IFI French Film Festival
From Wednesday, November 13th, until Sunday, November 24th, IFI, Dublin, various times and prices, ifi.ie
The 25th IFI French Film Festival features work from Olivier Assayas, Claire Burger, Louise Courvoisier, Jessica Palud and Agathe Riedinger; retrospective tributes to the pioneers Marguerite Duras and Agnès Varda; Charlie Chaplin’s first feature-length film, A Woman of Paris; and Jean-Luc Godard’s final two films. The opening gala screening is Stéphane Brizé's Hors-Saison (Out of Season); the director will visit the IFI for an In Conversation event on Saturday, November 23rd, 12.30pm.
Photography
David Kronn Collection
Until Sunday, January 26th, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin, imma.ie
Many photographic forms and media are included in the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition of 130 works donated by the Irish-born, US-based collector Dr David Kronn. With everything from 19th-century daguerreotypes and microphotography to pinhole-camera images and classic portraits on show, the international photographers whose work is on view include Bill Brandt, Irving Penn, Annie Leibovitz, Asako Narahashi and Herb Ritts. Irish artists featured include Alice Maher, Richard Mosse and Amelia Stein. The exhibition is an ongoing project for Imma, which Kronn has pledged to make the eventual home of his exceptional collection, which now numbers 1,000 images.
Classical
West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival
Thursday-Sunday, November 14th-17th, Manor House, Tulfarris Hotel, various times and prices, westwicklowfestival.com
West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival, founded by the Wicklow pianist Fiachra Garvey in 2017, opens with the launch of the debut album by Garvey and the violinist Patrick Rafter. Other highlights of this winter edition include the Rising Stars concert (featuring the pianist Didzis Kalniņš and the violinist Jisun Min, recent graduates of the Royal Irish Academy of Music), Trio Talweg (the pianist Romain Descharmes, the violinist Sébastien Surel and the cellist Éric-Maria Couturier) and a Sunday-afternoon recital featuring the soprano Anna Devin.
Still running
Hamilton
Until Saturday, November 16th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €36.50 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie
It’s almost the curtain call for one of the longest theatre runs in Dublin, so it’s a standing ovation to the cast of Hamilton for delivering excellent musical theatre night after night. The show has been a complete sell-out, so now might be the time to beg, borrow or call in a few favours.
Book it this week
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, December 13th, irishbaroqueorchestra.com
Paul Heaton, 3Arena, Dublin, March 20th, ticketmaster.ie
Shane Daniel Byrne, Vicar Street, Dublin, May 31st, ticketmaster.ie
Friends! The Musical Parody, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, October 21st-25th, ticketmaster.ie
