Scene and Heard: Tips for Electric Picnic

PICNIC PARTICULARS: The programmers at Electric Picnic have been doing their stuff for quite a few years, so hopefully the mellow tones of Portishead won’t jar with the exuberance of the Saturday mainstage crowd at 10.30pm.

They’ll be following Paolo Nutini, which won’t make their job any easier. Foals and Pet Shop Boys headline tonight, while Sunday is the real biggie with Lily Allen (below) (7pm), Beck (8.30pm) and Outkast (10.15pm). I’m looking forward to Outkast and Sbtrkt, while Irish Examiner music correspondent Ed Power has Pet Shop Boys, St Vincent and FKA Twigs at the top of his wishlist. Our resident blogger Eoghan O’Sullivan (The Point Of Everything) is tipping Metronomy, Portishead and Girl Band. Start your engines.

MUSIC NEWS: Neil Young has apparently filed for divorce from his wife Pegi after 36 years of marriage. According to Rolling Stone, the 68-year-old singer first met Pegi when she was working as a waitress in a diner in California. Meanwhile, Andre 3000 may be taking to the stage in Stradbally over the weekend, but we’ll be seeing a lot more of him from October 24, when the Jimi Hendrix film he stars in is released. Some of it was filmed in Dublin. If Prince was a bit younger, he might have been an ideal candidate for the Hendrix role, but his royal oddness follows the announcement of two new albums on September 19 with the release of a collaboration with Lianne La Havas from one of the records.

GIG WISE: After the Picnic has passed, all roads will lead to Dublin Castle for The Script’s (above) sold out homecoming on September 13, the day after the release of the band’s new album, No Sound Without Silence. And from there, the days will grow shorter and we’ll all be thinking about the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival (October 23-26). Imelda May and Dianne Reeves are already selling well, we’re told, while Triskel events include the more experimental end of things with a double bill featuring the Vanbrugh String Quartet and Dublin-based Italian musician Francesco Turrisi. It’s good to see the Crane Lane in Cork filling some of the void left by the closure of the Pavilion, and among the gigs at the venue in the coming weeks are Jungle Brothers (September 23) and Dreadzone (25). There are still some tickets left for Lloyd Cole at Triskel Christchurch next Friday. The Gloaming have announced a third and ‘final’ show at the National Concert Hall on March 2 next year.

THEATRE NIGHTS: The Dublin Fringe kicks off next Friday with an eclectic roster of events featuring theatre, comedy, music and beyond. Another major event in the theatre world on the way is the premiere of Tom Murphy’s new play Brigit. It’s a prequel to Bailegangaire from 1985. Druid will present both in a double bill on September 14 at the Town Hall Theatre in Galway. Both plays will begin a run at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin as part of the city’s theatre festival from October 1. In Cork, Between Trees and Water, the tragic tale of Bridie Kirk’s death in the city after an abortion in 1939, runs at the Unitarian Church in Princes Street from Monday.

FILM TIPS: Lucy by Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For are among the attractions at cinemas this weekend, while One Direction: Where We Are will have flocks of 1D fans turning out next Saturday for the concert film from their Milan show. The boys are in cinemas for this weekend only before the film is released on DVD on December 1.!