Greetings from Third Castle
Druid are staging all three of Sean O'Casey's Dublin plays in a single day at the Abbey, twice this week.
Collins Barracks has been handed over to Wider Than Pictures for six nights, with Amyl and the Sniffers, berlioz and Super Furry Animals.
Deftones bring IDLES to IMMA on Tuesday. Earl Sweatshirt is at Vicar Street, Arrested Development play their first Dublin show in eight years, Jack White locks everyone's phones in a pouch at the 3Olympia, and Bluey finishes its run on Sunday.
This is our pick of what's on this week. As always for a full event list check out the link at the bottom of the email.
Let's dive in 👇
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Druid O'Casey
Wednesday 26 and Sunday 30 August · 12:30, 16:00 and 19:30 · Abbey Theatre
Garry Hynes has put eighteen actors into all three of O'Casey's Dublin plays and set them running in a single day: The Shadow of a Gunman, The Plough and the Stars and Juno and the Paycock, covering the War of Independence, the Rising and the Civil War in that order. Druid call it the most ambitious thing they've ever done and they are not overselling it. Doing the whole day is a genuine commitment, half twelve until ten at night with breaks, and it is the only way the parallels between the three actually land. Individual plays are on sale for select evenings if the full day is too much.
Wider Than Pictures
Tuesday 25 to Sunday 30 August · Collins Barracks
Singular Artists have the National Museum's courtyard for a fourth year, and the stone square does something to the sound that a field never manages. Amyl and the Sniffers open it with two nights, Amy Taylor being one of the few frontpeople currently worth the price on her own. Berlioz brings his deep in it show outdoors on Friday with Sofia Kourtesis and Ricky Chong, and Super Furry Animals close it on Sunday with Baxter Dury, back in Dublin after more than a decade away and touring off the Love Kraft reissue. Faye Webster and Mac DeMarco fill the middle of the run.
Deftones with IDLES
Tuesday 25 August · Doors 17:00 · IMMA
A bill where the support act could headline most rooms in the country. IDLES have spent three albums turning into something closer to a communal event than a band, and Ecca Vandal opens. Deftones remain the only group of their era who worked out how to be heavy and beautiful in the same song, which is why they've outlasted everything they got filed alongside. Last of IMMA's summer series, and the Royal Hospital grounds have earned their keep this August.
Rochelle Jordan
Tuesday 25 August · 19:00 · Button Factory
London-born and Toronto-raised, and one of the few people working the alt-R&B and UK garage seam with any restraint. Her records leave space where most of that scene piles things on. A Tuesday in the Button Factory means a room you can move in, which is your gain.
Alfi Album Launch
Wednesday 26 August · 20:00 · The Workmans Club
An album launch in the Workmans main room, which is the traditional Dublin rite of passage for a record that took three years and cost somebody their savings. Launch nights are the one gig where everyone present actively wants it to go well. Go and be part of the room.
Arrested Development
Wednesday 26 August · 20:00 · Button Factory
Eight years since they last played Dublin, and Tennessee still sounds like nothing else that came out of 1992. Speech has kept the group touring on the strength of a catalogue that chose warmth over menace at exactly the moment hip-hop went the other way. The Button Factory is small for a band with a Grammy for Best New Artist behind them.
Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE
Wednesday 26 August · 20:00 · Vicar Street
Two rappers who have made a career out of burying the hook and trusting you to keep up. Earl has spent a decade getting quieter and denser, and MIKE works the same ground from a different direction, which makes this a genuinely coherent double bill rather than a promoter's guess. Vicar Street is seated, which will suit this more than a standing room would.
Mullet Fest Ireland
Wednesday 26 August · 17:30 · The Sound House
Exactly what the name suggests, and open to fourteen year olds, which is the correct audience for a mullet festival. Half five start. Commit to the haircut or don't come.
Leon Stax Equation
Thursday 27 August · 22:30 · Whelan's
A Galway six-piece playing a half ten start as part of Dublin by Dusk, with Foinse supporting. Soul bands live or die on the horn section being tight at midnight rather than at soundcheck. Late one, and Whelan's main room is the right size for a brass section.
Gazefest
Friday 28 August · 19:00 · The Grand Social
Ireland's shoegaze festival, fourth year, with Dreary, Silk, Sunstinger and Skyless on one Friday bill. A scene that survives entirely on volume and reverb needs a room that can take it, and the Grand Social can. Belfast gets its own edition the following night, so this is a genuine circuit now.
Jalen Ngonda
Friday 28 August · 19:00 · The Academy
A soul singer from Maryland by way of Liverpool who sounds like he was recorded in 1968 and has somehow avoided being a novelty. Daptone signed him, which is the only endorsement that matters in this particular corner. He plays Belfast the night before, so Dublin gets the warmed-up version.
Joy Anonymous
Friday 28 August · 19:30 · The Workmans Club
They call their shows meetings rather than gigs and the audience takes that seriously, which sounds insufferable and turns out to be the point. A dance act built around communal feeling rather than a drop. Workmans on a Friday will be exactly the right level of packed.
RTÉ Concert Orchestra: Solitary Man
Friday 28 August · 19:30 · National Concert Hall
Peter Byrne and a full orchestra doing Neil Diamond, which is a catalogue that rewards the string section more than most tribute programmes do. Sweet Caroline with the RTÉ CO behind it is a different proposition to Sweet Caroline in a pub. The NCH crowd will sing, and they will not be embarrassed about it.
Jack White
Tuesday 1 September · Doors 19:00 · 3Olympia Theatre
Phones go into locked pouches at the door and stay there, with a designated area in the lobby if you need yours. White has been running his shows this way for years and the difference in the room is immediate, because nobody is filming and everybody is watching. Both Dublin nights sold, and he plays Belfast the night before. Standing tickets are recommended for over-16s.
Amores Perros
Tuesday 25 August · 18:00 · Irish Film Institute
Iñárritu's first film, and still the most kinetic thing he has made. Three stories, one car crash, two and a half hours, no let-up. Twenty-six years on it has aged into a document of Mexico City rather than the shock it was received as.
Mean Girls
Tuesday 25 August to Saturday 5 September · 19:30 · Bord Gáis Energy Theatre
The touring musical opens a two-week run, and opening night will be full of people who know every line and intend to prove it. The stage version leans harder into the songs than the film's fans expect, which is either the draw or the problem. Book the first week for the atmosphere.
Wild Strawberries: Big Night
Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 August · 11:00 · Irish Film Institute
Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott's 1996 film about two brothers, a failing restaurant and one impossible meal, screening in the IFI's morning strand for older audiences. The timpano scene alone justifies the ticket. Late morning, and there is a café directly outside for the inevitable.
Dublin by Dusk
Thursday 27 August · From 17:00 · National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street
The Kildare Street museum stays open until eight with no charge, which is the easiest good decision available on a Thursday. The Harry Clarke stained glass is the thing to see and it changes completely in evening light. Venues across the city are doing late openings under the same banner.
Tipple with Art
Thursday 27 August · 17:45 · National Gallery of Ireland
Painting a work from the collection with a drink in hand, guided, in the building where the original is hanging. The gallery has worked out that people will try things at six in the evening that they would never sign up for at ten in the morning. Materials provided, no skill assumed.
When Doves Cry: A Prince Film Night
Friday 28 August · 19:30 · The Sugar Club
Purple Rain and Sign o' the Times back to back, with table service, cocktails and pizza running throughout. Sign o' the Times is the better film and the one nobody programmes, so getting both in an evening is the draw. The Sugar Club's cabaret seating is built for exactly this.
Oil Painting Workshop
Saturday 29 August · 10:00 · Segotia
A full day on oils with Niamh Hegarty, covering both the technical side and the expressive one, which most one-day workshops fail to balance. Oils are forgiving in a way beginners never expect, because you can scrape the whole thing off and start again. Materials and a full day, so bring lunch money.
Mystery Matinee
Sunday 30 August · 13:00 · Irish Film Institute
The IFI does not tell you what the film is. It could be a restored classic, a preview, or something nobody has screened in Dublin in thirty years, and you find out when the title card appears. Turning up to a cinema with no information is a small thrill and cheaper than most.
Guardian Football Weekly Live
Tuesday 1 September · Vicar Street
Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and the rest of the podcast doing it in front of a room, which changes the dynamic considerably given how much of the show's appeal is people talking over each other. Vicar Street on the opening week of a season means there will be plenty to argue about.
Tales From Acorn Wood
Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 August · The Civic Theatre
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's lift-the-flap books as a puppet show with songs, aimed squarely at the two to five bracket. Under an hour, which is the correct and merciful length. Two days only.
Bluey's Big Play
Until Sunday 30 August · 10:00, 13:00 and 16:00 on the final day · 3Olympia Theatre
Last chance, and the 3Olympia has added a four o'clock show on the closing Sunday to cope. The Olivier-nominated puppet version has an original story from the series creator and holds up for adults better than it has any business doing. If you have been meaning to book it all month, this is the week it stops being an option.
Botanic Gardens Scavenger Hunt
Sunday 30 August · 12:00 · National Botanic Gardens
A scavenger hunt through Glasnevin's glasshouses and borders, which is a way of getting children to look at plants without telling them that is what is happening. The Botanic Gardens are free to enter and consistently the best-value morning in the city. Midday start.
Summer's End Garden Party
Thursday 27 August · 18:30 · Segotia
Music, drawing and drinks in a garden with Angela Stempel, on the last Thursday of August, which is about as pointed a piece of scheduling as you will find. Drawing with a drink in your hand is a lower-stakes proposition than a life class. Small, and outdoors while that is still possible.
Ted Lasso Themed Quiz
Thursday 27 August · 20:00 · The Back Page
A whole quiz on one television show, in a sports bar in Stoneybatter, which is the correct venue by some distance. You either have the knowledge or you are carrying a friend who does. Eight o'clock, teams welcome.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Dublin City check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
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