A-HA, Live at the Marquee, Cork, Tuesday, SOLD OUT
Norwegian icons A-ha pop come to Cork armed with some timeless classics.
Over the band’s 10 albums since 1985, the band have flirted with blues, rock and even an unplugged project, but they’ll never shake off the calls for their emotive, dreamy synth-pop like The Sun Always Shines On TV, Hunting High and Low and Take On Me. And the Living Daylights is a brilliant overblown Bond theme that doesn’t really get the kudos it deserves.
I’m guessing the Marquee will be full of people who had Morten Harket posters covering their walls 80s — with not a single person hitting the Take On Me high notes, maybe including Harket himself.
SISTER NANCY, Sugar Club, Dublin, tonight, SOLD OUT
This show will be a pilgrimage for many reggae and dancehall fans, as Kingston legend Sister Nancy hits the Sugar Club for a rare Irish show.
Generally regarded as the first female dancehall DJ, Ophlin Russell grew up steeped in soundsystem culture, and got turned on to dancehall in her teens through her brother Robert aka Brigadier General.
Known for her almost psychedelic take on dancehall, she’s got many classic soundsystem 45s in the vaults, including Bam Bam, which has been rinsed by remixers and producers for years — notably by Lauren Hill, Jay-Z, and Kanye West on The Life of Pablo cut Famous.
HAIM, Olympia Theatre, Dublin, Tuesday and Wednesday, both SOLD OUT
Sister trio Haim have been a band for over a decade since they were kids — just don’t call them a girl band.
“When people call us a girl band, I take it as an insult – being a girl in a band shouldn’t be a thing,” Alana Haim once said, and rightly so.
They’re finding it more difficult to brush off their Fleetwood Mac comparisons though — or at least all the 70s FM rock and lightly dusted country bands that were inspired by the Mac.
After years on high-profile support slots with the likes of The xx, Phoenix, Rihanna, The Killers and Taylor Swift, this Sister Sister Sister tour is doing the business, with sellouts all over.
DAVID KITT, The Purty Kitchen, Dun Laoghaire, tomorrow, €16
David Kitt’s first album in nine years, Yous, comes after years of experimentation by the one-time acoustic singer-songwriter.
In the intervening years Kitt has been a big feature on the late night Irish clubbing scene as he indulged his brilliant deep house alter-ego New Jackson, adding his melancholy introspective songwriting touches to essential EPs like The Night Mail and Made It Mine, and his Choice Prize-nominated album From Night To Night.
Yous is mostly acoustic, with subtle electronic brush strokes and violin from Margie Lewis, so expect a more delicate gig if you’re used to his house slots over the last few years.
And if you really want to make a night out of it, the Purty Kitchen is offering a ticket plus two-course meal offer for €40
THE EXPLOITED, Mandela Hall, Belfast, tomorrow, £20
The Exploited’s 1981 album was called Punks Not Dead, and with LPs Beat The Bastards, Fuck the System and a greatest hits live album Twenty Five Years of Anarchy and Chaos, you know what you’re letting yourself in for.
The legendary Scottish band are more in line with early 80s breakneck US hardcore than late 70s UK punk rock, even touching on Slayer levels of thrash at points.
With no new albums since 2002, expect them to just fire their greatest hits as two-minute petrol bombs to the pogoing faithful.
Moo Kid 