Gigs round-up: June 17-23

FOALS, Belsonic, T13, Belfast, Thursday.
Back in February I wondered whether the 3Arena would swallow up Foals a bit too much, diluting their intensity and sabotaging frontman Yannis Phillippakis’s stagediving buzz.

T13 may be another odd fit — the huge warehouse space in Belfast’s Titanic quarter is perfect for techno, and recently proved this by hosting the AVA festival and Chemical Brothers last Friday. But its tunnel-like set-up and mega-height ceiling might cramp Foals’ style again.

Then again, Foals won’t be back playing the Olympia any time soon. Festival headliners in their own right, with their Jane’s Addiction-isms and new metallic edges gradually papering over the band’s original jerky indie quirks.

BRING ME THE HORIZON, Belsonic, T13, Belfast, tonight, £32.50-48.50 (VIP)
This is one case when the support band trumps the headliner, so make sure you arrive to T13 early to catch And So I Watch You From Afar.

ASIWYFA’s jagged post-rock and metal blasts are a bit of an odd fit for the headline act.

Bring Me the Horizon are a mash-up of, wait for it, nu-metal/screamo and EDM, which sounds like a real horror show, but their album That’s the Spirit has been called “the most important rock album of the decade” by Rock Sound mag. Seriously.

It falls between both extremes, there’s nothing to get furious or excited about. The band deploy brash, polished riffs and electronic bombast that wouldn’t be heavy enough to annoy the parents.

NATTY WAILER, The Academy, Dublin, tomorrow, €25
Natty Wailer takes it back indoors after his stint in the forest last week for the BARE In The Woods festival.

He’s no longer a member of Bob Marley’s former band The Wailers after leaving in 2000 but the honorary Irishman — he emigrated more than 20 years ago — is one of the most-loved reggae heroes on the live scene in Ireland.

His collective is simply called Natty Wailer & the Reggae Vibes, with a mission to I feel the need to “contribute ultimately to world peace through music and culture”.

Expect tracks from his latest album Destiny, Wailers classics and other reggae greats from the vaults.

JOE SATRIANI, Vicar Street, Dublin, Monday, €47
Set whammy bars to stun, as the godfather of shred guitar Joe Satriani hits Vicar Street as a treat for all the guitar virtuoso wannabes.

The title of his 15th and latest album is Shockwave Supernova — which could also double as a handy shorthand of what to expect in Vicar Street.

He gets a Grammy nod every time an album comes out, but has never won out of 15 nominations. It suggests he’s always been bubbling under, perpetually on the cover of guitar mags, while never making the mainstream leap.

Expect outrageous virtuoso guitar, slam solos, jazzy interludes and plenty of sci-fi pomp with a crack team of session musicians.

CHIC FEATURING NILE RODGERS, Live At The Marquee, Cork, Tuesday, €54.65
It’s been at least a fortnight since Chic last played in Ireland, so they gotta get back on that horse before everyone here forgets them.

Seriously though, Chic are one of the most bankable return acts of the last decade. Nile Rodgers is probably on daft.ie looking for an Irish apartment.

We can snigger about overkill, but you don’t get all those invites for nothing — Chic will always go down as a hell of a party band.

When Rodgers returned with Chic’s current incarnation, loads of punters thought they were the ultimate cover band — until they found out that Rodgers wrote and played on all those hits for Bowie, Diana Ross, Madonna, Duran Duran and Sister Sledge.

In an interview with The Star last year he said: “Chic is a celebration of my life,” and half of Ireland has celebrated it with him at this stage.