Scene and Heard

MUSIC NEWS:

Ed Sheeran played to a packed house at a ‘secret’ gig in Vicar Street, Dublin, on Monday, and he thrilled those who’d made it with a set from his new album, X (pronounced ‘multiply’). You can see the Dublin gig via his website. The album is due for a June 20 release. Calvin Harris’s ‘Summer’ went straight into the Irish singles charts at number one last week, while Imelda May bagged top spot in the album list. Hot Press reports that Kilkenny’s coolest cat RSAG, aka Jeremy Hickey, is back in Ireland after a stint in Paris working with Xavier de Rosnay of Justice. Jack White’s upcoming album Lazaretto features all sorts of gimmicky gimmicks on its ‘ultra’ vinyl incarnation, including two hidden tracks that play at 78rpm and a side A that actually begins on the inside of the record and plays outwards. It’s due to drop on June 10.

Finally, monster dubstep producer Skrillex has been telling NME about the difference between his gigs in the UK and America. “In the US I’d play and there’d be girls in their bras on the front row. Then in the UK it was fucking dudes killing each other. I’m not trying to be above anybody, but that’s not who I am. I don’t want people to beat the fuck out of each other.” Can’t argue with that.

GIG WISE: O Emperor have bagged the prestigious support slot for Kasabian’s gigs at Cork Opera House (Wednesday); the Big Top in Limerick (next Friday); and the Seapoint in Galway (next Saturday). And speaking of support slots, the Riptide Movement are officially billed as support for the Coronas at the Marquee in Cork on June 13, but we’re thinking it’s more of a double header. Among the other support bands announced for the Marquee this week are North Mississippi Allstars, with the Grammy-nominated blues outfit taking to the stage before Robert Plant on June 25. In Cork, the marvellous Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are at the Savoy tonight. Leeside group Venetian Blue launch their new album, A Moment of Your Time, at the Gresham Metropole on Sunday, May 18.

FILM TIPS: Quirky Irish film Frank — starring Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson and Maggie Gyllenhaal — opens at most mainstream cinemas this weekend. But will Triskel Christchuch lose arthouse credibility, given that both its offerings from Sunday are actually English films, in English? The subtitle-free zone features The Double, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska, directed by Richard Ayoade of IT Crowd fame; and Locke, with Tom Hardy and Olivia Colman.

COMEDY CAPERS: FYI — Chelsea Handler’s appearance at the Olympia on July 11 has nothing to do with Jose Mourinho. She’s actually a big star in the US, where her stand-up routines are augmented by her own chat show on the E! network and a series of bestselling books. There are still tickets available for the appearance of B Russell Kane at Cork Opera House tonight, while Irish funnyman Chris Kent is at City Limits tomorrow. We had expected Des Bishop in Cork sooner, but so far the only appearances scheduled for his former hometown are at the Everyman from November 6-8.

ALL AND SUNDRY: Later With Jools Holland on Tuesday includes Kasabian and tunes from the collaboration between Brian Eno and Underworld’s Karl Hyde. The Pavilion in Cork is planning a tribute night to legendary Leeside music figure Donnelly on June 18. The frontman of such bands as Nun Attax and Five Go Down To The Sea died in London in 1989.