Event of the week
Fontaines DC
Friday, December 6th, and Saturday, December 7th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €40.20 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie
What a year, what a decade. When Fontaines DC formed, in 2014, they had ambition but no certainty that it would come to anything. The past five years have changed everything: their four albums have invaded Europe and their live shows have continually showcased the strength of their musicianship and creative character. This year, in particular, is a tipping point for the band, as their fourth album, Romance, proved beyond any reasonable doubt that trying to pigeonhole them is pointless. These sold-out gigs – a homecoming by any other name – position them perfectly for increased success in 2025. Already announced are shows in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Canada, as well as a US tour, dates at European festivals, sold-out open-air gigs in Britain and their recently revealed headline show at the All Together Now festival, in Co Waterford. There’s no stopping them now, is there?
Gigs
Sam Fender
Monday, December 2nd, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €67.70/€56.85, ticketmaster.ie
Taking a leaf or two out of Bruce Springsteen’s heartland-rock playbook, the English singer and songwriter Sam Fender fuses his Tyneside background with a stirring, traditional rock-pop sensibility. His no-nonsense approach was formed by an unstable upbringing and teenage years playing open-mic nights at local pubs. Over the past six years his life has changed significantly, from signing to a major label, in 2018, to being ranked, in 2022, as one of the UK’s youngest music millionaires. Fender will be performing songs from Hypersonic Missiles, his debut album, from 2019, Seventeen Going Under, from 2021, and his forthcoming third album, People Watching.
Culture Club
Tuesday, December 3rd, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €51.20, ticketmaster.ie
You forget how huge Culture Club were in their 1980s heyday. After topping the charts with songs such as Do You Really Want to Hurt Me, Time (Clock of the Heart), Church of the Poison Mind and Karma Chameleon, the group eventually fragmented. Over the past decade, however, the band (still fronted Boy George, aka the second-generation-Irish singer George O’Dowd) have resurfaced, proving there’s life in the old dogs yet. Expect the hits to be presented in as colourful a fashion as you could hope for. Nostalgia fans should get there early – the support acts include the former Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley and the synth-pop act Heaven 17.
HamsandwicH
From Thursday, December 5th, until Saturday, December 7th, Whelan’s, Dublin, 8pm, €30, whelanslive.com
A neat idea from an excellent Irish band: take three albums from your back catalogue and play each of them in their entirety across three nights. HamsandwicH perform Carry the Meek, their 2008 debut (Thursday, December 5th), White Fox, their 2010 follow-up (Friday, December 6th), and Stories from the Surface, from 2015 (Saturday, December 7th). The last of these, incidentally, was the first independently released album by an unsigned band to debut at the top of Ireland’s official album chart. Vinyl copies of the band’s Live Album will be on sale exclusively at these shows.
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Photography
Skin/Deep: Perspectives on the Body
Until Saturday, February 8th, Photo Museum Ireland, Dublin, free, photomuseumireland.ie
Through their work in photography and other lens-based media, nine established artists investigate the challenging connections between identity, gender, sexuality, social expectations and “existing ideas about what the body is or can be”. The exhibition also presents the artists’ work as an outline of contemporary photographic methods and the way technology (via social media and apps) has changed how we view dissimilar bodily experiences. The artists include Shia Conlon, Jane Cummins, Pradeep Mahadeshwar, Pauline Rowan, Brian Teeling and Nazli Yildirim.
Musical
The Giggler Treatment
From Sunday, December 1st, until Sunday, January 12th, Ark, Dublin, various times, €17.50/€12.50, ark.ie
A return for Roddy Doyle’s novel The Giggler Treatment (adapted and with songs by Fionn Foley) ensures kids and their parents/minders will be entertained during the festive season. The “giggler treatment”, as you ask, is what happens to adults when they’re unkind to children, and it takes the texture of something that smells and sticks to shoes when walked upon. You have been advised. Sophie Motley directs.
Stage
A Streetcar Named Desire
From Thursday, December 5th, until Saturday, December 21st, Smock Alley Theatre, 7pm, €26/€23, smockalley.com
A thought-provoking choice for a seasonal production it may be, but there’s no doubting the quality on offer here as Cathal Cleary directs Tennessee Williams’s 1947 play about human frailty, misogyny, sexual violence and mental illness. Eavan Gaffney (Blanche DuBois), Jack Meade (Stanley Kowalski) and Sade Malone (Stella Kowalski) feature. On selected evenings, Smock Alley will also be offering a preshow light-supper package.
Visual art
Hamad Butt: Apprehensions
From Friday, December 6th, until May 5th, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, imma.ie
The British-Asian artist Hamad Butt (1962-94) was the first artist to respond to the HIV/Aids epidemic in an abstract, noncombative and erudite manner. This retrospective exhibition of his work – the first time his art will be presented outside the UK – will feature sculptural installations, drawings, paintings and writings. On Thursday, December 5th, an Imma Talks event (5pm, free, booking required) will include a keynote talk by guest curator Dominic Johnson, professor of performance and visual culture at Queen Mary University of London.
Still running
James Vincent McMorrow
Saturday, November 30th, INEC Club, Killarney, Co Kerry, 7.30pm, €39.20; Monday, December 2nd, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7.30pm, €39.20; Thursday, December 5th, Black Box, Galway 7.30pm, €36; Friday, December 7th, and Saturday, December 8th, Set Theatre, Kilkenny, 7.30pm, €37.50; ticketmaster.ie
One of Ireland’s finest songwriters embarks on a wintry trek across Ireland to plug his excellent seventh studio album, Wide Open, Horses. Expect vocals plucked from the heavens and songs to spirit-guide you into next year.
Book it this week
Eblana String Trio, NCH, Dublin, March 2nd, nch.ie
Spiritualized, National Stadium, Dublin, March 3rd, foggynotions.ie
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, May 20th-24th, ticketmaster.ie
Olivia Rodrigo, Marlay Park, Dublin, June 24th, ticketmaster.ie
