PERFECT 10
HERE ARE OUR TOP TEN THINGS TO DO IN CORK THIS WEEK
JINX LENNON & WASPS VRS HUMANS AT FRED’S
ACCLAIMED Irish spoken word artist and singer/songwriter Jinx Lennon, will bring his acid tongued wit and keen observations on the good, bad and downright ugly of modern day living to Fred Zeppelins on Friday evening.
The gig is part of his latest tour promoting Lennon’s ninth album, the evocatively titled ‘Grow a Pair’, a record that according to Hot Press “formally re-asserts the industrious Dundalk man as one of Ireland’s vitally truculent voices” Tickets €8 at the door.
Lennon will be joined on the night by Cork-based punk poet, Wasps vs Humans who, following the success of his debut novel ‘ The Mattress’, published his novella ‘Evel America’ this year and released his debut single ‘Ugly America’ last week.
He was also involved in ‘4-play’, a critically acclaimed quartet of short plays written by Cork artists about single moments that changed their lives, that will première tonight (Thursday) at The Firkin Crane Theatre.
FOUR MEN AND A DOG AT THE IONAD CULTHÚRTHA
THE ever popular Four Men & A Dog will bring their play the Ionad Culthúrtha in Baile Mhúirne tonight (Thursday) at 8pm.
The group made a name for themselves in the 1990s with their eclectic and vivacious blend of traditional Irish music with a wide spectrum of other genres, including rap, Southern rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass, polka, country swing and even salsa.
Four Men and a Dog made their debut performance as a band in ‘Murphy’s Bar’, Dungiven, Co Derry in 1990 before going on to steal the show at the Belfast Folk Festival later that year, with a high-energy approach that combines furious traditional dance tunes with irreverent new music and inimitable covers.
Barking Mad, their debut album, bagged an award for Album of the Year from Folk Roots magazine in 1991, marking the first time that an Irish group had ever won the prize.
Tickets €20/€15 from the venue on 026 45733.
JOHNNY BRADY AT THE INEC ACOUSTIC CLUB
COUNTY music star Johnny Brady will play a gig amid the intimate surroundings of the INEC Acoustic Club in Killarney next Wednesday evening.
Known for his powerful vocals, energetic performances and charismatic personality, the Antrim native has been involved in music industry for more than two decades collecting numerous awards along the way and cementing his status as one of Irish country music’s most popular performers.
Never one to be afraid of exploring new avenues and pushing the boundaries of country music, Johnny has been an inspiration to many younger performers.
Over the years Johnny has toured extensively selling out venues across Ireland and the UK, earning a well-deserved reputation for his high-octane lives performances and for having one of the finest dance bands on the Irish country scene.
Tickets €17.75 from www.inec.ie.
X-FACTOR’S LUCY SPRAGGAN LIVE IN CORK
BRITISH singer/songwriter Lucy Spraggan will bring her UK and Irish tour to the stage of Cork’s Cyprus Avenue next Tuesday evening.
The tour is promoting her latest and fifth album ‘ Today Was A Good Day’. Which went straight into the UK charts at number 12.
Since appearing on the X-Factor in 2012, Spraggan’s audition video has been viewed more than 40 million times and during her time on the show she achieved chart success with the single ‘Last Night’ and album ‘ Top Room at the Zoo’.
While her earlier work adopted folk narratives mixed with traditional R’n’B riffs, she is now more associated with the melodic middle-group where pop and acoustic meet.
Her signature sound is the rattle of rap dropped into sing-along folk-style numbers. Tickets for her Cork gig €16.70 from www. eventbrite.ie.
‘SAVE OUR SEA’S CONCERT AT CORK CITY HALL
THE Cork Fleischmann Symphony Orchestra will perform a maritime themed concert at Cork City Hall on Saturday evening at 8pm.
Entitled ‘Save Our Sea’s’ the concert, which is being staged in association with Clean Coasts and the Cork Orchestral Society (COS) will be a celebration of our seas while at the same time raising awareness on how to clean and protect them.
The orchestra, under the baton of Keith Pascoe will perform a programme including Elgar’s ‘Sea Pictures’ and his Cello Concerto and Debussy’s epic work ‘La Mer’.
Perhaps the highlight of the night will be Ina
Boyle’s ‘A Sea Poem’ in which the surge of the ocean and the calls of the sea birds are evocatively caught.
Tickets for the concert €30/€25/€20 (with concessions for COS members) from www.corkorchestralsociety.ie and Pro Musica.
MIDE HOUHIHAN ‘SHIFTING GEAR’ AT THE BRÚ BAR
FOLLOWING the recent release of her most recent EP ‘Shifting Gears’, Cork singer/songwriter Mide Houlihan will play a free gig at the Bru Bar and Hostel on Cork’s McCurtain Street on Sunday evening at 9pm.
Houlihan, who started gigging as a solo artist in 2011, began really making waves in 2015 following the release of her critically acclaimed debut album ‘Coloured In’. One of the tracks from the album, ‘Nuts and Bolts’ went on to win the prestigious IMRO Christy Hennessey Song-writing Competition.
Since then Houlihan has gone on to charm audiences and fellow music industry insiders with her honest brand of song-writing, distinctive voice and refreshingly original arrangements.
SLICE OF AMERICANA WITH TOM RUSSELL
THE legendary American folk troubadour Tom Russell will play an eagerly anticipated concert at the Ballymaloe Grainstore in Shanagarry next Wednesday evening.
With 40 albums under his belt, the prolific Russell is a revered and highly original singer/ songwriter, with his masterpiece folk opera ‘ The Rose of Roscrae’ named the best folk album of 2015 by Mojo Magazine.
Lauded by UK Folk as ‘maybe the most important Americana record of all time’, the album tells the story of an Irish boy who travelled from Tipperary to the American west in the 1880s, and mixes Irish influences with cowboy ballads, gospel, Mexican and French- Canadian songs.
This will be a night not to be missed by those who truly appreciate folk and Americana music – and unique talent.
Tickets €28.76 from www.eventbrite.ie.
THE BARD’S CLASSIC GIVEN A MODERN TWIST
THE Rough Magic theatre company will bring their contemporary take on Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ to the Everyman Palace Theatre for two performances on Tuesday and Wednesday evening.
On the deck of a deluxe holiday home, a group of friends assemble for a week-long party full of cocktail-infused debauchery, pop music, and questionable gender politics.
Shakespeare’s celebrated screwball comedy of disguised affection and misguided love charts the white-knuckle ride of two volatile courtships asking why do people who are meant for each other always have to make it impossible first?
This festive comedy of sparkling wit and linguistic exuberance that playfully undermines the seriousness of romance.
Tickets €24 from the venue on 021 450 1673.
MUSICAL TRANQUILLITY WITH PHIL COULTER
The incomparable Phil Coulter, will his new ‘Return to Tranquillity’ show to the stage of the Cork Opera House on Saturday November 16 for what promises to be a magical evening of song and chat.
The show will feature Coulter’s personal favourites as he trawls through his more than 50-year career as a songwriter, performer and producer.
Very few in the music business can boast of having chart entries in every decade since the sixties and even fewer can match the sheer range of Coulter’s output.
Over the years he has penned Eurovision winning songs, folk classics, tender ballads and sporting anthems that have been performed by a some of the biggest names in the music business. Tickets for the concert from www. corkoperahouse.ie priced at €31.
JOB B KEANE’S ‘SHARON’S GRAVE ‘AT THE GLEN
THE Glen Theatre Drama Group will stage performances of their latest production at the Banteer venue on Saturday and Sunday evening.
This year has already been a busy one for the group, who kicked off 2019 with a production of Derek Benfield’s comedy ‘Caught On The Hop’ before reprising their acclaimed production of John B Keane’s ‘Sive’.
For their latest production the group has returned to the creative genius of John B with their version of his masterpiece ‘Sharon’s Grave’.
Set in a farmhouse on an isolated headland on the south-western seaboard, the play addresses the struggle between good and evil and the mystical beliefs of rural Ireland in the 1930s.
It deals with one man’s ruthless lust for land, which overrides all family loyalties and can ultimately lead to tragedy.