Gigs round-up: July 31-August 6

VINCENT CROSS, Cobblestone, Dublin, Tonight
Smithfield’s home of trad and folk is hosting New York-based singer-songwriter Vincent Cross, after a week or so gigging in Ireland as part of his European tour.
A prodigal son of sorts, Cross was born in Dublin, raised in Australia and moved to NYC a decade ago, after a stint in Galway teaching the west a thing or two about bluegrass and Appalachian folk.
A folk troubadour in the true sense, he’s shared stages, pub corners and yarns with singers and punters worldwide, including Glen Hansard, Odetta and Lloyd Cole.
Expect songs from his acclaimed albums Home Away From Home and A Town Called Normal, and some rousing folk and trad standards.

JERU THE DAMAJA, Sugar Club, Dublin, tonight
Brooklyn rap veteran Jeru the Damaja is double-dropping tonight in the Sugar Club, playing his first two albums back-to-back in a hip-hop overload.
The Sun Rises in the East and Wrath of the Math are gritty NYC rap milestones, forged from the same grime as early Wu-Tang and fellow Gang Starr affiliates.
And if that’s not enough of a ruckus, the Sugar Club is also showing the classic Jackie Chan flick Drunken Master II.

MARC ALMOND, National Concert Hall, Dublin, tomorrow
Marc Almond’s come a long way since his time in electro-sleaze pioneers Soft Cell, singing Seedy Films and Sex Dwarf over sparse and twisted synth lines.
From basement clubs to classical concert halls, Almond is one of pop music’s great auteurs, and one of the most dramatic performers to emerge in the 80s. At the Sugar Club he’ll be debuting songs from his new album The Velvet Trail, and he’s promised a wealth of pop, big ballads and epic electronic rock.