Experimental throat-singing and afro-centric cabaret, it's all here...

Hope you caught some of the Choral fest - congratulations to the team for a great festival I had an absolute blast - was sorry not to get to all the concerts I'd wanted to but it was a real honour to be involved in two great performances. There was great atmosphere in the Clarion atrium on Sunday too where there were great choirs performing for free all day long doing their very best to soothe my viscious hangover.

I'm off now for the guts of two weeks to do the first part of a really exciting training programme - an EU Diploma in Cultural Project Management.

So I thought I'd have a quick sconce over what's coming up during this week and while I'm away.

Mostly I wanted to let you know about Mairtín O'Connor's gig tomorrow in the Pav which'll be rockin with the fantastic Cathal Hayden (of Four Men and a Dog) and Seamie O'Dowd. My first ever production was in Galway putting Mairtín and Cathal and Garry O Briain on with ConTempo String Quartet in the Town Hall Theatre and it was a rip-roaring sell-out success. I've tried to get Cathal down to Cork before with FMaD but they're out of my league so it is fantastic to see Pat getting these a-listers in, it'll be fantastic.


Weds 6 May
9pm The Pavilion The Máirtín O Connor Band are simply in the top league of irish traditional music and have just finished a new album. This is the first time they've played here since I moved back to Cork in 2004 these gigs don't come everyday - they don't even come every month or year so if you're free do yourself a favour...

9pm The Roundy It's rare that songwriting gets experimental round here if you ask me but Bennys Head is, I gather, the exception. I never heard of them til now but it's a project going since '85 according to the spiel. The team is Cormac O'Connor and Frank West and they're joined by George Hanover out of Snatch Comedy and skaheads Gary Cotter and Ian Walsh outta the Naildrivers the perfect alternative to Mairtín O'Connor's gig at the Pav I'd imagine! and FREE


Monday 11th May
8.30pm Everyman Palace Bar - The KC Sessions 10 singer songwristers, free gig, this seems to have been a great series so far fair dues to them. FREE

9pm The Roundy just when i thought STeT Lab couldn't get much more experimental they invite NZ throatsinger/vocalist Johnny Marks (who has worked with Damo Suzuki who nearly made my ears bleed at Triskel some years back) to join Sax player Bruce Coates who's back in town and some of the regular STeT Lab gang. More on the website



Thursday 14th May
9pm The Roundy Colin McLean's Latin Trio are excellent, really nice acoustic sound, excellent musicians. FREE



Sunday 17th May
8pm An Crúibín Annette Buckley and Band are sure to give a good performance at the old Lobby where she would have made her mark first. An emotional singer-songwriter with talent and style... like the kind we listened to back when I was growing up ;-)



Fri 22nd May - Sunday 24th
Féile Africa's Africa Day celebrations - Festival of Africa
There will be a HEAP of good music going down this weekend, the full schedule will be up soon here looks to me like the gig at the Pavilion on the Friday will be a real cracker sorry i won't be around for it, I'll definitely make it for the celebrations on the Saturday and Sunday though.


There doesn't seem much more out of the usual going down, the Crane Lane have a good line-up all month of late-night free music for anyone around after midnight any night really....

Enjoy the sun,

N