Weekender |wiːkˈɛndə|– noun – what to do with your weekend.
A Soldier’s Tale
Thursday 2 – Saturday 4 October | Smock Alley Theatre | €12-€15, 2.30pm/8.30pm
Following the phenomenal success of their all-day launch party last weekend Ensemble Music are rolling out their first major performance and it’s shaping up to be a very special one indeed, Igor Stravinsky’s famous A Soldier’s Tale. Combining modern classical music, dance and live narration this event promises to showcase the kind of foreword thinking outlook that Ensemble are striving to cultivate in the Irish artistic landscape and will be the first full production of Stravinsky’s masterpieces staged in Dublin in upwards of three decades.
The story it’s self is a typically dark Faustian fable concerning soldier who trades his magic fiddle to the devil in exchange for having his every conceivable wish granted. Needless to say, as is often the way with these things, everything doesn’t quite pan out the way the eponymous soldier had envisioned. Due to considerable demand a matinee show has been added to the show’s short run so be sure to book in advance to avoid disappointment. Fine print here.
The Necks
Friday 3 October | Christchurch Cathedral | €22, 8pm
Over the last quarter century Antipodean improvisational three-piece The Necks have managed to define themselves as one of the world’s most exciting and forward thinking going musical concerns. Trading in beautiful cacophony that defies traditional characterisation, neither wholly jazz, minimalist, avant-garde or ambient The Neck’s own peculiar, groovy alchemy has afforded them no shortage of astute acolytes from fellow wizard of Oz Nick Cave to the New York Times (who named them ‘one of the greatest bands in the world’). The lengthy, mesmerising pieces that the Necks are known for will surely take on an even greater gravitas thanks to the striking surrounds of Christ Church as a venue. Expect an evening of both beard stroking and head scratching as you try and decipher how the three men on stage managed to sound like about ten. Tickets here.
Retro Revival present: The #1’s, Me & My Dog, GMG, Northern Drones
Saturday 4 October 4 | Sweeney’s | €5, 9.00 pm
They never go home, those boys. Everyone‘s (and I mean everyone’s) favourite gang on of power-pop sweethearts, The #1’s are at it again. Under the banner of the Beatle-booted boys at Retro Revival the #1’s are headlining an evening chockfull of scintillating six-string entertainment of both the chugging and jangly varieties. Also taking to the stage will be adorable indie rock scamps, Me & My Dog, mysterious lo-fi popsters, GMG and fuzz-drenched, psychedelic head feeders, Northern Drones.
Tickets are available on the door for the startlingly reasonable price of five euro and once the #1’s wrap up the live portion of proceeding’s DJ M.Hill will be spinning choice wax to keep you pogoing/twisting/whatever else until way past your bedtime. More knowledge here.
Telephones: Afro Caribbean Acid House Laneway Party
Saturday 4 October | City Centre Laneway TBA | €5-€12, 11pm
Laneways get a bad rap. They aren’t all eerie, piddle stained enclaves populated by ominous, shadow-dwelling would be assailants, some are in fact venues for Afro-Caribbean Acid Parties. The fabulous young things that make up night-life forerunners Disco Tekken are once again pulling the strings behind a very special party in an out of the ordinary locale. Think bunting, fancy lights, disco balls and some big surprises yet to be announced.
The Discotekken and Telephones brain-trust promise a basement party taking a more techno/acid house bent to compliment the Caribbean grooves that will be dominating the laneway portion of the evening’s fe. The specifics of the location remain TBA (though we can confirm it’s somewhere around Dublin 2) but the line-up for the night is already stacked with stellar DJs including Joma, Louis Scully, Snuff Crew and Slowburn. Tickets are only a fiver in advance and then twelve on the night so act early to save a bit of shrapnel for cocktails on the night. Ticeadaí here
Vardo
Each evening ’til Sunday 12 October | Oonagh Young Gallery | €20, every 30 Minutes
Anu productions return to the streets for the concluding part of their series of site-specific performances concerning the Monto district of the city. Over the last 5 years Anu have aired pieces as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival and Fringe concentrating on the sometimes dark history of the area spanning the last century and the exploring the constant failed attempts at regeneration at the hands of the city council. From the heyday of Monto up until the present day, the district remains the city’s thriving red light district and this monumental series of works Anu have brought the voices of a hidden Ireland to the fore.
A boundary pushing, confrontational and intimate work, Vardo invites an audience of four at a time to experience first-hand the modern realities of the North-Inner City’s underworld. Tickets are priced at €20 and available from the Theatre Festival box office. Anu have been lauded as perhaps the most vital sight-specific theatre companies operating at the moment and Vardo (like all instalments of the Monto Cycle) is a truly singular theatre experience not to be missed. Tickets here.
