Johnny, Barry & Jim of Horslips + Paddy Goodwin and the Holy Ghosts

Horslips Con 2019

This promises to be very special. Featuring Barry Devlin, Jim Lockhart and Johnny Fean of Horslips who, along with Eamon Carr and Charles O’Connor, explored the frontiers of Celtic music since the 1960s.

In their trilogy of albums, The Book of Invasions, Aliens and The Man Who Built America, the band explored Irish history and the forging of new frontiers in the new world. Horslips paved the way for many Irish artists including U2.

With hits such as Dearg Doom and Trouble with a Capital T, the band became infamous for their blend of Irish trad and rock. Their songs re-tell Irish myths and legends while giving them a unique twist.

Last November fan Rob Aiken put on an event, Horslips Con 2018, for fans who came from as far away as the USA and Europe to see Barry Devlin, Jim Lockhart and Johnny Fean with Myles Lally on drums. This was the first time that such an event had been staged. Rob is delighted that CQAF are presenting this year’s Horslips Convention 2019.

When the band step onto the stage at the Festival Marquee, the response will be rapturous. Do not miss this one.

Please note neither Eamon Carr or Charles O’Connor will perform at tonight’s event.

Support from The ‘Paddy Goodwin and the Holy Ghosts’, legendary blues rockers.

Doors 6.45pm | Standing gig with very limited seating

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CQAF 2019 Artist in Residence DANI

Singer-songwriter DANI has been wowing audiences for the past few years with her virtuoso guitar playing and highly individualistic self-penned songs.

In 2017 DANI travelled to Indonesia to work with instrumentalists KunoKini. The combination of KunoKini’s exploration of Indonesia’s traditional instruments with DANI’s traditional Irish style of songwriting allowed for a powerful musical partnership.

She recently composed the music for The Silver Branch a collaborative project with playwright Alice Malseed which explores the narrative surrounding contemporary abortion debate through the lens of Celtic Mythology.

‘A multi-instrumentalist with a remarkable knack for eking out sublime, burrowing melodies evocative of Irish traditional music.’THE THIN AIR

CQ Radio

It’s back! After a few years hiatus, we’ve brought back the legendary CQ Radio packed with an array of local talent contributing their vision and perspective of the CQAF.

This year the CQAF Radio experiment reforms for the opening weekend of the festival. We will be broadcasting live from the Cathedral Quarter area and highlighting forthcoming events and discussing the ongoing future of the area.

A unique blend of music, conversation and comedy will soundtrack the 2019 CQAF.

If you would like your say or submit an idea for a show please head over to @CQRadioBelfast.

Lust In Music + Terri Hooley DJ

Just the tonic for a Friday afternoon in January, to open this year’s Out to Lunch, we’re delighted to present Karen Rush and Tricia Murphy – Lust in Music.

Featuring two of NI’s finest vocalists, Lust in Music will bring the ‘Good Times’ to the Black Box with a set of the finest disco, funk and soul to come out of the 70’s and 80’s.

LiM wonderfully re-create the look and feel of the roller disco era with an irresistible dance-floor filling playlist.

If that wasn’t enough, star of stage and screen, Mr Terri Hooley will don his parallel trousers and provide some suitably eclectic classics from the era. Yowsa, yowsa, yowsa.

Doors 12.45pm | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT London Astrobeat Orchestra performs Talking Heads

Combining the finest West African musicians on the planet with one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the 20th Century, the London Astrobeat Orchestra will bring their unique interpretation of the music of Talking Heads to Out to Lunch.

London Astrobeat Orchestra have become renowned for their uplifting performances of songs from the iconic Talking Heads movie, Stop Making Sense.

Focusing on cult classic albums Remain in Light and Speaking in Tongues, London Astrobeat Orchestra are a funky, rhythmic, and earth-shatteringly tight live band.

Considering the afrobeat vibes that run through all the best Talking Heads albums, it makes total sense that this collective from West Africa, Europe and beyond should offer this unique, razor sharp take on the finest of Mr David Byrne & Co’s timeless compositions. We couldn’t be more excited for this Friday night OTL special.

Doors 8.00pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – The Henry Girls

Sisters Karen, Lorna and Joleen McLaughlin, collectively known as The Henry Girls, make music that will give you goosebumps. The harmonising, lilting, melting voices imbue their music with overwhelming romanticism, although the very classic and traditional folk sound is given an edge with Americana, bluegrass and blues sounds.

Recent album Far Beyond the Stars has won massive praise, not least for the sister’s knack of creating authentic original material rich in traditional values. Their tight three-part harmonies are matched by soulful musicianship across a range of instruments including harp, fiddle, accordion, ukulele, piano and a few more in-between.

In our view there are few better ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.

SOLD OUT King Kong Company

 King Kong Company have “21st century swagger” (Irish Times) are “festival legends in the making” (Irish Examiner) and are “the best live act in Ireland today” (Pure M Awards).

Described as a “dubbed up Prodigy, a reggae-d up Chemical Brothers or a danced-up LCD Soundsystem” King Kong Company are most likely better summed up as a band that sound like a DJ playing at a party you wish would never end.

That ‘festival legends in the making’ comment comes from a series of mind melting performances at Irish & UK festivals in the last year.

There were 10,000 revellers screaming their hearts and lungs out at King Kong Company’s Electric Picnic mid-afternoon rave. There was the gig that set Townlands ablaze (literally) and what about that 2am slot at Body & Soul? If you can remember that, were you really there?

This is the band that have their own Buckfast infused beer named ‘Commotion Lotion’, who played a private gig at Aras An Uachtarain and asked the President of Ireland if he was ‘getting anything off that’, who took their award winning show on a 15 date tour of the UK and Ireland and where, on the final date at The Academy, having had the sold out audience eating out of their hands, there was a marriage proposal.

You don’t know what you’ll get at a King Kong Company gig. King Kong Company in 2019; new show, new tracks, same crazy.

Doors 8:30pm  |  Unreserved Seating

Molly

Molly is a provocative new adaptation of Joyce’s final soliloquy in Ulysses.

Molly Bloom lies awake, plagued by insomnia, wind and her husband’s snoring, and bares her soul as she questions her life choices.

This vibrant presentation reveals the woman behind the oft-misrepresented caricature; earthy and witty yet vulnerable and sensual. A caustic wit is matched with searing honesty in her night-time musings.

Molly’s observations on relationships strike a chord with contemporary audiences and her unashamed sexuality is startlingly modern. In an age of body shaming, it is refreshing to encounter a woman who is unashamed of her body and physicality.

Molly Bloom is here liberated from the weight of literature in a fresh and revealing portrayal.

Performed by IFTA nominated actress Tara Breathnach (A Nightingale Falling, Jack Taylor) and directed by Petal Pilley.

‘an absorbing staging’…’vivid, palpable, irresistible.’ – GALWAY ADVERTISER

‘a beautiful piece of performance….a must see’  – REVIEWS HUB

Doors 2:45pm | Unreserved Seating

The Dead – Special Screening and Meal

On the feast of the Epiphany, we invite you to join us for a sumptuous screening of John Huston’s classic adaption of the James Joyce masterpiece, complete with a Joycean meal of Goose, Blancmange, toasted almonds and sherry.

Anjelica Huston is top-billed as Gretta Conroy, the niece by marriage of turn-of-century Irish spinsters Kate Morkan (Helena Carroll) and Julia Morkan (Cathleen Delany). At the home of these two curious ladies, Gretta is prodded into remembering her longdead lover.

She tearfully reveals to her husband (Donal McCann) that the deceased boy may well have died on her behalf. The Dead is a subtle fable of a supposition about humanity: that despite all our surface trappings of tradition, pleasant company, intellectualism, and comforts, in reality all that is truly important is totally out of our control. Our loves, our creative ability, and even life itself, must finally pass.

During an interval in the film, food will be served to the accompaniment of music from the film’s period.

Doors 7.15pm | Unreserved Seating

Lost Voice Guy

Following the unprecedented success of his appearance on the final of Britain’s Got Talent 2018Lee Ridley (aka Lost Voice Guy) makes a triumphant return to this year’s Out to Lunch festival.

He may not be able to talk but he definitely has something to say and his comedy will leave you speechless. Lee is the first stand-up comedian to use a communication aid and made his first stand-up appearance in February 2012.

He has performed in some of the UK’s most popular comedy venues as well as in solo shows at festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe, the Brighton Fringe, Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Leicester Comedy Festival, Nottingham Comedy Festival and Liverpool Comedy Festival.

As well as winning Britain’s Got Talent this year (the first comedian to do so), Lee also won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2014 and his TV and Radio credits have included The One Show (BBC One), Voice Of The People (BBC Three), BBC At The Edinburgh Festivals (BBC iPlayer). Ability – the Radio 4 series that Lee stars in and co-wrote with Katherine Jakeways – has just been recommissioned for a second series.

Afternoon Doors 12.45pm | Unreserved Seating
Evening Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Deirdre O’Kane – A Line of O’Kane

Footloose from a glittering turn on Dancing with the Stars and revelling in her return to stand-up, Deirdre has really hit her stride.

Don’t miss this hilarious and frank take on twelve frantic months in the life of a tango-tripping, family-minding, telly-making, house-moving, comedy dynamo.

‘O’Kane is an instantly charismatic stage presence and her brand of day-to-day anarchism stormed the place.’ – Three Weeks

‘O’Kane dazzles the audience from start to finish.’ – The List

‘Unique star quality.’ – The Guardian

Doors 12:45pm | Unreserved Seating

The Buster Keaton Pictureshow -The General + Live Score by Haiku Salut

Out to Lunch is delighted to present a live cinema event celebrating the life and work of comedy legend, Buster Keaton.

Keaton’s recently restored comedy masterpiece, The General, will be accompanied by a live original score by all-women trio, Haiku Salut.

Haiku Salut are an instrumental trio from the Derbyshire Dales in England. The trio consists of multi-instrumentalists Gemma Barkerwood, Sophie Barkerwood and Louise Croft. Between them, Haiku Salut play accordion, piano, glockenspiel, trumpet, trombone, guitar, ukulele, drums, malletkat, synth and melodica..

With a mix of rock, folk and electronica intertwined with a captivating stage show of pulsing lamps we will revive the magic of the ‘Picture Show’ for an evening of comedic and visual spectacle.

Doors 7.15pm | Unreserved Seating

 This screening is part of Comedy Genius, a nationwide celebration of comedy on screen led by BFI, the Independent Cinema Office and BFI Film Audience network, supported by funds from the National Lottery. For more screenings go to bficomedy.co.uk.   #bficomedy

Wendy Erskine & Rosemary Jenkinson

 

Wendy Erskine lives in Belfast. Her work has been published in The Stinging Fly, Winter Papers, Female Lines: New Writing from Northern Ireland and Being Various: New Irish Short Stories (Faber) and has been read on BBC Radio 4.

Her first collection, SWEET HOME, was published by The Stinging Fly Press in Sept 2018 to a hugely positive critical response.

With skill and style, Erskine unpicks the underlying complexity of ordinary lives, the unexpected intricacy of ordinary situations.’  – Sara Baume

Rosemary Jenkinson was born in Belfast and is an award-winning playwright and short story writer. Her plays include The Bonefire (winner of Stewart Parker BBC Radio Award 2006), The Winners, Basra Boy andMeeting Miss Ireland.

She has won many General Artist’s Awards from the ACNI and this year she has been awarded Artist-in-Residence at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. Her acclaimed first collection of short stories Catholic Boy, was published last year

‘These stories are cunningly seductive, by turns raucous, wry and tender. A gifted storyteller, Jenkinson leavens even her darkest material with biting, effervescent wit.’ – Mia Gallagher

Doors 12:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Scott Matthews

A man. A guitar. And a song.It sounds simple, doesn’t it? And it is.

Scott Matthews’ new record, The Great Untold, is a career-defining masterpiece. The sixth studio album by the Ivor Novello Award-winning singer-songwriter is the one that many have craved: it is a masterclass in honesty, instinct and reflection.

The ghosts of Paul SimonTim BuckleyNick Drake and John Martyn loom large on a collection that ranks alongside work by some of the world’s great singer-songwriters. On his sixth record, Matthews has created songs that are breathtaking in their beauty and audacious in their simplicity.

There is no orchestration, no layered instrumentation, just, for the most part, sparse, minimal piano and acoustic guitar accompaniment and that glorious grainy, otherworldly falsetto.

Matthews has tested himself as a songwriter. The absence of a band means he is vulnerable and exposed. But, in many ways, it was ever thus. He started as a soloist and is ready to fly alone.

Doors 7.45pm | Unreserved Seating

Bab’s Broadway Brunch

Well Hello Gorgeous – don’t let the January blues Rain On Your Parade – Lady Portia Di’Monte, Northern Ireland’s First Lady of Drag and a very Funny Girl Brings you The Queen Bee of Broadway Barbra Streisand, with Brunch and lots of #HIJINKS from the from the sliver and small screen along with Fun and Games.

Join Lady P and special guest act The Queen of Camp Miss Onya Becks. It may only be an hour of high camp, musical mayhem but you’ll want it to last All Night Long. You’d be Nuts to miss it so get booking and say Hello Dolly to the Girls!

A Lady P and Me Production.

 

SOLD OUT Rudeboy Screening + Don Letts DJ Set

A film about the love affair between Jamaican and British youth culture told through the prism of one of the most iconic labels in the history of black music, Trojan Records.

Combining archive footage, interview and drama, Rudeboy tells the story of the label by placing it at the heart of a cultural revolution that unfolded in the council estates and dancefloors of late 60s and early 70s Britain, as immigration and innovation transformed popular music and culture.

A cast of legendary artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Toots Hibbert, Ken Boothe, Neville Staple, Marcia Griffiths, Dave Barker, Dandy Livingstone, Lloyd Coxsone, Pauline Black, Derrick Morgan and more bring the sounds, stars and stories to life.

Don Letts’ reputation has been firmly established in both the film and music world by a substantial body of work from the late 70’s through the 80’s, 90’s and well into the millennium.

From DJing at The Roxy to filming promos for The Clash and Public Image Limited, Don is credited with bringing punk and reggae audiences together for the first time.

Renowned for his Reggae DJ sets and much loved weekly BBC 6Music Radio show, Don was the founder member of Big Audio Dynamite. His film direction credits include Clash on BroadwayPunk in London and Westway to the World (The Story of The Clash).

Don currently presents a weekly radio show on BBC 6 Music called Culture Clash Radio and still DJs nationally and internationally.

Doors 7.15pm | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT The Dodge Brothers

”These guys play with dust in their Levis and the road their hearts”.

We are delighted to host The Dodge Brothers performing songs from their long-awaited new album Drive Train and bringing their exuberant hybrid of country blues, rockabilly, jugband and skiffle back to Out to Lunch.

You will be one of the first to hear this long-awaited new album, coming 5 years since The Sun Set and described as “wonderful stuff” by Radio 2 presenter Bob Harris.

Firmly rooted in these traditions The Dodge Brothers bring to them a freshness that has feet stomping and hands clapping from California to Cropredy, from the Mississippi to the New Forest. Their songs feature vocal virtuosity and heartfelt harmonies underpinned by joyous guitars, thumping double bass and rattlin’ snare and washboard.

The Dodge Brothers features Mike Hammond (lead guitar, lead vocals, banjo), Mark Kermode (bass, harmonica, vocals), Aly Hirji (rhythm guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Alex Hammond (washboard, snare drum, percussion).

Their music has an authentically American tang – lead guitarist/vocalist Mike Hammond was raised in Alabama and his youthful musical travels took him all over the southern and western USA – but with a strong British perspective from Culture Show presenter and film critic Mark Kermode.

Afternoon Doors 1.45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating
Evening Doors 7:45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

The Allergies feat. Andy Cooper

SUPERFLY FUNK AND SOUL BELFAST & OUT TO LUNCH PROUDLY PRESENT THE ALLERGIES.

Since forming in 2012 The Allergies have made a massive name for themselves with their take on sample-led beats and breaks.

Over the course of two funk-fuelled albums on Jalapeno Records the dynamic duo of DJ Moneyshot & Rackabeat have stacked up accolades and topped charts along the way.

Their last album, Push On, was a melting pot of vintage licks and modern production. It featured heavily on many end of year roundups when it dropped in 2017, and took the Album of the Year gong on BBC 6 Music, thanks to Craig Charles’constant championing.

On record their infectious fusion of hip-hop and rare grooves has won them fans worldwide. And live they recreate that old block party madness on the turntables, cutting up wax like no others with their party-starting DJ sets. From ram jam stages at Glastonbury festival to rocking the legendary Space in Ibiza, they have one mission – to rock the spot.

The Allergies are fast becoming ones to watch, and with a new album release, Steal The Show, this year, these Bristol-based B-boys are just getting started.

“The Allergies are neck deep in the world of scratchy samples…This is truly funk and soul for the 21st century!” – Craig Charles, BBC 6 Music.

Doors 8:00pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT Belfast’s Wild Larder

There’s a taste of Belfast that you might not even know is there.  In amongst the parks, on the hillsides, the streets and in your neighbours’ garden, the city is teeming with food.  Take a closer look and there are hazelnuts on Donegall Street, pears in Annadale, sea buckthorn along the M2 and puffballs hiding in Stormont.

Join forager and curious cook Clare McQuillan on her journey of identification and experimentation and learn how she makes dandelion delicious. The talk will include a taste of some of the wild urban delicacies available within the city limits.

Clare is a freelance foraging guide and chef based in East Belfast who is interested in experimental tastes, eating sustainably and encouraging others to engage with nature through food.

Doors 2.30pm  |  Unreserved Seating

Oxide Ghosts: The Brass Eye Tapes

Director: Michael Cumming. Featuring: Chris Morris.

Made from hundreds of hours of unseen material from his personal archive, director Michael Cumming’s film shares insights into the process of making the legendary TV series Brass Eye. Michael directed both of the pilots and the series and, over a two -year period, witnessed the highs and lows of Brass Eye from a very personal perspective.

Part documentary, part artwork – the film is designed solely for live screenings and is made up almost entirely of never before seen footage. Oxide Ghosts carries the blessing of Chris Morris and provides a rare glimpse of his extraordinary working practices.

Michael Cumming is a director and filmmaker, successfully working at the cutting edge since the ‘90s. A graduate of the Royal College of Art Film School and recent recipient of an honorary doctorate, Dr Cumming’s back catalogue also contains such gems as Jo Brand’s improvised comedy drama Going Forward, cult classic Snuff Box, political pranks and polemics on The Mark Thomas ProductThe Mark Steel Lectures and Matt Berry’s BAFTA winning sitcom, Toast Of London.

Michael will be doing a Q&A after the film – spilling beans, shattering myths and letting a few cats out of the bag. This film & Q&A session are a must for fans of the series but will appeal to anyone with a curiosity about how great comedy is made.

‘[Oxide Ghosts] offers a well-judged and very rare insight into [Brass Eye’s] making, encapsulating the fun and covert excitement that went on while the project was still under wraps, before all the legal wrangling kicked in. If you’re an admirer of the show and the opportunity should arise for you to see Oxide Ghosts, have some self re-cocking-spect and do so without hesitation’ – CHORTLE

Doors 2:45pm | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – Stories from the She Punks

Stories from the She Punks is a documentary that features the stories of women musicians from the punk-inspired bands of the 70s.

Loud, fearless and (un)typical girls: Gina Birch (The Raincoats) and Helen Reddington (The Chefs), musicians and punk icons turned directors, serve up a fascinating documentary built on new interviews with the women who played instruments in punk bands in the 1970s.

Stories from the She Punks reflects all the anarchy, the excitement of the new sounds upsetting British music, and their DIY approach to learning and playing their instruments.

We meet Shanne Bradley who was taught to play bass on top of a 68 bus by the Damned’s Captain Sensible, and Dolly Mixture, who pretended they were at each other’s houses doing their homework, while in reality playing a gig at Cambridge Corn Exchange.

Gina Birch from the Raincoats describes the thrill of buying her first bass guitar after seeing the Slits play and struggling to teach herself to play. These women describe an alternative to the alternative world of punk all too often remembered from a male perspective.

She Punk legends and filmmakers Gina Birch and Helen Reddington will be on hand after the film for a Q and A, talking about the making of the film and offering unique insight into the giddy madness of the punk years.

Doors 7.15 | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – Lucy Porter – Pass it On

A brand new stand-up show from the TV favourite Lucy Porter. As seen on QI, Room 101, Live at the Apollo. As heard on Radio 4s News Quiz and The Now Show.

Always warm, witty and thought-provoking, this is Lucy’s best show yet. She muses on what we receive from our ancestors and what we pass on to future generations. Lucy’s inherited dodgy knees and global warming from her parents, but can she leave a better legacy for her children?

Doors 7.45pm | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – The Kiss of Light and other Illuminations: Poems and Music from Anthony Toner and Frank Ormsby

Acclaimed poet Frank Ormsby and one of Northern Ireland’s foremost songwriters Anthony Toner offer a unique pairing of poetry, songs and stories.

The artists collaborated last year on the acclaimed CD The Kiss of Light, a collection of poems read by Frank and instrumentals composed by Anthony.

The performance will feature readings from Frank – by turns profoundly moving and laugh-out-loud funny – some of the beautiful Kiss of Light instrumentals, and a selection of songs from Anthony’s extensive back catalogue.

Dooors 12.45pm | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – Chris Smither

CHRIS SMITHER. Songwriter. Guitarist. Performer. Bluesman.

A profound songwriter, Chris Smither draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets, and philosophers. Reviewers continue to praise his dazzling guitar work and gravelly voice. Call Me Lucky is the new record from Chris Smither and is his first set of brand new originals in six years.

The record features Smither – trademark songs that offer commentary on the human condition with a wink of an eye and pulls from deep in the soul. A couple of surprise covers remind us of Chris’ deftness as a song interpreter as he makes the songs his own.

‘His songbook is overflowing with rollicking, clever blues-based folk tunes, and he has been a consistently engaging live performer for more than four decades”’ – THE WASHINGTON POST

On this tour of the UK and Ireland The Suitcase Junket (Matt Lorenz) who also played on Call Me Lucky will play a short opener set of his music that is rooted in the salvaged sounds of mountain ballads, blues manifestos, American juke joints and back porches; it’s that and his road-worn voice rising over the grind of a tube-amped dumpster guitar, and the wild double pitches of throat singing that drew Chris to Matt’s music.

Doors 7.45pm | Unreserved Seating

Tenx9

Tenx9 is a storytelling event where nine people have up to ten minutes each to tell a true story from their life. Each event has a theme.

The theme for Tenx9 at OTL 2019 is ‘Pets’. Yup, pets. Love them, hate them. Sometimes we never want them, sometimes we couldn’t’ do without them. Some of us have been the Teacher’s Pet, some of us have engaged in (ahem) heavy petting.

If you’d like to tell a story, and you have a true story — from your own life — about Pets, write to us via the Tenx9 submissions form www.tenx9.com/submissions 

We’d love to hear from you. www.tenx9.com @tenx9 @tenx9storytelling (insta)

SOLD OUT – The Sazeracs

The Sazeracs are a band consisting of Linley Hamilton on trumpet, Kyron Bourke on vocals and piano and Steve Davison drums. Each member of the band boasts years of experience playing in an eclectic mix of bands ranging across genres.

The main premise of this project is to breathe new life in to some classic songs from the New American songbook by adding their own unique Jazz interpretation of songs from the like of Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed.

The Sazeracs have a unique approach to the material they play, with melodic referencing and intricate arrangements making this proposition one of the highlights of this year’s Out to Lunch.

Doors 12.45pm | Unreserved Seating

Doolittle Revisited

The Revisited Series, which proved popular in the early days of Oh Yeah, returns for another special event as part of Out to Lunch 2019.

This year it’s the turn of Doolittle, the seminal rock record by The Pixies. Released in 1989 on 4AD, Doolittle changed the face of alternative rock with songs like Monkey Gone To Heaven, Here Comes Your Man and Debaser – influencing everyone from Nirvana to BowiePJ Harvey to Pavement.

To celebrate the legacy of an insistent, dynamic and ground-breaking alternative rock record the Oh Yeah will re-imagine the album with local artists including Arborist, Hand Models and Sister Ghost

Doors 7:45pm  |  Limited Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – Andy Irvine

Andy Irvine is one of the great Irish singers, his voice one of a handful of truly great ones that gets to the very soul of Ireland. He has been hailed as “a tradition in himself”.

Musician, singer, songwriter, Andy has maintained his highly individual performing skills throughout his over 50-year career.

Andy has been at the helm of legendary bands like Sweeney’s Men in the mid 60s, to the enormous success of Planxtyin the 70s, and then Patrick Street, Mozaik, LAPD and recently Usher’s Island. Andy has been a world music pioneer and an icon for traditional music and musicians.

As a soloist, Andy fills the role of the archetypal troubadour with a show and a travelling lifestyle that reflect his lifelong influence, Woody Guthrie. To quote the Irish Times, “Often copied, never equalled”, his repertoire consists of Irish traditional songs, dexterous Balkan dance tunes and a compelling cannon of his own self-penned songs.

Between the achievements of his solo, group work and collaborations, he is a highly revered troubadour of the Irish music world. Andy never fails to deliver a pulsating, heartfelt performance.

‘Andy Irvine’s solo stage show is a musical travelogue through time and space. His right hand dexterity on bouzouki was nothing short of amazing.’ –  FRETS MAGAZINE

 ‘His artistry is quite simply unique.’ – THE INDEPENDENT

Doors 7:30pm | Unreserved Seating

This Is Spinal Tap ‘35’

 Incredibly, 2019 marks the 35th anniversary of the greatest rockumentary, the greatest mockumentary and probably the greatest comedy movie ever made.

This is Spinal Tap charts the rise and fall and fall of David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls aka Spinal Tap. Directed with a cinema verite style by filmmaker Marti Di Bergi (Rob Reiner),

This is Spinal Tap follows the band on their comeback Smell the Glove tour, and the growing trials and tribulations that surround the band.

Classic situations abound, from the infamous “Stonehenge” set piece to “Jazz Odyssey”, each scene in Spinal Tap has become seared into popular culture, and irrevocably changed the way we see the world of rock music, film-making and comedy.

Mostly though, it’s very, very funny. Join Out to Lunch for a very special anniversary screening of Spinal Tap followed by our Spinal Tap Karaoke. Do you know your Big Bottom from your Sex Farm, this is your chance to demonstrate the Majesty of Rock.

Tonight we’re gonna rock you tonight!

Doors 7.30pm | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – Bronagh Gallagher

Bronagh Gallagher is a singer, songwriter, and actress from Northern Ireland. She is delighted to bring her new show to the Black Box.

Bronagh and her band are currently in the studio recording new material, and planning the next album.

Since releasing their third album “Gather Your Greatness” in 2016, Bronagh and her band have toured extensively in Ireland, and also in the UK and Europe. Furthermore, Bronagh’s acting career continues to blossom, not least with a starring role in ‘Girl From The North Country’ in 2018 – a new play written and directed by Conor McPherson with music and lyrics by Bob Dylan.

At the age of 17 Bronagh was cast as Bernie McGloughlin in Alan Parker’s The Commitments. Since then her music has alternated with film roles in Pulp Fiction, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and Sherlock Holmes, plus theatre work in War Horse, The Street Of Crocodiles and TV dramas Pramface, The Street, and You Me And The Apocalypse.

Bronagh maintains a special place for singing, writing, producing and performing her music. Bronagh’s first album was the Meteor-nominated “Precious Soul”, followed by her second album “Bronagh Gallagher”.

‘One of the purest, clearest talents I know – a fabulous singer, bursting with raw Irish soul. Striking and original songs and an effortlessly brilliant band’– BRIAN ENO

Swaggering like Carole King in her golden years ‘ – **** Q

‘A deep Irish Soul record full of passion and tunes.’ – MAIL ON SUNDAY

Doors 7.45pm | Unreserved Seating

 

Twin Bandit + Steph Cameron

Twin Bandit and Steph Cameron join forces on The Winterwood Tour which comes to Europe in January and February 2019.

Life and art both move in cycles. While Twin Bandit were working on their second full-length album, the aptly titled Full CircleTwin Bandit grew personally and creatively amidst life’s unpredictable ebb and flow.

Throughout that experience, the Vancouver-based duo—Hannah Walker and Jamie Elliot—progressed as songwriters and musicians, delicately expanding their sonic palette of folk, alternative, and country and opened up lyrically like never before.

Steph Cameron arrived on the scene like a bracing gust of fresh musical air with her 2014 debut record Sad-Eyed Lonesome Lady receiving unanimously enthusiastic reviews. Superlatives again to describe Daybreak Over Jackson Street– Steph’s new album – navigating subtle changes in stylistic terrain.

If the debut felt as if it emerged fully-formed from the bohemian streets of Greenwich Village circa 1963, then the extra maturity of Daybreak gives it more of an early ‘70s Laurel or Topanga Canyon atmosphere.

Doors 7.45pm | Unreserved Seating

 

Kathryn Joseph + support Brona McVittie

Kathryn Joseph is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. Her debut album Bones You Have Thrown Me and Blood I’ve Spilled won the 2015 Scottish Album of the Year Award.

Intimate, fearlessly frank and with a fathoms-deep emotional resonance, Kathryn Joseph’s second release From When I Wake the Want Is takes its listeners on a turbulent journey through her psyche in a “constant exchange between pain and beauty” (The Skinny).

Bringing together heavily rhythmic piano, striking vocals and vivid lyrics, Joseph’s modern folk songs of devastating intensity will have you entranced.

From When I Wake… isa compellingly soulful set that suggests Aldous Harding, Joanna Newsom, Talk Talk and Kate Bush as kindred spirits and documents both life’s traumas and their resolutions.

“Possibly the best album we’ll hear all year.” (Clash)

Joseph, along with director, actor and musician Cora Bissett, wrote the music for a stage version of Emma Donoghue’sbook Room, which was produced by Theatre Royal Stratford East and Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. In 2017, Joseph collaborated with Marcus MacKay and The Twilight Sad’s James Graham on the project Out Lines. Their debut album Conflats was released in October 2017.

Kathryn was invited by Robert Smith to play his curated Meltdown Festival this year.

Doors 2.45pm | Unreserved seating

SOLD OUT – Troubled – Northern Irish Poet Films

Screening as part of Troubles: Films from the Archive – a season of films looking at life during the conflict, Second Chance Cinema present three archive films made about, or by, some of Northern Ireland’s great poetry talents.

Where Genesis Begins (25 mins)
A film Seamus Heaney made about Patrick Kavanagh and his ‘poetic imagination’ for BBC television in 1979 with director Bill Miskelly. Kavanagh was raised and self-educated on a small farm in County Monaghan. He longed for the liberation and stimulus of Dublin. Disillusionment with the city brought in his closing years a ‘return to simplicity’.

Something to Write Home About: A Tribute to Seamus Heaney (30 mins)
Heaney made this film in 1998 with his great friend and collaborator, David Hammond. The film is a tribute to Seamus Heaney, exploring his home ground, and the bogs, of Castledawson, the boundaries and divisions and ‘the possibility of true understanding’.

Devices of Detachment (30 mins)
Made in 1992 by Damian Gorman for the BBC, this film has the reputation as a masterwork of televisual communication. Gormans words, spoken over footage from the conflict, examine coping strategies of ordinary people with powerful effect.

John Kearns, Roisin and Chiara + Paul Currie MC

Tonight’s show marks the launch of Bivouac Comedy Club. Curated and hosted by Edinburgh Comedy Award winner, Paul Currie, Bivouac will feature the best alternative comedy from across the UK and beyond. We’re delighted to host the opening night of Bivouac as part of Out to Lunch.

John Kearns
The only ever winner of both the Best Show and Best Newcomer prize at the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards makes his Northern Irish debut with his ‘richly idiosyncratic comedy, frequently compared to Tony Hancock’ (Guardian).

As seen starring in BBC3’s Top Coppers, guesting on C4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats and heard on his own BBC Radio Fourseries.

Following highly acclaimed, sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and at London’s Soho TheatreJohn dons his false teeth and monk wig for this Festival exclusive.

A supreme stand-up – you’re in the hands of a master . -**** GUARDIAN

A true comedy original. –  ***** TIME OUT

Bold, hilarious – he’s forged comedy gold –  ***** CHORTLE

Roaringly funny, hugely impressive. –  **** SCOTSMAN


Roisin and Chiara
Róisín and Chiara’s lightning-paced, rhapsodic storytelling, told in uncanny synchronicity, brings to life a plethora of irresistibly well-observed character vignettes unlike anything else on the scene.

A bubbling, slightly twisted blend of The Mighty Boosh, House of Pain and James Joyce. Call it stream-of-consciousness, messy art-house disco funk comedy. A two-woman character sketch comedy bonanza

Sensual, spiritual, baffling, staggering… hilariously unpredictable. –  ***** THREE WEEKS

Meet ‘The Mighty Boosh on acid. –  ***** BROADWAYBABY.COM

Redefining live comedy. –  VICE.COM


Paul Currie
Beautifully daft, Paul Currie’s shows are comedy in its purest form. A frenzy of silliness and joy, coupled with an at times perfectly pitched melancholy that serves only in making the laughter louder.

The way Currie interacts with the crowd is a marvel in itself as he effortlessly manipulates them with barely a word. The audience are treated with love and respect and it’s hard to see a face that doesn’t grin with childish glee at the antics in the room.

Wish I’d seen him sooner, I’ll be back to see him every year now. Paul Currie was my favourite comedy show of the fringe – STEWART LEE

A unique blast of silly that’s found its groove and place amongst the Fringe’s elite… he’s fast developing a cult following…. everything Currie does has the spirit of Vic and Bob, The Young Ones and everything surreal that’s come before or since. – ***** EDFEST MAGAZINE

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

 

SOLD OUT – Nish Kumar – It’s In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves

Part of the Belfast City Council’s #YourBelfast campaign

Out to Lunch is proud to welcome Double Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee Nish Kumar on his brand new tour of the UK.

The title is a quote from Terminator 2. There will be jokes about politics, mankind’s capacity for self-destruction and whether it will lead to the end of days. GOOD FUNSTUFF.

He’s the host of The Mash Report which you might have seen on BBC 2, or on a Facebook video posted by someone you went to school with but haven’t spoken to in a while.

As seen on Live at the Apollo (BBC2), Taskmaster (Dave), Live From the BBC (Netflix), QI (BBC2) Have I Got News For You (BBC1) and Joel & Nish Vs The World (Netflix/Comedy Central).

‘One of the best young comedians we have.’ – The Times

A masterclass by a no-frills stand-up at the height of his powers.’ –  The Guardian

Intelligent, inventive, thought-provoking and delivered with a passion, urgency and enthusiasm that makes an hour feel like a fantastic ten minutes.’ – Time Out

‘A very clever boy.’ –  Nish Kumar

Doors 7:30pm | Unreserved Seating

Raymond Watson – Unlocking: Yard side/Garden side – Launch of Sonic Art

The artist said, ‘The sound recorded on this LP was created with items from The Crumlin Road Prison Belfast and memories that still echo loud and clear.  ‘The Crum’ as it is known, was a Belfast prison where prisoners involved in the political conflict were held on remand.  I was one of those prisoners.  From the closed confines of a small prison cell, external sounds – keys, grills, locks, footsteps, voices, silence and noises often provided a visual picture of what was happening beyond the locked door – the origin of this ‘sound sculpture’ – hopefully the vision that you will have as a listener will be generated by you, your own confined space and your interaction with this sonic experience. 
 
‘This sonic art grew from an immersive audio visual installation that I created in 2016 and that I first exhibited in February 2017.  The exhibition displayed hundreds of the keys for ‘the Crum’ and an audio track created with those same keys. 
 
‘Items used to sculpt the sonic image are hundreds of the actual Crumlin Road Prison keys and their brass and aluminium ID (identification) tags, a steel prison food tray, an original ‘prison made’ grappling hook (surreptitiously constructed by prisoners intending to escape), locks, grills, echoing memories and my own words.  Additional instrumental music was created by my daughters Toraigh and Dara, on flute and harp, and the nature that blooms in the Glens.’

Catherine Bohart – Immaculate

Catherine Bohart is the bisexual, OCD daughter of an Irish Catholic Deacon and she’s got a hell of a lot to say about it. We’re delighted to present the premier Belfast performance of her critically acclaimed, debut Edinburgh Fringe show.

Nominee: Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2018, BBC New Talent Hotlist 2017, BBC New Comedy Award Finalist 2016

As seen on Roast Battle UK (Comedy Central)

Writer: BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show, The News Quiz and Frankie Boyle’s New  World Order for BBC

‘The sort of perfectly structured Edinburgh debut you always hope for and rarely get to see’ – ★★★★ THE TIMES

‘Packed full of laughs… she’s destined for great things.’ ★★★★ THE HERALD

‘Well-crafted and beautifully-delivered hour… a star in the making.’ ★★★★ THE SKINNY

‘A winning mixture of self-deprecation and confidence.’ ★★★★ BEYOND THE JOKE

‘A supremely natural quality about her delivery.’ ★★★★ THE LIST

Doors 12:45pm | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – Nish Kumar – It’s In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves

Out to Lunch is proud to welcome Double Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee Nish Kumar on his brand new tour of the UK.

The title is a quote from Terminator 2. There will be jokes about politics, mankind’s capacity for self-destruction and whether it will lead to the end of days. GOOD FUNSTUFF.

He’s the host of The Mash Report which you might have seen on BBC 2, or on a Facebook video posted by someone you went to school with but haven’t spoken to in a while.

As seen on Live at the Apollo (BBC2), Taskmaster (Dave), Live From the BBC (Netflix), QI (BBC2) Have I Got News For You (BBC1) and Joel & Nish Vs The World (Netflix/Comedy Central).

‘One of the best young comedians we have.’ – The Times

A masterclass by a no-frills stand-up at the height of his powers.’ –  The Guardian

Intelligent, inventive, thought-provoking and delivered with a passion, urgency and enthusiasm that makes an hour feel like a fantastic ten minutes.’ – Time Out

‘A very clever boy.’ –  Nish Kumar

Doors 7:30pm | Unreserved Seating

Niamh McGlinchey

Hailing from Gulladuff in Co. Derry, Niamh’s first instrument was the Mandolin, from there she moved onto the Tin Whistle and finally settling on the guitar.

With firm roots in the folk tradition, Niamh has ventured into Country and Bluegrass and cites as her major influences Cara Dillon, Mary Black, Kate Rusby, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Kimmie Rhodes and Willie Nelson.

An ever-growing profile has seen Niamh release three highly acclaimed albums of covers and original songs and three years touring the UK and Ireland as the opening act for Nathan Carter.

One of the rising stars of Irish Folk and Country, Niamh McGinchey’s star has been very much on the ascendant since we featured her in Out to Lunch in 2013.

Doors 12:45pm | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – Steeleye Span 50th Anniversary

Space Oddity. Suspicious Minds. Pinball Wizard. Whole Lotta Love. Come Together – 1969 could easily be said to be a vintage year for music, the end of a decade that changed the world and the introduction to one that would prove equally inspirational.

It would also see the birth of a band that would start as an idea to electrify traditional music and would go on to become one of the most enduring stories in the folk world and beyond.

Fifty years on and Steeleye Span are set to mark this incredible milestone with a tour that will celebrate a band that are still as creative and vital now as they were all those years ago.

Led as ever by the iconic Maddy Prior, the latest seven-piece line-up will draw on the group’s incredible history to provide a night of favourites and surprises from down the decades.

Doors 7.45pm | Unreserved Seating

 

The Friel Sisters

Glasgow born sisters Anna, Sheila and Clare Friel are young traditional musicians who use their Donegal ancestral culture to create a sound that encompasses the soul of Irish music.

Being siblings helps them achieve a stunningly close blend on fiddle, flute and uilleann pipes, interspersed with songs in English and Irish, many from their family and local repertoire.

Since the launch of their debut album, they have performed in various venues and festivals across Europe, America and Asia and have appeared as guests on stage or toured with acts such as Altan, The Chieftains, and Sharon Shannon.

Clare has recently become the Young Traditional Musician of the Year at the 2018 TG4 Gradam Ceoil Awards, the first person Scottish person ever to win this.

The Friel Sisters represent a new strand in traditional Irish music – they superbly balance a contemporary approach with an informed understanding of the Irish origins of their song and music.

Doors 12:45pm  | Unreserved Seating

Grainne Holland – ‘Corcra’ Album Launch

Born and raised in Belfast, Gráinne Holland’s love of music and song began at an early age.  A product of the Irish language revival in the North of Ireland, she was raised in both Gaelic and English and she attended the first Irish-medium school in Belfast.

It was here that her love of traditional song was fostered. Gráinne has to date, released two albums of traditional Gaelic songs with contemporary arrangements; Teanga na nGael in 2011 and Gaelré in 2015 to great critical acclaim.

Now Gráinne will celebrate the release of her third studio album with a concert at Out To Lunch. Produced by Brian Finnegan and featuring some of Ireland and Scotland’s finest musicians; Corcra is an album of Gráinne’s own original songs in both Gaelic and English.

Performing with Gráinne will be Brian Finnegan, Sean Óg Graham, and Liam Bradley.

Doors 7.30pm  |  Unreserved Seating

Yorkston Thorne Khan

The second Yorkston/Thorne/Khan album was released by Domino in April and represents a confluence of currents, among them the north Indian sarangi; jazz-tinged bass, reminiscent in places of Danny Thompson; acoustic guitar that owes a debt to Elizabeth Cotton, Dick Gaughan and Mississippi John Hurt; and three very different vocalists.

The combination is unusual: YTK’s Everything Sacred, released in 2016, may be the only precedent. Yet while, on paper, the constituent elements might seem disparate, the recent, hugely acclaimed album is, if anything, even more coherent than its predecessor.

It also basks in a truly magnificent title: Neuk Wight Delhi All-Stars. Just don’t call it fusion.

Doors 7:30pm  | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – The Swingtime Starlets

The Swingtime Starlets are an all-professional close harmony trio, who perform songs from the 40’s Wartime Era, Hollywood’s Golden Age and Retro Pop!

Get your toes tapping, your sweetheart swaying, your jitterbug jiving and become entranced in the romance as this diverse, dynamic duo transport you through the eras of Swing, Jazz and Blues.

Let their renditions of the Great American Songbook and Hollywood’s Golden Era transport you through the years with their beguiling voices, close harmonies & vintage style!

Doors | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – Teddy Thompson with support from Dori Freeman

An acclaimed singer-songwriter with a career that has consistently garnered critical praise. NPR proclaims that he’s “the musical equivalent of an arrow to the heart,” while The New York Times calls his work “beautifully finessed.” Teddy released his first, self-titled album in 2000.

Thompson also toured as part of Rosanne Cash’s band before signing with Verve. Soon after, Thompson released his much lauded 2006 sophomore album Separate Ways, which demonstrated how much his songwriting, performing and record-making skills had evolved since his debut.

It was followed in 2007 by Up Front & Down Low, a collection of personally charged readings of classic American country songs that demonstrated Thompson’s increased assurance as a performer and interpreter.

In 2008, Thompson released the upbeat and highly acclaimed, A Piece of What You Need, which was declared “one of this year’s best” by The Guardian and debuted at #9 in the UK charts. A fifth studio effort, Bella, was released February 2011 to much acclaim and led to touring the world with Elton John among other things.

In 2014 Thompson gathered his musical clan to release Family, one of the folk records of the year which garnered a multi-page, in depth piece from The New York Times magazine.

In 2016 Teddy released Little Windows, a record of original duets with singer Kelly Jones. The album was recorded live to tape and features an all-star band of backing musicians. Teddy also produced Dori Freeman’sdebut album which was hailed by The New York Times as one of the year’s best.

2017 saw the release of the long-awaited Shelby Lynn & Allsion Moorer duets record produced by Thompson.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Martin Harley

Martin Harley is a supremely talented Roots and Blues guitarist, singer and songwriter with a burgeoning global reputation.

He’s a devotee to the music that came out of the Mississippi Delta and many other forms of roots music. Though Harley’s sound is rooted in the blues it seeks to tell his own story and draws on the ruminations of a musician who has spent much of his life on the road.

Renowned for his prowess as a slide guitarist, Martin is almost unique in the UK in his playing lap slide. During year-round worldwide touring he’s absorbed a plethora of diverse influences, honing his craft into the classic songwriting style he possesses today.

In the US, Martin has headlined Music City Roots in Nashville and toured coast to coast with ZZ Ward, Delta Rae and opened for Iron and Wine, Bruce Hornsby, World Party, Beth Hart, Joe Bonamassa amongst many others.

‘Harley offers the listener a masterclass in taste, style and roots blues’ – GUITARIST MAGAZINE

‘No doubt that he is a slide guitar master. He is the business.’ – ROOTS MAGAZINE

‘Awesome’ – Johnnie Walker, BBC RADIO 2

‘Quite simply a great live act’ – TIME OUT

Doors 7.45pm | Unreserved Seating

Laura Cortese and the Dance cards

Cutting her teeth as a sideman in Boston’s roots music scene, Laura Cortese forged a unique path through a pool rich in talent (due to a large population of Berklee School of Music graduates like herself) including stints as an instrumentalist with Band of HorsesPete SeegerRose Cousins, Jocie Adams (of The Low Anthem), and Uncle Earl.

Her Compass Records debut, California Calling, is the next step in her career as a frontwoman and bandleader – she & the Dance Cards (Valerie Thompson – Cello, Jenna Moynihan – fiddle & banjo, and a rotating cast of North America’s preeminent bassists) break new ground with a bold and elegant new album, based in the lyrical rituals of folk music but exploring new territories of rhythm and sonics.

With the support of Sam Kassirer, album producer of folk-pop favorites like Lake Street Dive and Joy Kills Sorrow, they’ve created something that’s simultaneously rowdy, delicate and cinematic. This is post-folk that seriously rocks. Out to Lunch anticipate a truly show-stopping performance.

Doors 2.15pm | Unreserved Seating

SOLD OUT – The Delines

The Delines debut album Colfax surprised fans and critics alike. The band had only been together a week when they went into the studio and cut the record.

Uncut gave it 9/10 stars and praised its “widescreen romanticism”, calling it “the richest collection of songs Vlautin has written.” Evoking the feel of a beat-up Dusty Springfield or a weary Rickie Lee Jones, Colfax made a dozen top ten records of the year lists and the Delines sold out venues in the UK, Ireland, and had successful tours in the Europe and Australia.

The Guardian declared them the surprise hit of the End of the Road festival and then it all came to a stop. Lead singer Amy Boone was hit by a car and put into the hospital and recovery for many months, finally putting the band on hold for over three years.

Amy is finally on the mend and The Delines are back with their sophomore effort released next January ahead of their UK tour.

The Delines are led by vocalist Amy Boone( The Damnations, TX), the keyboard and horn work of Cory Gray, Tucker Jackson (The Minus 5) on pedal steel, as well as Richmond Fontaine members: Sean Oldham, Freddie Trujillo, and Willy Vlautin.

Vlautin, the acclaimed novelist and songwriter for Richmond Fontaine, has penned all ten tracks. Vlautin’s book Lean on Pete was recently released as a major motion picture. Richmond Fontaine broke up in 2016 after releasing over ten records.

Doors 7.45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

 

Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story

Rescheduled from Sunday 6th January.

Being Frank explores the extraordinary secret life of artist Chris Sievey, best known as his alter ego Frank Sidebottom, the maverick Northern comedian in a fake head.

Frank Sidebottom, his greatest creation, became a star – a manic, insane, mercurial star burning brightly from within a papier mâché head – a star who obscures his own creator.  But who really knew Chris Sievey, the fractured genius underneath the mask?

Chris Sievey was a musician, songwriter, artist, comedian, filmmaker, performance artist and wayward genius who created an alter ego that he grew to resent.

Director Steve Sullivan pieces together Sievey’s split personality through an extensive archive of personal notebooks, movies, art and music, alongside insights from his closest confidants, including Johnny Vegas, Jon Ronson, John Cooper Clarke, Ross Noble, and more.

What he uncovers is an intimate portrait of a sensitive, tortured outsider artist, forever on the outside looking in.

Doors 1.45pm | Unreserved Seating

The Once

Newfoundland has a storied history of stunning songwriters, poets and players. Over the course of the last decade The Once have writ and knit themselves into that story. Within the nine songs on their new album Time Enough, The Once offer some of the most vulnerable and honest material of their career.

They craft a sonically understated, but emotionally fulsome sound that accomplishes what they’ve always done so well: stun listeners with what Amelia Curran calls “perfect vocal harmonies, thick enough to stand on.”

The Once are propelled by the rare chemistry that comes from a decade of writing and touring together. Their songs have been placed in international film and television, they have YouTube videos with millions of hits, and there’s a trail of trophy nominations and wins from the East Coast Music Awards, the Canadian Folk Awards, and the JUNO Awards in their wake.

Since first hitting the road in 2009, The Once has earned one of the most loyal followings in the country. Geraldine Hollett’s voice is a large part of the band’s ethereal sound, and there is nowhere it would sit better than in between the rhythmic and supportive voices of Phil Churchill and Andrew Dale, and the lush soundscapes they build.

The trio’s instrumentation and vocals meld together like gold, building something stronger together than any one songwriter could muster alone. Their harmonies grab you by the heart, and their music melts what’s left of it. Building on the wave of creative energy that defined their last album, Time Enough is a striking and subtle sea change for the band. Dive in, get lost, click repeat.

Doors 1.45pm | Unreserved Seating

Mull Historical Society

Colin MacIntyre – aka Mull Historical Society – has been rather busy these last few years. Most notably, the man responsible for 2001’s gold-selling debut album Loss wrote his debut novel in 2015 and The Letters of Ivor Punch went on to win the Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award.

More recently, Colin has released two new stories; The Boy In The Bubble is a memoir about growing up on the Isle of Mull, while The Humdrum Drum is his first children’s picture book and comes complete with accompanying CD of original related songs and an audiobook.

Thankfully for fans of the Mull Historical Society side of his persona, he has just released his first music in over two years. Wakelines is produced by Bernard Butler and features songs about family, home, islands, dreams and travel.

This is Colin’s eighth album and from the title track onwards it is another collection of masterful, no holds barred, joyously quirky, epic pop.

Born into a family of writers and storytellers, Colin is a descendant of the Gaelic warrior-poet, Duncan Ban MacIntyre,and grew up on the Isle of Mull in the Hebrides (pop. 2,500 people, 26,268 sheep).

Doors 7:30pm  |  Limited Unreserved Seating

Dreamed of Places – Alana Barton

Dreamed of Places is a series of paintings by Alana Barton. The works feature both figurative and abstract elements that explore the use of colour to convey ideas of dream like states and alternative realities.

Taking inspiration from cults, alternative cultures and consciousness; sourcing from old photographic material, primarily based on young people integrated with organic forms.

alanabarton.com

Gift Vouchers

If you would like to share the pleasure of OTL and CQAF events with family or a friend, simply buy a gift voucher here and the recipient will be sent a voucher code to enter when purchasing show tickets from our website.

It couldn’t be simpler, will bring much enjoyment and will contribute to the ongoing sustainability of the festival.

Rosborough

Loaded with an alternative grit but lifted by soaring, universal and cinematic soundscapes, rising alt folk star Rosborough shares far more of his sound and spirit of the likes of Jeff Buckley, early Suede and peak Radiohead than he does with other male solo contemporaries.

Awarded Single Of The Fortnight by Hot Press magazine, his debut Irish release Burn Blue was described as “Jawdropping” by Daily Mirror (Ulster), who voted it their No.1 track of 2017 as did Ulster music website Chordblossom.

Last December Rosborough was invited to perform at the prestigious Other Voices Festival in Dingle alongside the likes of Loyle Carner and Django Django. With his hotly anticipated debut album in the pipeline and a bucket-load of good will from critics and fans alike, we’re delighted to present one of Ireland’s brightest new talents to the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival.

“Strident, urgent, and anthemic songwriting” CLASH

Doors 7:45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

DAVID TURNER – MORE ORDINARY LEADERS: UNOFFICIAL PORTRAITS

THURSDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY, 5PM-11PM

Belfast-based artist David Turner exhibits his unique portraits of famous world leaders as ordinary young people created using Lego bricks or Hama Beads.

With these original works the artist draws upon and rejects the portrait tradition of the great and powerful as he “de-idealises” their representations, and confers on them a private and playful quality.

Through these pieces Turner continues to explore political themes which are at the core of his work. The artist invites viewers to imagine the leaders as more ordinary, at an age when different life paths were possible, before their decisions shaped their career and their involvement in conflicts.

BB

CATHEDRAL QUARTER ART TRAIL

For sales and enquiries,contact Francesca at kaleidoscope.no1@gmail.com

Featuring
Jane Rainey at the Bullitt Hotel, Church Lane (Mon-Sun 7am-12pm, 4-5pm, after 10pm)
Grace McMurray at Café Torino, Royal Avenue (Mon-Sat 7.30am-4.30pm)
Lisa Ballard & Kevin Miller at Clements Coffee, Royal Avenue (Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat 10am-5pm)
Trina Hobson at Clements Coffee, Rosemary Street (Mon-Fri 7.30-5pm, Sat 8.30-5pm, Sun 12.30pm-5pm)

Opening receptions
on Thursday 3 May Bullitt Hotel, 6-9pm, Café Torino 7.30-9.30pm

Art Trail tour with the curator on Saturday 12 May, 11.00am- 12.30pm & 2pm – 3.30pm, starting from Clements Coffee in Royal Avenue. FREE (some spaces left for 2pm)

The Art Trail takes art lovers on a journey through the Cathedral Quarter to discover exciting works by accomplished artists based in the quarter and other studios in Belfast.

This unique trail showcases original pieces by award winning painters Lisa Ballard, Trina Hobson and Jane Rainey, and innovative artists Kevin Miller and Grace McMurray working with non-traditional materials. Viewers following the trail will discover diverse art works, from Ballard’s evocative landscapes, to Hobson’s representations of intriguing characters and stories, and Rainey’s fascinating imaginary worlds. Viewers will also see on display Miller’s captivating acrylic objects and McMurray’s delicate fabric and paper patterns.

The Art Trail is curated by art consultant Francesca Biondi

Dave Sinclair Exhibition

Monday – Friday, 11am – 6pm

Saturday, 11am – 5pm

Public Preview: Thurs 3 May, 6 – 9pm

Photographer Dave Sinclair began photographing his home town of Liverpool, the people, derelict factories, docks and protests in the 1980s. He started working for the Militant newspaper in 1984.

In 1988 Dave visited Belfast to document that year’s May Day rally and other events. The show will consist on 60 original prints. The spine of the exhibition is the archive of May Day 30 years ago. A unique quality record of the only non-sectarian public event of the time, which resisted the attempts of others to claim it.

The exhibition is sponsored by NIC-ICTU, NIPSA, UNISON and UNITE.

ArtCetera will host a series of public talks during the month of May.

TRANSACTIONS

TRANSACTIONS is an exchange between two prominent experimental artists’ groups, Mobius Artist Group in Boston and Bbeyond in Belfast, Northern Ireland.7 Mobius artists, Marilyn Arsem, Jimena Bermejo, Daniel DeLuca, Milan Kohout, Mari Novotny-Jones, Sandrine Schaefer, and Anna Wexler, have come to Belfast to perform new works specifically created for presentation in outdoor, pubic space.This exchange, which emphasizes Boston and Belfast’s relationship as sister cities, provides opportunities for artists working at the helm of experimental practice in live performance to learn from each other, share audiences, work across national and cultural contexts while building connections through the creation of new works.

In September, artists from Bbeyond will be travelling to Boston in order to complete the exchange.

Marilyn Arsem

Title: Regrouping

Date/Time: Thursday 3 May,12 noon to 6pm

Location: Front of Castle Court Shopping Centre

Daniel DeLuca

Title: Moving Messages

Date/Time: Friday 4 May,12 noon to 6pm,

Locations: From Markets area to Tigers Bay

Sandrine Schaefer

Title: Pace Investigations No. 9

Date/Time: Saturday 5 May, Sunrise to Sunset

Location: Exchange Place

Anna Wexler

Title: Tracks and Tracts

Date/Time: Saturday 5 May, 11am to 5pm,

Locations: Custom House Square and Queen’s Bridge (Big Fish) area.

Mari Novotny-Jones

Title: Passage

Date/Time: Thursday 10 May, 12noon to 8.30pm

Locations: beginning Exchange Place and moving about.

Milan Kohout

Title: Stolen Public Space

Date/Time: Friday 11 May, 3pm to 6pm,

Location: Lombard St

Bbeyond Performance Monthly meeting:

Date/Time: Saturday 12 May, 12noon

Location: Writers Square.

Jimena Bermejo

Title: What Not to Do in Belfast

Date/Time: Saturday 12 May, 4 to 5pm

Location: Anne St Underpass.

Botany of Silence – Photography Exhibition – Samantha Brown

Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm

An exhibition documenting evidence of the Clark’s shoe factory being taken apart. Fallen roofs, walls and windows are eerily quiet at the end of the day. Machinery has settled into silence, leaving behind traces of activity. Scrap turned into random piles, giving form to the various materials – metal, concrete, glass and wood that disappear on the back of trucks. A representation of the passage of time.

Finally all that remains is an electricity substation sitting in the carpark.

Join us for a discussion with the artist on Thursday 3rd May at 6pm. Refreshments served.

PLACE has also developed a built environment themed bookshop stocking books and journals, plaster pieces from Model Citizen and textile work by Deborah Toner, as well as our own publications. Call in Mon – Fri 10am – 4pm!

placeni.org

Lisa and John

Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm

Public Preview: Thurs 3 May 6-9pm

Artist Talk with David Moore: Fri 4 May 1pm

Lisa and John tells the story of two subjects from David Moore’s 1980’s series Pictures from the Real World, documenting working class communities in the photographers’ home-town of Derby.

This exhibition re-presents the project in a new form through an immersive installation of photographs, 3D maquettes, audio-visual works and a public performance of ‘The Lisa and John Slideshow’ at the MAC Belfast on Thursday 10 May.

Collaborating with Lisa and John, Moore seeks to question and discuss the nature of representation through photography and archives.

belfastexposed.org

 

Donegal Night – ‘Oíche Thír Chonaill’

Bígí linn i gcuideachta scoth na n-amhránaithe agus na gceoltóirí chun traidisiún saibhir amhránaíochta Ghaeltacht Thír Chonaill a cheiliúradh.

Join us in the company of the choicest singers and musicians to celebrate the rich singing tradition of the Donegal Gaeltacht.

With; Clann Mhic Ruairí, Doimnic Mac Giolla Bhríde, Noel Ó Dúgáin (Clannad), Noeleen Ní Cholla and Maria Ní Chumhaill.

CLANN MHIC RUAIRÍ:

Four brothers, Tony, Aodh, Sean, Dónal and Tony’s daughter Megan make up this lively, impromptu traditional Gaelic singing group from Rann na Feirste in the Gaeltacht of North West Donegal. They perform traditional songs with a contemporary innovative and inspirational approach retaining the traditional purity and integrity.

Together, these five individuals create a beautiful sound like only a family of voices can, singing in their native tongue’SEAN P FEENEY

Doors 8:30pm | Unreserved Seating

Stewart Parker’s Northern Star – Rehearsed Reading

Set in a crumbling cottage on the slopes of Cave Hill in the aftermath of the 1798 Rising, Northern Star, by Stewart Parker, returns to the ‘Golden Age’ of late 18th century Belfast, when the city had been a harbinger of radical thought.

Northern Star is a masterpiece of modern Irish drama and dialogue. Presented in association with Kabosh.

Doors 5:45pm | Unreserved Seating

What Next for the Arts?

Discussion and Book Launch

The arts sector in Northern Ireland is in crisis. After years of funding cuts and issues around governance and strategy, the sector is teetering on the brink of collapse.

Recently the entire edifice of public subsidy for the arts has been brought into question. The forum will feature speakers from the world of arts management and cultural policy, and promises lively and informed debate.

The event concludes with a book launch and wine reception for the recently published, Culture, Democracy and the Right to Make Art by Alison Jeffers and Gerri Moriarty

Guest Speakers: Prof Ele Belfiore, Dr Steven Hadley (Chair), Dr Alison Jeffers, Gerri Moriarty, Dr Stephen Pritchard, Conor Shields

Admission free. Tickets offered on first come first served basis and can be reserved by contacting gabri@capartscentre.com

Anúna Singing Workshop – SOLD OUT

Ages 16 years and older. Refreshments provided.

Join us for a workshop led by two singers from the Irish vocal ensemble Anúna.

The workshop will focus on how we sing – using the Anúna method of breathing together, the physicality of singing and unifying the natural sound of each person’s voice as a group to create the Anúna sound.

Established in 1987 by its current Artistic Director and composer, Michael McGlynn, Anúna is Ireland’s flagship a cappella vocal ensemble representing the beauty of Irish musical heritage and literature all over the world.

This workshop is ideal for those with some singing experience and the ability to read music is an advantage. We will use pieces in Irish and English from the Anúna repertoire and the workshop will be delivered bilingually.

About the facilitators:

Fergus Cahillane is from Dublin and a graduate of the NUI, Maynooth, with a degree in English and Music. He has been a member of Anúna since 2016.

Ellie McGinley is a native of Co Donegal. She is a music graduate from Dundalk IT, a specialist in sean-nós singing and a fiddle player.

Artist in Residence Joshua Burnside

We’re thrilled to announce that this year’s CQAF artist in residence is none other than Joshua Burnside who we regard as one of this island’s greatest young songwriters.

Most recently, he delivered a pitch-perfect, jaw-dropping set in support of folk legend Shirley Collins at Out to Lunch in January.

His debut album Ephrata was released last year to universal acclaim. An intoxicating collection of stumbling beats, vocoder, banjo, robots, lightning and dark matter, it effortlessly scooped the 2017 Northern Ireland Music Prize.

A fragile yet commanding and utterly unique performer, catch Joshua Burnside during the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and prepare to be astonished.

‘Rumbling, brooding, powerful, magnetic’ – THE IRISH TIMES

Joshua will be playing support slots at the following shows.

Oh Pep! – Friday 4 May, 8pm – Sunflower Public House
This is the Kit – Tuesday 8 May, 8pm – Rosemary Street Church
Bedouine – Thursday 10 May, 8pm – McHugh’s
Michael Chapman – Friday 11 May, 8pm – The American Bar
King Creosote – Saturday 12 May, 8pm – The Black Box

Neil Young – Journey Through the Past – SOLD OUT

It would’ve been easy for Neil Young to follow up his smash hit album Harvest with a crowd-pleasing concert film and a string of similarly middle-of-the-road country-rock records.

Instead, he embarked on a series of noisy, mostly uncommercial LPs, and spent a pile of money on an art movie that combines “day in the life” scenes with inscrutably freaky imagery.

Journey Through the Past intercuts intimate scenes such as Young playing with backing band The Stray Gators in his barn, jawing with Crosby, Stills, and Nash backstage, hanging with his then partner Carrie Snodgrass, and wearing a hard hat and sitting in a Nashville junkyard full of old cars, where he sips a Budweiser and rattling off anything that comes to mind.

Journey through the Past is an often bizarre, but wholly indispensable trip through the mind-set of one the greatest singer-songwriters of the 1970s.

Doors 2:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Lost In Translation – SOLD OUT

Unbelievably, 2018 marks the 15th anniversary of Lost in Translation – everybody’s favourite Tokyo hotel-based romantic-comedy-drama starring Bill Murray!

To celebrate, we’re delighted to be able to screen one of the very best movies of the 2000s in – where else? – one of the coolest hotels in Belfast.

Grab something from mini-bar and join us for an evening of cool postromance in “The Good Room” of the Bullitt Hotel, and prepare to get “Lost in Translation”.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

The Ballroom of Romance

Born 90 years ago this month, this perfectly rendered naturalist feature is adapted from writer William Trevor’s short story The Ballroom of Romance.

The film explores the deadening atmosphere of 1950s Ireland through the figure of the unmarried Bridie (Brenda Fricker). ‘Spinster’ Bridie goes to the country ballroom, where as a young woman she danced and dreamed of a happy marriage, to desperately try one last time to find a husband.

Respectable men prove to be thin on the ground and loneliness threatens to drive Bridie into the arms of drunken, foolish Bowser Egan (John Kavanagh).

Trevor supplied the script for this adaptation himself, with Pat O’Connor crafting it into a courageous look into the paralysed heart of rural Ireland.

Doors 12:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Go Betweens – Right Here

*Tickets available on the Door*

When Robert Forster first met Grant McLennan at the University of Queensland in the mid-70s, he knew they were going to form a band almost immediately.

Right Here charts the music and life of a band who, like The Velvet Underground before them, didn’t sell a lot of records, but everyone who heard them was irrevocably altered by their sound.

A sensitive and intimate portrayal of Brisbane’s greatest musical export, from early local success through seminal albums such as 19 Lovers Lane to the tragic, untimely death of Grant McLennan, aged just 48, in 2006.

Peppered with anecdotes and asides from former band members and famous fans, Right Here is a beautiful and fitting eulogy to the power and the poetry of The Go Betweens.

Love and thunder on film…those for whom the Go-Betweens are part of the architecture of their lives will love it. For casual watchers, it might introduce them to something special.’ – THE GUARDIAN

Doors 2:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Troubled: Films from the Archive

Second Chance Cinema and the Black Box are joining up for a series of events screening archive films from Northern Ireland made during and/or about the Troubles.

We want to showcase some of the weird, wonderful and insightful films made from the 60s to the 90s that shed some light on complicated times.

As our first event is part of CQAF we’ve selected two rarely seen films focusing on the arts.

Cross the Line made in 1980 is a profile of new wave punk band from the Shankill Road, Ruefrex. They never hit the heights of fame that some of their contemporaries did but shared their strong anti-sectarian stance.

Anything that Makes a Noise from 1990 focuses in on musician, sound sculptor and experimental instrument maker, Henry Dagg.

Doors 2:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Sarah McQuaid

Mellow, relaxed and sometimes haunting all describe Sarah’s singing and playing style.

Accompanied by her beautiful custom-made guitar – regularly tuned to DADGAD – the richness of her vocals is striking. Sarah’s international upbringing might explain her eclectic musical influences, which include folk, jazz, traditional, contemporary, classical and even medieval influences.

Sarah’s fifth album If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous (Shovel And A Spade, 2018) was produced by cult guitar great Michael Chapman, hailed by the likes of Meg Baird, William Tyler and Ryley Walker as ‘the godfather of new cosmic Americana” (The Guardian).

A staunch champion of Sarah’s since the two met at the 2014 Village Pump Festival, Chapman has given her his Ibanez electric guitar on long-term loan; it features on several tracks on the album, which also sees Sarah playing piano, high-strung Stratocaster and her own 1965 Martin D-28 and custom-made Andy Manson acoustic guitars.

The emphasis this time round is very much on Sarah’s superb writing and delivery, plus arrangements for guitar and voice of the medieval chant “Dies Irae” and Jeff Wayne’s classic “Forever Autumn”.

One voice, one guitar, and the wondrous reminder of the magic of music. Sarah has the gift.” — Gregory Weinkauf’ – THE HUFFINGTON POST

‘Brilliant musicianship, a warm and welcoming stage presence and a voice as rich, matured and knowing as the finest thrice-distilled Irish malt whiskey.’ –  fROOTS

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

The London African Gospel Choir perform Graceland – SOLD OUT

Try as you might, you simply cannot get a ticket to see this uplifting & amazing show in London. Every venue that puts tickets on sale, sells out in an instant.

Thirty years after its release, 17 members of the London African Gospel Choir, backed the LAGC’s excellent band, perform their own powerful twist on Paul Simon’s Graceland album delivering the Simon’s masterpiece from start to finish.

In the early 80s, Paul Simon was totally smitten by the infectious and irresistible rhythms of Township music. He travelled to Johannesburg recording with the absolute cream of South African musicians.

The resulting album Graceland became a true global phenomenon and spawned the hit singles, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, The Boy in the Bubble and it’s biggest smash – You Can Call Me Al.

The Choir’s rhythmic, evocative and empowering, voices have created an overwhelming musical event, we bring you… Graceland.

Doors 7:30pm | Unreserved Seating

Joanne McNally – Bite Me

Bite Me was postponed in our Out to Lunch Festival when Joanne made her way to the Black Box – in Galway.

With Sat Nav co-ordinates duly reset, finally, we bring you – BITE ME.

This is the story of Joanne’s amaaaaaaazing diet. She didn’t just lose weight though; she lost jobs, friends and fellas, but she didn’t care because she could wear bangles as belts and that’s all that mattered.

Then one day, over her morning carrot, Joanne realized she’d lost her mind. Turns out it was pinned to a lost property board up in space, enjoying the view and its new found freedom.

Trying to entice it back became the hardest, funniest, greatest and weirdest time of her life.

A major hit at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe festival, we are delighted to host this Belfast premier.

‘Brazen, bold and beautiful, the sky’s the limit for Joanne McNally’ – IRISH MIRROR

Scott Capurro

*Tickets available on the Door*

Camp and outrageous, provocative and controversial, catty and hysterical, Scott Capurro is a breath of fresh air in the increasingly samey and stale world of stand-up.

Constantly operating on the boundaries of good taste and often straying some way over the line Scott is a challenging comedian in the best sense of the word.

This San Franciscan comedian has become a favourite on the UK circuit in the last few years, a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe and has appeared in several films such as Mrs Doubtfire.

He delivers brutally honest, funny descriptions of life as a gay man in an all American family. Not for the delicate!

… enthralling… electric… deliciously catty’ – THE SCOTSMAN

Comic equation: Larry Grayson x (Lenny Bruce + Chris Rock) = Scott Capurro’ THE GUARDIAN

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Shazia Mirza – With Love from St. Tropez

Following her critically acclaimed, sell-out international tour with The Kardashians Made Me Do It, Shazia Mirza brings her brand new stand-up show to The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival.

‘A show about lies and truth – or is that the same thing? Nudity and The Periodic Table, these things hold the key to the future. How much do you wear? What do you look like, and will they let you in? Oh, and don’t you dare wear more than dental floss on a French beach’.

Recent TV appearances include The Jonathan Ross Show (ITV), Graham Norton (BBC) and Loose Women (ITV). Shazia appeared on Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls in 2017 on Channel 4.

****
‘Mirza has stepped up a gear… the bravest thing you’ll see on a comedy stage this year… a remarkable finale’ – SUNDAY TIMES

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

*Tickets also available via telephone on 02890 235053*

It’s Getting Harder and Harder for me – SOLD OUT

We are fizzing and popping. We cannot survive on beers alone. We cannot survive static. ​I want to be galactic.

Ormeau Bridge, Belfast, on a Friday evening. It’s hard to keep going and these women are on the edge.

It’s Getting Harder and Harder for Me builds and unravels to tell the interwoven stories of three women living on Ormeau Road.

The show premiered at Dublin Fringe 2017 with a sold-out run. It’s a bold and exciting production exploring contemporary & social issues. Brought to life by three powerful, funny and moving female performances.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Palmyra – SOLD OUT

Palmyra is an exploration of revenge, the politics of destruction and what we consider to be barbaric, inviting people to step back from the news and look at what lies beneath, and beyond, civilization.

A challenging and contemporary piece that focuses on the broader issues emerging from Syria. PALMYRA was named number 3 in the Guardian top 10 theatre shows of 2017.

Following an extended, unanimously-acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe, and touring Spain with Best of BE 2017, Bert & Nasi’s Total Theatre Award-winning, “weird, wonderful and strangely stressful” piece (★★★★ The Stage), Palmyra arrives at the MAC this May as part of CQAF.

‘It could be seen as a show about the West’s inability to take action in Syria, but equally read as a metaphor for a personal relationship breakdown. Viciously funny.’ – LYN GARDNER

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Sylvia Plath, Your Words Are Just Dust

*Tickets available on the Door*

Fifty five years since her tragic death, aged just 30, Sylvia Plath continues to haunt our culture like a mythical, glamourised icon.

Delving into the world of harrowing poet, Sylvia Plath, this debut one-woman show beckons to life the dark and daring confessions of Plath in a bewitching piece of new writing.

Experience the chapters of life that the feminist icon wrote about; from the agony of grief and ecstasy of love, to the never ceasing shadow of depression. An intense and intimate performance written in captivating verse and inspired by the personal pains Plath breathed onto paper.

Having gained several 5 star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Cathedral Quarter Arts festival is delighted to present this Irish premiere.

‘Its poetic authenticity creates a fiercely intense piece of new writing.’– BROADWAY BABY

‘Captures the troubled mind and fractured heart of Sylvia Plath with passion and pathos: a short, sharp shocking piece of literary drama.’ – EDINBURGH GUIDE

Doors 3:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Your Turn

*Tickets available on the Door*

A riotous new comedy makes its premiere at the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival this year. Every parent will know when it’s your turn, it’s your turn, except when it isn’t…

Relationships, stand-up, and how not to dispose of nappies all feature as a couple wake up to the reality of parenthood.

Penned by Gerard Brennan, who co-wrote The Sweety Bottle with his father, Joe, the first play to transfer from The Baby Grand to the main stage at The Grand Opera House.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Hubert and the Yes Sock

Hubert Caulfield leads a solitary life. Overlooked at work, friendless, and unlucky in love. He is desperate for a change and to fit in. Could a mysterious confidence giving sock be the answer to all his problems?

Tinderbox provides the invaluable opportunity for local artists to create and develop their own ideas through our Take Away Theatre programme and we are delighted to present Hubert and Yes Sock by the brilliant Dan Leith as part of CQAF 2018.

Come and celebrate being different with Hubert and the Yes Sock…

Take Away Theatre

Bite-sized theatre with super-sized stories.

Director: Patrick J O’Reilly
Producers: Erika Clark and Jen Shepherd
Writer/Performer: Dan Leith
Performer: Keith Singleton

Unreserved Seating

*Tickets also available via Telephone on 02890 235053*

The Lisa and John Slideshow

The Lisa and John Slideshow tells the story of a now divorced couple interacting with an archive of photographs taken by David Moore, documenting their family between 1987 and 1988.

Accompanying the exhibition entitled Lisa and John at Belfast Exposed, this deeply moving and powerful performance sheds light upon the ways in which photographs and in particular family archives both hold and question the nature of memories, stories and emotions.

Using actors to perform, the verbatim script has been created using transcripts of conversations with Lisa and John as they select and speak about their own selection of images from Moore’s archive.

Written and directed by David Moore
Assisted by Gavin Dent
With Alan Mosley and Sarah Toogood
Music by Bernard Oglesby

Doors 6:45pm | Unreserved Seating

*Tickets also available via Telephone on 02890 235053*

Mary Ann McCracken

*Tickets available on the Door*

A musical narrative telling the life-story of Mary Ann McCracken, social reformer and unsung heroine of the 1798 Rising.

Local folk-singers Jane Cassidy and Maurice Leyden present a dramatic account of Mary Ann’s life and times, weaving letters and historical detail with related folk-songs, bringing both to life.

Accomplished singers and broadcasters, Jane and Maurice narrate, sing, play guitar & keyboard and are accompanied on uilleann pipes, whistles and bouzouki by Joe McHugh.

First performed at the Belfast Folk Festival in the 1980s, the play has been performed regularly in arts venues ever since, such is the appeal of Mary Ann’s story and the beautiful folk songs which illuminate it.

This was a most rewarding couple of hours during which the audience were both informed and entertained. The music was superbly relevant.’ – BELFAST TELEGRAPH.

Doors 7:00pm | Unreserved Seating

Quartered – A Belfast Love Story

Shows at 4:00pm, 4:30pm, 5:00pm, 5:30pm, 6:00pm & 6:30pm

Funny, poignant and deeply human; Quartered: Belfast, A Love Story is an audio theatre walking tour that lets you see the city from a different perspective, making familiar streets seem brand new and allowing you to experience another side to Belfast.

Exploring the LGBTQ+ experience of Belfast, it opens a new conversation about how gender and sexuality inform and shape how we move through our city, and how our city moves through us.

What is the LGBTQ+ experience of Belfast?
When the boundaries between quarters are drawn, who holds the pen?
How much power do we give ourselves to shape the city we live in?

Written by Dominic Montague, directed by Paula McFetridge and voiced by Neil Keery.

Show lasts approx. 1 hour and begins at the Dark Horse, Hill Street, ending at the Sunflower, Union Street.

Audience capacity is limited to six people per session.

You are encouraged to bring your own headphones but additional will be available on site.

It’s a promenade performance so dress for the weather!

Contains some strong language.

‘I found Quartered to be a moving piece of promenade theatre, forcing me to look up from my own horizons to see Belfast as the canvass, the set, and listen to someone else’s story… a triumph’ – ALAN IN BELFAST

This is both an individual, and sadly, a universal story which penetrates deep into the consciousness. It remains lodged there as the days slip away, whispering, niggling, nudging a closer awareness of the streets, murals and buildings that one would unthinkingly have passed by’ -THE EVEN HANDPlease arrive 10 mins before your event starts | Walking Tour

Women Troubles

*Tickets available on the Door*

Women Troubles is a hilarious look at 3 girls trying to ‘make it’ in the toughest industry in the world, the Arts.

Women Troubles is a new play written and performed by actors Siobhan Kelly, Clare McMahon and Maria Quinn.

It is a story about growing up female from age 13-30, performed in a physical, fast paced style with minimal set. It explores first love, first heartache, GCSEs, unplanned pregnancy, sexual harassment, deciding to be an actor, going to drama school and everything in between.

*Contains Strong language*

Doors 2:45pm & 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Helen Hall – Inside the Speaker – SOLD OUT

Inside the Speaker will take you on a journey of the senses. It invites you to step inside the speaker to experience dance and music differently and it welcomes you to the world of the speaker, partially sighted dancer and choreographer Helen Hall.

This acclaimed dance piece invites us to explore what we see and what we sense when watching dance, what dance is and what it means to dance.

An intimate, beautiful and provocative solo performance which will challenge the way you experience the world.

Pre- Show Touch tour available, booking essential. 6.30pm & 8.00pm. Please email tickets@themaclive.com to register your interest.

Doors 6.45pm & 8.15pm | Unreserved Seating

Seamus Fogarty + support by Arborist

One of the albums of 2017 for us was Irish alt-folk and electronica alchemist’s truly magnificent second album and Domino Records debut The Curious Hand.

A record not born of grand ideas realised at a stroke, but eked out slowly and steadily, honed and cultivated, turned over and around, deconstructed and put back together again. A record made through open-spirited collaboration with friends and family and hours lost in a headphone world.

All that and Seamus’s natural inclination to take his songs and “screw them up,” as he puts it. By which he means squirreling them back to his home studio and applying the synthesiser drones and circuit burps, found sounds and spoken-word audio samples that give all of his records such wonderful atmosphere. It’s as if they’re haunted by rogue half-tuned signals from another world.

Produced by Seamus and Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno, Wild Beasts), The Curious Hand elevates Fogarty into another bracket of artists doing fascinatingly skewed and modern and heartfelt things with roots-influenced and electronic music.

He’s an evocative and thoughtful lyricist and melodicist as well as an inquisitive sonic explorer for fans of Alasdair Roberts, Will Oldham and Kieran Hebden.

Arborist’s debut album Home Burial has been lauded by some of the music industry’s biggest publications.

MOJO music magazine gave the album 4/5 stars describing it as a staggering debut of depth and substance. UNCUT magazine described the album as ‘a deliciously self–assured collection’ and scored it 8/10.

Led by singer–song writer Mark McCambridge the style could best be described as slow, smooth, melancholic Americana.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Barrence Whitfield and The Savages + Sunglasses After Dark DJs

*Limited Tickets available on the Door*

A human thermonuclear device with more than a hint of demonic possession, Barrence Whitfield is the ultra-hard hitting front man of one of the most frenetic, wild and generally insane bands in the history of the world.

Combining the energy of classic Little Richard with the vocal style of Wilson Pickett and Solomon Burke, Barrence and partners produce soul garage punk in a way that no-one else has ever come close to.

Raucous, manic, mesmerising, spellbindingly brilliant and above all else utterly unforgettable.

‘Whitfield and the Savages never let up, pummelling your heart and your eardrums with some of the rawest soul to come along since Pickett and Redding. It’s a welcome assault, as soothing as it is savage, and long overdue.’ NO DEPRESSION

‘Whitfield and his band are one of those rare groups whose latter-day post-reunion work sounds just as good as their first go-round.’ POPMATTERS

Sunglasses After Dark DJs have been mixing Wild Instrumental, Greasy Rock’n’Roll, Garage Stompers and Hand Clapping Soul for 7 years in Belfast’s Underground clubs.

Doors 7:45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

Asian Dub Foundation ‘La Haine’ Live Soundtrack

*Limited Tickets available on the Door*

Asian Dub Foundation come to CQAF with their live accompaniment to screenings of cult classic La Haine.

The 1995 film follows twenty-four hours in the lives of three friends living in the volatile Paris banlieues, as riots break out following the death of a man at the hands of French police.

While Asian Dub Foundation started out as a London musical project aimed at teaching Asian children the fundamentals of music technology, they quickly gained recognition as a stand-out live act, gaining widespread critical acclaim for their studio releases.

This unique live show brings together a screening of the iconic film and a reimagined soundtrack by the accomplished ADF, leading audiences through a powerful journey into the intense world of the 1990’s Parisian suburbs.

Doors 7:45pm | Standing

The Go! Team + support The Correspondents

*Tickets available on the Door*

The Go! Team bust onto the scene in 2004 with their universally praised debut, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, a homebrewed collage of meticulously chosen samples and trashy live instruments assembled brilliantly by Go! Team founder Ian Parton.

It somehow found its way from the bedroom to international acclaim, casually picking up a Mercury nomination along the way. Developing into a festival crushing live proposition, wowing fans and critics alike from Seoul to Sydney to Sao Paolo, and having over the course of their subsequent albums collaborated with the likes of Bethany CosentinoChuck D and Deerhoof.

The Go! Team have always been cheerleaders for a better world – an outpouring of collective joy in the face of small-mindedness and dismal careerism. They rejoice in the unifying urges and the chance encounters between cultures that lead to something new. They’re a band who still have faith in the power of music to make things better. Now more than ever, we need The Go! Team.

With brand new album Semicircle released earlier this year and picking up rave notices, The Go! Team are once again on the move. A guaranteed festival highlight.

The Correspondents consist of a singer Mr Bruce and a producer Chucks. Both growing up in South London, they formed in 2007 and within two years had taken their hi-octane genre-blending dance music from house parties to festival main stages.

The show that quickly established the duo as one of the best live acts in the UK has Mr Bruce assuming the look of a monochrome matador, singing with force, scatting at speed and dancing like his life depends on it while Chucks takes the audience on a journey through a multitude of genres from jazz and blues to the nether regions of electro and drum ‘n’ bass.

Doors 8:00pm | Standing

Oh Pep! + support Joashua Burnside

Prep your ears for sometimes foot-stomping, somewhat heart-breaking original contemporary folk from Melbourne.

The “Oh” is Olivia Hally (guitar, vocals) and the “Pep” is Pepita Emmerichs (fiddle, mandolin), two prodigiously talented young 20-somethings who met as jazz and classical music students  at the Victorian College Of The Arts.

They found themselves kindred spirits, drawn together by a shared love of traditional music. The common favourites that brought them together were Gillian Welch, Johnny Cash, and bluegrass – all influences that speckle the music they make today.

The songs on their new album Stadium Cake range seamlessly from emotionally sumptuous to kitchen party, anchored by Hally’s candied-ginger voice — sweetness that masks quite a kick — and rhymes to match.

There are great vocals here, stunning harmonies that make you pay attention. There’s also a bit of the off-beat, the singular, reasons why they’re already racking up nominations and awards.

Doors 7:45pm | Unserved Seating

Peggy Seeger – Book Talk

*Limited Tickets available on the Door*

Peggy Seeger is one of folk music’s most influential artists and songwriters. Born in New York City in 1935, she enjoyed a childhood steeped in music and left-wing politics – they remain her lifeblood.

After college, she travelled to Russia and China – against US advice – before arriving in London, where she met the man with whom she would raise three children and share the next thirty-three years: Ewan MacColl.

Together, they helped lay the foundations of the British folk revival, through the influential Critics Group and the landmark BBC Radio Ballads series. And as Ewan’s muse, she inspired one of the twentieth century’s most popular love songs, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.

With a clear eye and generous spirit, Peggy writes of a rollercoaster life – of birth and abortion, sex and infidelity, devotion and betrayal – in a luminous, beautifully realised account.

Doors 1:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Mary Gauthier

*Limited Tickets available – Please contact Waterfront Hall Box Office on 02890 334455*

Adopted child, teen runaway, addict, convict—instead of wearing her many pasts on her sleeve, Mary Gauthier wears them sewn into her songs like trophies from battles mainly lost.

Now deep into her second decade of spinning dark poetry into lyrics that are three parts autobiography, two parts short story, and five parts brutal candour, Gauthier has rightfully taken her place alongside America’s premier songwriters.

While the sentiments may be stark, they are beautifully disrobed, and the musical phrasing provides gentle relief. Listening to Gauthier perform is like finding hidden gems in a vintage clothing store.

We are delighted to welcome Mary back to CQAF with her new album Trouble & Love, one of the wisest testaments of broken-heartedness an Americana singer-songwriter has ever committed to tape

“To be affected by these songs, you don’t have to know anything of Gauthier’s backstory (Louisiana orphan addict chef turned sober troubadour), the respect she commands across gender lines in the Americana scene, or the heavyweight catalog she’s built out of unflinching introspection and Southern Gothic-shaded storytelling.”  NPR Music

“Every tune is a rough gem of melody, misery and economy, as Gauthier excavates romantic wreckage like an archaeologist telling the story of a fossilized love.” Rolling Stone

“…her razor-sharp eye for detail and her commitment to unsentimental self-reflection puts her in a class with greats such as Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and yes, Bob Dylan.”  Los Angeles Times

Doors 1:45pm | Unreserved Seating

 

Ciara O’Neill

Ciara O’Neill is one of Northern Ireland’s best loved artists and CQAF is delighted to launch her eagerly awaited second album Arrow.

Conceived during a creatively fertile period while travelling back and forth to Nashville TN and produced by Michael Mormecha in Lisburn’s Milbank Studios, Arrow skilfully side-steps that all too difficult “second album syndrome,” and showcases a songwriter at the peak of her powers.

Comprising of 10 alternative folk tinged tales, it features lots of light and shade and explores themes of loneliness, lost love, anxiety and the dark side of social media while also offering encouragement, comfort and catharsis.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Peter Perrett

Peter Perrett’s band The Only Ones were one of the most thrilling, literate musical propositions in an era of acts glutted with such qualities. When they exploded onto the late 70s post punk scene with the glorious sucker punch of debut single Lovers of Today, the impact was immediate and enduring.

A string of stunning singles (including instant classic Another Girl, Another Planet) followed, before, as the legend goes, The Only Ones disintegrated in tsunami of drugs and acrimony.

Since then, the elusive genius of Peter Perrett has only occasionally surfaced with the occasional dazzling solo release, before, inevitably, his addictions got the better of him and he went to ground again, often for years at a time.

But now, one of rock n roll’s great survivors (and the man who Johnny Thunder’s once begged to “take it easy”) isn’t just clean, he’s also gone and released the album of his career.

Last year’s How the West Was Won, isn’t merely a return to form; it’s a tour de force of the scabrous wit and uncanny ear for melody that’s remained with Perrett, even in his darkest days. “Rock and roll is back in me” he sings on the new album. You just can’t keep a good musical legend down…

‘As with Lou Reed, or Dylan, Perrett critically reviews his life (on How The West Was Won), and surpasses even his former band’s legacy.’ – THE QUIETUS

‘Perrett has pulled off something genuinely remarkable here. If How the West Was Won does turn out to be one last defiant breath, then it’s an astonishing twist to his story.’ – GUARDIAN

Doors 7:45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

David Hepworth – Uncommon People

David Hepworth has been writing about, broadcasting about and speaking about music since the 70s. He was involved in the launch and/or editing of magazines like Smash Hits, Q, Mojo and The Word among many others.

He was one of the presenters of the BBC rock music programme Whistle Test and one of the anchors of the Corporation’s coverage of Live Aid in 1985. He has won the Editor of the Year and Writer of the Year awards from the Professional Publishers Association and the Mark Boxer Award from the British Society of Magazine Editors.

David is a director of the independent company Development Hell and divides his time between writing for a variety of magazines and newspapers, speaking at events, broadcasting work and blogging. He lives in London.

In most recent book is Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars, David Hepworth zeroes in on defining moments and turning points in the lives of forty rock stars from 1955 to 1995, taking us on a journey to burst a hundred myths and create a hundred more.

As this tribe of uniquely motivated nobodies went about turning themselves into the ultimate somebodies, they also shaped us, our real lives and our fantasies. Uncommon People isn’t just their story. It’s ours as well.

Kimmie Rhodes: Radio Dreams Tour

*Tickets available – Please contact Waterfront Hall Box Office on  02890 334455*

Radio Dreams is a ‘duet memoir’ which invites readers into the unique and private world of platinum-selling songwriter and recording artist Kimmie Rhodes and her deceased soul mate, beloved radio personality Joe Gracey, Jr.

Weaving her own poetic prose with wry and witty words from his journals, Rhodes returns him to the conversation to tell the fascinating story of their three decades together.

Riding with fellow outlaws Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Cowboy Jack Clement, Emmylou Harris, and other famous and infamous characters, they helped make American music history before facing Gracey’s final cancer battle.

Through triumph and tragedy, grief and gratitude, these pages express the extraordinary life and inspiring love they shared.

To coincide with the Spring release of Radio Dreams and a companion audio documentary and retrospective CD we’re delighted to welcome BBC Radio Ulster’s Ralph McLean and Kimmie to a special “In Conversation With” show where, no doubt, a few songs will also be forthcoming.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

 

Nightmares on Wax

Iconic Warp mainstay Nightmares on Wax announced his long-anticipated return in January with a stunning new album Shape The Future.

The marriage of soul, hip-hop, dub and timeless club sounds that N.O.W. has been mutating and perfecting for years finds perhaps its most fluid form yet on Shape The Future.

This includes the shamanistic vocals of recent single Back To Nature, and in particular the arresting voices of Mozez alongside Kanye West and Flume collaborator Allan Kingdom, as featured on brand new track Citizen Kane.

Energized by globetrotting runs of studio sessions and DJ sets, this latest salvo is a masterpiece of contemporary and classic genre-blending that solidifies Nightmares On Wax’s place as an inspirational electronic music figurehead.

Nightmares on Wax is one of the most influential artists of a generation, his music has inspired many musicians and producers across the globe over his quarter decade career.

As Warp’s longest serving active artist, he has broadened the sound of the label and paved the way for artists such as Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke and Mount Kimbie.

Doors 7:30pm | Standing

Jeffrey Lewis

*Tickets available on the Door*

Acclaimed indie-rock songwriter Jeffrey Lewis began recording homemade cassettes at home in New York City in 1998, before coming to the attention of Rough Trade Records and releasing his first album on Rough Trade in 2001.

Now with seven official albums on Rough Trade, and a number of additional self-releases and side-projects (on labels like Don Giovanni and K Records), Jeffrey Lewis has toured the world and developed a devoted following from Los Angeles to London, Melbourne to Moscow, Chicago to Shanghai and beyond.

Jeffrey’s career has also included sharing bills and tours with The Fall, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Roky Erickson, The Mountain Goats, Daniel Johnston, Pulp and other luminaries.

In addition to mixing contemplative folk narratives and garage indie-punk songs, Jeffrey is also a comic book writer/artist and includes his own illustrations in live concerts to accompany certain songs (like The History of Communism or The Creeping Brain).

Jeffrey’s most recent release is Works by Tuli Kupferberg (1923-2010), Interpreted by Jeffrey Lewis & The Deposit Returners, out worldwide on Don Giovanni Records 2018.

A brand new Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts album, recorded in Nashville by Roger Moutenot (Yo La Tengo), is awaiting a release date.

‘[Jeffrey Lewis is] The best lyricist working in the US today.’ – JARVIS COCKER

‘Ramshackle and beautiful noise… Lou Reed’s natural successor as punk poet of the New York streets’ – LOUDER THAN WAR

‘Really great and impressive and inspiring and exciting… There’s not a lot of people that can tell a story and use language like that in music.’ – WILL OLDHAM

Doors 1:45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

Ingrid Laubrock’s Anti-House 4

*Tickets available directly from the MAC – 028 90 235053*

Ingrid Laubrock: tenor and soprano saxophones
Mary Halvorson: guitar
Kris Davis: piano
Tom Rainey
: drums

Jazz will always retain its capacity to surprise as long as groups like Ingrid Laubrock’s Anti-House 4 are performing and recording. It’s all too easy to settle into a sound and only explore what’s close by, but for Laubrock and co, a constant drive for renewal means the only way is forward.

Laubrock, Davis, Halvorson and Rainey are among the most sought after creative musicians on the NY scene today and as with the original Anti-House (with John Hebert on bass), this group’s quicksilver-like and imaginative blend of strong individual voices with Laubrock’s compositions makes for a thrilling live show. This is music that is both relentless and essential, and refuses to look back.

We are delighted to welcome Ingrid Laubrock’s Anti-House 4 to the UK and Ireland for the very first time.

‘Her sponge-like imagination seems boundless. An absorbing trip through an aural hall of mirrors.’ – CHICAGO READER

‘fresh ideas and inspiration’ – THE GUARDIAN

‘a cascade of gritty beauty’ –  ALL ABOUT JAZZ

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Michael Nau + support Robyn G Shiels

*Tickets available on the Door*

Michael Nau is a musician from rural Maryland who, with his playfulness and tendency to jump from one style to another, brings to mind eccentric Seventies songwriters such as Harry Nilsson and Tim Buckley.

Nau’s acclaimed new album, Some Twist was released in June on Suicide Squeeze and is the follow up to 2016’s brilliant collection Mowing.

He has received extensive BBC radio play and been selected as a 6 Music Recommends pick. One-off single Love Survive cracked the Top 50 on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart.

The first single from Some Twist, Good Thing, debuted via The FADER. Bright piano and fingerpicked guitar weave together throughout the song with a chorus that swells with feedback fuzz and crashing percussion. Nau’s ever-present sense of humour, one of the hallmarks of his songwriting, gives the song a wry sense of purpose amidst its reflection.

‘His masterful instinct for arrangement, along with his reedy voice, earns Nau a place in the rock’n’roll underdogs’ Hall of Fame’.PITCHFORK

Doors 5:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Jimmy Webb

*Limited Tickets available on the Door*

A true living legend of songwriting, Jimmy Webb has been crafting amazing songs, many of which have become cherished standards, for some forty years. And he’s still doing it.

Now on tour with his newest Album, Still Within the Sound of My Voice Jimmy Webb is engaging his audiences like never before.

Though some might still not know his name, they know the songs: Wichita Lineman, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Galveston, The Moon’s A Harsh Mistress, All I Know, The Highwayman, Up, Up and Away, MacArthur Park, and many more. And those are just the famous ones.

Webb is one of those rare songwriters who manages to bring a genuine measure of magic to everything he touches.

‘He’s a prodigious performer, and a night with Jimmy at the keys is not unlike getting to hear George Gershwin or Cole Porter live. It’s hard to believe one guy could have written all these amazing songs. Webb is still at it, thankfully, and if you get a chance to see him live, grab it. People ask why nobody writes songs like they used to. Fortunately for us all, Jimmy Webb still does.’AMERICAN SONGWRITER MAGAZINE

‘Mr. Webb is a superb natural melodist whose best songs often combine the tuneful directness of country music with the unabashedly romantic harmonic palette of classic Hollywood film scores.’ – THE NEW YORK TIMES

Doors 7:30pm | Unreserved Seating

The Blasters + support by The Sabrejets

*Limited Tickets available on the Door*

The Blasters exemplify the best traditions of American Music, performing with passion and honesty that for over three decades has won the hearts and souls of fans worldwide.

Composed of founding members vocalist-guitarist Phil Alvin, drummer Bill Bateman and bassist John Bazz with Keith Wyatt on guitar, they carry on a hard-won legacy as one of the most recognizable and credible bands in American Music.

Their influences range from the likes of George Jones and Carl Perkins to Ike Turner, Howlin’ Wolf, James Brown and Big Joe Turner, all blending into a sound that ignores the lines between Rock & Roll, Country, Blues and Rockabilly.

Fun On Saturday Night (Rip Cat Records) is the Blasters’ sixth and latest studio album, featuring twelve tracks that extend the band’s legacy of classic recordings. Fronted by Phil Alvin’s powerful vocals, the band follows through with spontaneity, power and grit that make their live performances into experiences not to be missed.

Doors 7:45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

Smoove & Turrell Sound System – SOLD OUT

+ The Organauts and DJ’s Gazfunk and Pete Brady

Smoove & Turrell came about by the joining of forces between DJ/ Producer Smoove and singer John Turrell. A chance introduction and a plan to do one record together quickly grew into a band that has played massive festival stages worldwide and become one of the UK’s most loved soul acts.

With their new album Mount Pleasant, Smoove & Turrell cement their position as one of the UK’s most exceptional soul acts with their innate ability to deliver hard times social commentary in a dancefloor friendly medium.

Gritty and powerful, the band make no attempt to sound or look like anyone else – not for them the sharp suits and trumpet twirls of some of their peers. Instead you get a wildly talented and vital crew of larger than life Geordie lads taking their rightful place on the international soul scene having already become figureheads within the UK.

It’s through their dedication to live performance that Smoove & Turrell have really built solid foundations though. Playing at some of the biggest festivals in the UK and Europe (including Glastonbury, Bestival and Trans Musicales in France), plus support slots with the likes of Chic and Charles Bradley, and worldwide tours in 2015, 2016 and 2017 that has allowed the band to gain a huge and dedicated fan base that only hard work can deliver.

‘To say Smoove & Turrell are the greatest modern Soul act to emerge from the UK would be an epic understatement!’ – CRAIG CHARLES (BBC 6 Music)

Doors 7.00pm | Standing

 

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) + Support MMODE – SOLD OUT

We’re beyond excited that New York based dance-punks !!! (Chk Chk Chk) are set to make their Belfast debut at CQAF – and in the Black Box no less!

Joining the welcomed re-emergence of mid-00s alt-dance this year, including contemporaries LCD Soundsystem, the announcement comes after the release of their seventh studio album, Shake The Shudder, which came out in May.

The album harks back to their punk roots, blurring the boundaries between genres, incorporating elements of high energy disco and European electronica, yet lyrically leans towards the self-reflective as opposed to the political, as we see on previous offerings.

MMODE are an Irish music duo based in Belfast consisting of siblings Lucy and Thomas Gaffney. The duo exchange beguiling vocals and deeply insightful lyrics over the melancholy of classic brooding art rock, and the bouncy, bohemian haze of psychedelia.

This will be sweaty and magnificent and a guaranteed sell out show.

Doors 8.00pm | Standing

Camille O’Sullivan – The Carny Dream

*Tickets available on the Door*

Be drawn into a world of dark, light, circus and dreams as Camille O’Sullivan performs her intensely dramatic interpretations of the songs of Brel, Cave, Radiohead, Bowie and more.

In 2017 the singer took The Carny Dream show across the UK, selling out the Union Chapel in London, and recorded the CD Camille Sings Brel live at Wilton’s Music Hall.

She also performed in front of the President of Ireland at The Aras and at the 50th birthday of The Pogue’s Shane McGowan, alongside Nick Cave and Johnny Depp.

Dark, sexy, fierce, amusing and mesmerizing, Camille transforms each song she performs into an intense, emotional and theatrical experience. Expect joy and pure passion.

A cross between Sally Bowles, Patti Smith and P J Harvey… a major star.’ – THE SCOTSMAN

Doors 7:30pm | Unreserved Seating

Paul Durcan

Paul Durcan is one of the greatest living English language poets. He is a member of Aosdána, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Irish Book Award, and is known as Ireland’s most playful poet.

A Paul Durcan public reading is like no other. Audiences come away drained and cleansed as if from a secular mass. He can be funnier than any stand-up, dramatic as many an actor, but once heard, the sotto voce incantatory style is never forgotten.

His recent collection The Days of Surprise contains 67 poems on topics as disparate as the weather forecast, the war in Syria, a visit to the GP’s surgery, the joys of retail therapy, clampers and  the ‘starry mystique’ of the weather forecaster Jean Byrne.

Perhaps the greatest surprise is the voice of the late Seamus Heaney coming down his chimney: ‘Are you all right down there, Poet Durcan?’ The Days of Surprise is proof that the great poet of contemporary Ireland is in fine fettle.

‘It was mesmerising and spellbinding and deeply affecting, each poem received in awed silence.’ – HERALD

Doors 12:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Liz Nugent

*Limited tickets available on the Door*

Before becoming a full-time writer, Liz Nugent  worked in Irish film, theatre and television. In 2014 her first novel, Unravelling Oliver, was a Number One bestseller and won the Crime Fiction Prize in the 2014 Irish Book Awards.

Her second novel, Lying in Wait, went straight to Number One in the Irish bestseller charts, remained there for nearly two months and won her a second IBA.

Tonight’s event marks the launch of third novel, Skin Deep which will be published by Penguin Books in the UK and Ireland in Spring 2018.

Aside from writing, Liz has led workshops in writing drama for broadcast, she has produced and managed literary salons and curated the literary strand of Skibbereen Arts Festival in July 2016.

Doors 7:15pm | Unreserved Seating

The Deep Dark Woods + support from Kacy and Clayton

*Tickets available on the Door*

Floods and plagues, ghosts and slaughter: woe to those who populate the songs of Yarrow. A gentle summer breeze swings the gallows ropes, flowers bloom callously on lovers’ graves. These anthems are definitely not from Eden.

The Deep Dark Woods’ newest album was borne in a fever – scarlet fever, to be medically specific. A disease of the last century is a fitting backdrop for songs that dig bare handed into the loam to unearth the corpses of old English folk and country blues.

Yarrow is Deep Dark Woods reimagined by leadman Ryan Boldt, and accompanied by the same band that crafted prairie psychedelics and a “loose grungy folk sound” (Paste).

For nearly ten years they developed an international following with particular success in the Americana realm, nominated alongside Alabama Shakes and Dawes for Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2012 Americana Music Awards.

Now wrest out of the woods, their outlook is decidedly more macabre, tapping into a rich vein of gothic surrealism that aligns with some of the great murder balladeers of our time. With Appalachian soil under his fingernails, Boldt writes in a deep tradition of bleak and forlorn storytelling, drawing lines from Ireland to Tennessee, the Oxford Girl to Folsom Prison.

In Yarrow, there’s a juicy unease to frontman Boldt’s presence, as if a new door has opened to let loose the weirdness. In place of the freewheelin’ jammy vibe there’s a darker, stranger tenor that sides with those modern mystics whose music exists in the creepier, freakier corners of existence.

The music of Kacy and Clayton (Canada) exists outside of time, and burgeons with beautiful contradictions. It’s psychedelic and traditional, contemporary and vintage, melancholic and joyous.

All at once, it showcases a slightly psych-folk sound of Linda Perhacs, Fleet Foxes, and First Aid Kit; rare country blues records and English folk tunes; and 1920s disaster songs and murder ballads.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Kate Rusby

Of all the stars in Folk Music’s wondrous firmament, few shine as brightly as Yorkshire’s Kate Rusby. A career which spans over 25 years in music showcases her as one of the finest interpreters of traditional folk songs and one of our most emotive original songwriters.

Forever proud to call herself a folk singer, Kate’s beautiful, expressive vocals never fail to connect the emotional heart of a song to that of her audience. The crossover appeal Kate enjoys is unprecedented for a folk singer and has been achieved without resort to compromise.

Rusby’s wondrous singing and hugely engaging Yorkshire wit and the intuitive support of the band ensure that audiences will be treated to a truly remarkable and unforgettable concert experience.

This festival special will feature Kate’s choice of much-loved classics from her back catalogue stretching over her two decades of music making together with a selection of songs from her most recent studio album Life in a Paper Boat.

As ever, Kate will be joined on stage by the cream of British folk musicians who formher select band.

‘Everybody loves and respects Kate Rusby, not just for her lovely voice, but for the way she has moved folk forward while remaining true to tradition’ – SUNDAY TIMES

Doors 7:30pm | Unreserved Seating

Robyn Hitchcock + support Brona McVittie – SOLD OUT

Robyn Hitchcock is one of England’s most enduring contemporary singer/songwriters and live performers. A surrealist poet, talented guitarist, cult artist and musician’s musician, Hitchcock is among alternative rock’s father figures and is the closest thing the genre has to a Bob Dylan (not coincidentally his biggest musical inspiration).

Since founding the art-rock band The Soft Boys in 1976, Robyn has recorded more than 20 albums as well as starred in Storefront Hitchcock an in concert film recorded in New York and directed by Jonathan Demme.

Blending folk and psychedelia with a wry British nihilism, Robyn describes his songs as ‘paintings you can listen to’.

His most recent album is self-titled and marks his 21st release as a solo artist. The album is produced by Brendan Benson (The Raconteurs). Hitchcock describes it as a “ecstatic work of negativity with nary a dreary groove.”

It has received rave reviews from UNCUT, Rolling Stone, Paste, Tidal and more.

‘A gifted melodist, Hitchcock nests engaging lyrics in some of the most bracing, rainbow-hued pop this side of Revolver. He wrests inspiration not from ordinary life but from extraordinary imaginings…’ – ROLLING STONE

‘These 10 gems slither, rock, roll, glide and shapeshift, coalescing around Hitchcock’s typically anxious, strained but striking and immediately identifiable vocals.” – American Songwriter

“Beloved of everyone from Led Zeppelin to REM, Hitchcock has only enhanced his status with this wonderful outing.’ – HOT PRESS

‘Witty, moving and seriously catchy, Robyn Hitchcock is a glorious return for a man who wasn’t really gone in the first place.’ – PASTE MAGAZINE
Decorated with an array of four-star reviews from the Guardian, Uncut, Mojo and The Independent to name a few, Irish singer and multi-instrumentalist Brona McVittie performs at the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in support of Robyn Hitchcock – ahead of her Spring Tour in promotion of her critically acclaimed debut solo album ‘We Are the Wildlife’ – with voice, harp and electronics.

Doors 7:45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

Rob Newman’s Total Eclipse of Descartes – SOLD OUT

In a world gone crazy, can philosophy help? This sparklingly brilliant new show tries to give you the answer.

Rob Newman (stand up legend, best-selling novelist, Radio 4 Sony Award Winner) attempts to piece together a philosophy for our troubled times by sifting through 3000 years of thought: from Pythagoras to Artificial Intelligence by way of Pavlov’s dogs, Jane Goodall’s chimpanzees and Frankie Howerd’s trousers.

‘I am completely in awe of Robert Newman. Of his talent, his passion, his intelligence, and the way he turns them to comedy with real firepower. If this world could be saved by a Superhero whose Superpower was Comedy, that hero would be Robert Newman.’ – Kate Copstick, SCOTSMAN

‘He is the funniest comedian I have ever seen…A passionate, chaotically brilliant comedian.’ – SUNDAY TIMES

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

An Evening with Molly Tuttle & Rachel Baiman – SOLD OUT

Touring as co-headliners, Molly Tuttle and Rachel Baiman will join one another for their respective sets, making both sets a duo performance.

Molly Tuttle was the first woman in the 27 year history of the International Bluegrass Music Association awards to be nominated for ‘Guitar Player of the Year’, the only instrumental category that had not yet nominated a woman, and she has just won it! Blazing a trail Stateside with appearances at top tier festivals, including RockyGrass Festival, and on programs such as A Prairie Home Companion, Molly has expanded her audience in the USA and is about to do the same in the UK. She will be showcasing songs from her debut solo EP, Rise.

Nashville Americana songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Baiman was one half of the excellent 10 String Symphony and has played fiddle for numerous other artists, including Kacey Musgraves. Rachel will be showcasing songs from her debut solo album, Shame, which has received hugely positive reviews since on released in the UK earlier this year. Inspired in equal parts by John Hartford and Courtney Barnett, Rachel’s influences span a wide range, but years spent playing traditional music shine through in the album’s firmly rooted sound.

A fine night of Americana is promised by these two emerging stars.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Elizabeth Day

*Tickets available on the Door*

Elizabeth Day is the author of Scissors, Paper, Stone, which won a Betty Trask Award, and Home Fires. She is an award-winning journalist who has worked for the Evening Standard, The Sunday Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, and is now a feature writer for The Observer. She grew up in Northern Ireland, and currently lives in London.

Elizabeth Day’s acclaimed new novel The Party is a taut psychological tale of obsession and betrayal set over the course of a dinner party. Two married couples, in a single evening, will come to question everything they thought they knew about each other, as the long-buried secret at the heart of their friendship comes to the surface, culminating in an explosive act of violence.

‘A terrifying, hilarious, brilliantly written original with a wit to die for ‘PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDE (Creator of Fleabag)

‘Witty, dark and compelling’ – SEBASTIAN FAULKS

Doors 7:15pm | Unreserved Seating

This is the Kit + support Joshua Burnside

This Is The Kit – the musical project which holds exceptional Paris-via-Bristol songwriter Kate Stables close to its heart – have earned the adoration of peers including Guy Garvey, The National and Sharon van Etten.

Recent album, Moonshine Freeze, is undoubtedly their most compelling and accomplished to date. Produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, M Ward, Perfume Genius), it began in the immediate wake of its predecessor, Bashed Out, when Stables and her band headed into Geoff Barrow’s Invada studios in Bristol. Aaron Dessner of The National also features on six of the album tracks.

Moonshine Freeze is a beguiling mixture of great musical sophistication and something more guileless — children’s games, incantations and snatches of nursery rhymes. Stables’ voice too is a remarkable thing: in its angles there lies an exquisite strangeness reminiscent of Will Oldham, Magnolia Electric Co, Robert Wyatt, Karen Dalton.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Linley Hamilton: ‘Making Other Arrangements’ Album Launch – SOLD OUT

Linley Hamilton has been a part of the Irish music scene for over thirty years during which he has juggled a career as a trumpet player with being a BBC Jazz Broadcaster and an educator.

There have been many career highlights in the past with significant performances or recordings with Paul Brady, Van Morrison, Foy Vance, Jacqui Dankworth, ASIWYFA and Gareth Dunlop to name a few.

His Radio Show enters its tenth year on Friday nights on BBC Radio Ulster, Jazz World with Linley Hamilton, which has been shortlisted twice for the Irish Radio Awards.

His current project, Linley Hamilton: Making Other Arrangements, has been recorded and is due for release in piece band – full rhythm section, woodwind and a 12-piece String section.

The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival is delighted to launch one of the most important Irish Jazz releases in many years.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved seating

Bridget Christie

*Tickets available on the Door*

Brexit. Trump. Nuclear apocalypse. Environmental catastrophe. Is rolling news affecting your ability to enjoy the simple things? Like baking, gardening and autoerotic asphyxiation?

This new show from multi-award winning member of the Metropolitan Liberal Elite, and star of her own Netflix special, is for you. Join Bridget (Room 101, Have I Got News for You, Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule) for a night of hope and despair.

Winner of Rose D’Or, Edinburgh Comedy Award and Southbank Sky Arts Award.

Bridget’s last show was The Guardian’s No 1 Comedy of 2016.

‘A masterclass’ – GUARDIAN

‘Superb’ – TELEGRAPH

Doors 7:30pm | Unreserved Seating

Joanne Shaw Taylor

*Tickets available on the Door*

British blues rock guitarist and singer Joanne Shaw Taylor has been a force to reckoned with on the blues scene for half her life – she was discovered at age 16.

Growing up in England’s Black Country, she was inspired in her early teens to play the blues after hearing musicians such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix.

Joanne’s debut album White Sugar mixed rock riffs with blues influences and first opened the door. Her career has since gone stratospheric, with her breaking the notoriously hard-to-crack US market.

Joanne has beaten the stereotypes of her age and gender, gaining acclaim from critics and peers alike. Subsequent albums; Diamonds in the Dirt, Almost Always Never and Songs From The Road followed and Joanne’s fan base rose globally.

Following international recognition in 2017 including performances on Later… With Jools Holland, BBC’s Glastonbury coverage and outstanding reviews for her latest album, Wild, Joanne tours with a formidable force starting 2018 with a sell-out UK and European tour.

Joanne has been acquiring famous fans across the guitar world including Joe Bonamassa, Tedeschi Trucks, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Wilko Johnson, Glenn Hughes and John Mayall to name but a few.

A rare opportunity to catch the greatest star in the British Blues firmament in an intimate environment. Don’t miss.

Doors 7:30pm | Unreserved Seating

New Voices – Annemarie Ní Churreáin with Wendy Erskine

*Tickets available on the Door*

Annemarie Ní Churreáin is a poet from North West Donegal. She has been awarded literary fellowships by Akademie Schloss Solitude (Germany), Jack Kerouac House (Orlando) and Hawthornden Castle (Scotland).

In 2016 Ní Churreáin was the recipient of a Next Generation Artists Award from the Arts Council. In 2017, she was appointed to the Writer In Prisons Panel co-funded by the Arts Council & the Department of Justice and Equality.

Ní Churreáin’s debut collection of poetry ‘BLOODROOT’ is published by Doire Press (2017)

Wendy Erskine is from Belfast.  Her short stories have appeared in The Stinging Fly and Female Lines: New Writing by Women from Northern Ireland.

Her debut collection will be published by The Stinging Fly Press in 2018.

Doors 7:15pm | Unreserved Seating

Bedouine + support Joshua Burnside

*Tickets available on the Door*

Also known by Azniv Korkejian, Bedouine has released a debut album that sounds like the work of a songwriter with dozens of LPs to her name.

Released via Matthew E. White’s Spacebomb Records, Bedouine is a sparkling collection of captivating folk songs, showcasing Korkejian’s crystalline vocals, carefully refined sonic aesthetic and shrewd storytelling.

As her name implies, Bedouine’s music has a nomadic heart; sweeping and hypnotic, esoteric yet familiar.

Born in Syria, raised in Saudi Arabia, then moving to the USA, her debut, self-titled 2017 album created a warm and intimate world of sound. Recently supporting Fleet Foxes and Jose Gonzalez on an American tour, Bedouine’s Sixties folk-flavoured music is beautiful, striking and dreamy.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Beans on Toast – ‘Sitting on a Chair’ Tour

*Tickets available on the Door*

The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival are delighted to present Beans on Toast on his aptly titled ‘SITTING ON A CHAIR TOUR‘ will see the enthusiastic songwriter playing seated theatres and venues rather than pubs and clubs.

He’s promising a unique evening of stories about his travels and songs from his huge nine album back catalogue. Love songs, protest songs and drinking songs are intertwined with the stories behind the songs and the random adventures they’ve led him on.

The tour will coincide with the release of ‘DRUNK FOLK STORIES‘ his first book. A collection of ten, short, true-life stories about songwriting, travelling and drinking. Featuring the likes of Billy Bragg, Banksy and The Cookie Monster.

From Glastonbury to Wembley via The Bahamas, these first-hand accounts of drunken escapades, car-crashes, recreational drugs and burning pubs are full of humour, grace and honesty – just like his music.

The book is released worldwide on 1st May via ‘Play on Words Publishing’ The 1st May also sees the re-release of the 2009 album ‘STANDING ON A CHAIR‘. The whopping 50-track debut will be released on vinyl for the first time – a double vinyl nonetheless.

Produced many moons ago by Mumford and Sons’ Ben Lovett, this much-loved album features crowd favourites such as ‘MDMAmazing’, ‘The Price of Rice’ and ‘Don’t Believe The Bullshit’ and cameos from the likes of Emmy The Great, Justin Young and Frank Turner.

9 years might seem a strange anniversary to celebrate but when he started putting these plans together Beans thought it had been 10 years. But he thought fuck it and went ahead with it anyway. Such is his way.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved seating

Michael Chapman + support Joshua Burnside

*Limited Tickets available on the Door*

Michael Chapman first became known on the London folk circuit in 1966. Playing a blend of atmospheric and autobiographical material, he established a reputation for intensity and innovation.

Signed to EMI’s Harvest label he recorded a quartet of classic albums. LPs like Rainmaker and Wrecked Again defined the melancholic observer role Michael was to make his own, mixing intricate guitar instrumentals with a full band sound.

Chapman is known as one of the UK’s best finger picking style guitar players, part of a continuing musical lineage that includes the likes of Ralph McTell, John Martyn, Davey Graham and Bert Jansch.

Collaborations with Thurston MooreJohn Fahey and Jack Rose and appearances on recordings with Hiss Golden Messenger and Steve Gunn has cemented Chapman’s position as pivotal figure in roots, folk and acoustic guitar playing over the last 50 years.

‘This is the sound of a real songwriter who’s lived a real life and all that entails.’ – Q MAGAZINE

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

The Pee Wee Ellis Funk Assembly + Pete Brady (Superfly DJ) – SOLD OUT

After making his name as the vortex of James Brown’s JB Horns alongside Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley, at the age of 71 Pee Wee Ellis maintains the forceful blowing style that has marked his career in funk, jazz and rhythm ‘n’ blues from the seventies to the present day.

His remarkable story spans six decades and features a stellar cast of jazz legends. From Sonny Rollins (who became his teacher and mentor) to playing alto in James Brown’s sensational Revue. He was Van Morrison’s bandleader for five years, arranging the horns on albums such as Into the Music, and Common One.

His versatility has led figures from all areas of music, such as Van Morrison, Ali Farka Touré, Jimmy Cobb, Dr. John and George Clinton, to hire him for some of their projects and tours. But the true Pee Wee Ellis is the one we see now, with everything he has experienced and absorbed, generating his own irresistible sound.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Ben Folds and a Piano – SOLD OUT

Ben Folds is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation. He’s created an enormous body of genre-bending music that includes pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, and collaborative records with artists from Sara Bareilles and Regina Spektor, to William Shatner. His most recent album is a blend of pop songs and his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra that soared to #1 on both the Billboard classical and classical crossover charts.

For over a decade he’s performed with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras, and was recently named as the first ever Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, DC.

Folds continues to perform with symphonies and also recently returned to solo touring reminiscent of his earliest years, delivering a high energy rock performance using the intimacy of just a piano.

An avid photographer, Folds is a member of the distinguished Sony Artisans of Imagery, and recently completed an assignment as a photo editor for National Geographic. He is also an outspoken advocate for music education and music therapy as a member of Americans For The Arts, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Nashville Symphony.

Doors 7:30pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

The Barbiturates, Invaderband, Tuath & Will Carruthers (ex -Spacemen 3)

*Tickets available on the Door*

From the wilds of Ireland’s Atlantic north west, Donegal’s Festival of the avant-garde and psychedelia – Distorted Perspectives – showcases 3 acts from across the lo-fi, psychedelic and shoegaze spectrum with DJ sets by DP DJs and former Spacemen 3 bass player Will Carruthers.

Invaderband are a garage/artrock band formed in 2012. Since then the band has enjoyed radio play throughout the UK & Ireland and has twice been 6Music Recommended by Steve Lamacq.

The Barbiturates are a D.I.Y Neo-Psychedelic anti-pop band based in Derry. Having released 5 E.P’s, two mini albums and a free soundtrack recording since 2013 they are currently working on their debut long player.

Donegal’s own experimental psychedelic and ambient outfit Tuath launch their latest EP Youth, with a series of Irish dates culminating in this DP Belfast special.

Doors 7:45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

Stuart Bailie – Trouble Songs, Music and Conflict in NI

Book readings plus live music from XSLF and a Terri Hooley DJ set.

Trouble Songs is the story of music and conflict in Northern Ireland since 1968. It is told through the words of Bono, Christy Moore, The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, Orbital, Kevin Rowland, Terri Hooley and The Miami Showband survivors.

They tell how musicians from punk, folk, rave and rock have responded to violence, bigotry and shocking events. The soundtrack includes remarkable work by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Sinead O’ Connor, The Pogues, The Cranberries and Elvis Costello.

Stuart Bailie, the Belfast-based music journalist and broadcaster, has conducted over 60 interviews and reveals many untold histories. Trouble Songs is an alternative hearing of the conflict and a testament to music’s value as a persuader, agitator and peacemaker.

XSLF features Henry Cluney on guitar and vocals and Jim Reilly on drums. The two Stiff Little Fingers veterans are joined on stage by Ave Tsarion on bass. Expect to hear Barbed Wire Love, Nobody’s Hero and Alternative Ulster along with new tracks from their album Arrup Bang.

Doors 9:00pm | Unreserved Seating

I’m With Her – SOLD OUT

I’m With Her is Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan. From their early contributions in bands such as Nickel Creek and Crooked Still, these three musicians are noteworthy for their recent and extensive solo career successes, including several Grammy awards.

An impromptu show in 2014 at the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, CO, sparked the formation of I’m With Her and sent the trio touring the world together the next year.

Along the way, I’m With Her formed a special, family-like chemistry, garnering acclaim for their unique blend of instrumental interplay combined with their indelible harmonies, as the New York Times describes, “… that could be sweetly ethereal, or as tightly in tandem as country sibling teams like the Everly Brothers, or as hearty as mountain gospel.”

Their debut album, See You Around, was recorded in Bath, England, with Ethan Johns at Real World Studios and will be released in February 2018.

Doors 7:30pm | Unreserved Seating

Ayesha Hazarika – State of the Nation – Politics, power and how we lost the plot

Ayesha Hazarika, MBE, started her career as a stand-up comedian playing clubs across the country. She then took what she thought was a natural diversion into the Labour Party as a Special Adviser working for Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband.

Since leaving front line politics she’s become a much sought-after commentator writing for the FT, Guardian, Evening Standard, New Statesman and Grazia. Ayesha has also returned to her stand-up roots.

Her one-woman show Tales from the Pink Bus was a sell-out hit at the Edinburgh festival and she’s been in huge demand on TV and radio including regular appearances on Good Morning Britain (ITV), Sky Papers (Sky News), The Andrew Marr Show (BBC1), and Newsnight (BBC2).

Ayesha lifts the lid on what life’s really like behind the scenes at Westminster with brutal honesty and humour and asks what’s next for British politics.

Hazarika is terrific company – relaxed, mischievous and with a mind like a steel trap…go and see what she has to say.’ **** – THE SCOTSMAN

Patently super smart and extremely eloquent, she offers an intriguing insight’ – THE HERALD

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

*Tickets also available by Telephone on 02890235053*

Will Carruthers

*Tickets available on the Door*

Author Will Carruthers comes to CQAF with tales of his chequered career, which has frequently veered from the sublime to the ridiculous and rarely lacking a sense of humour about the whole thing.

Playing the Bass with Three Left Hands tells the story of one of the most influential, revered and ultimately demented British bands of the 1980s, Spacemen 3. In classic rock ‘n’ roll style they split up on the brink of their major breakthrough.

As the decade turned sour and acid house hit the news, Rugby’s finest imploded spectacularly, with Jason Pierce (aka Jason Spaceman) and Pete Kember (aka Sonic Boom) going their separate ways.

Here, Will Carruthers tells the whole sorry story and the segue into Spiritualized in one of the funniest and most memorable memoirs committed to the page.

Doors 12:45pm | Unreserved Seating

‘La Donna Abbandonata’ – songs of sadness and madness

*Tickets available on the Door*

Spark Opera is proud to present internationally renowned Irish American soprano Marielle Murphy in her Belfast debut.

Murphy performs a varied programme of despairing arias and famous mad scenes from opera. Featuring such popular favourites as Sempre Libera (La Traviata) and Il dolce Suono (Lucia di Lammermoor), this promises to be a thrilling show of coloratura prowess and emotional pathos.

Ticket price includes tea & coffee and light refreshments.

Doors 1:15pm | Unreserved Seating

The Savage Five

*Tickets available on the Door*

The Savage Five make beautiful new music for voice and strings. Irish soprano, jazz vocalist and songwriter Suzanne Savage has joined forces with a unique contemporary string ensemble from the Netherlands and Germany to create songscapes – vocal music where anything is possible.

The project is the brainchild of co-writers Suzanne Savage and NZ/NL cellist Hugo Smit. While their musical influences as broad as Cole Porter, Björk and Bartók, The Savage Five occupy their own sonic world.

These players have performed with stellar ensembles such as the NNO (Noord Nederlands Orkest) and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Suzanne Savage cut her teeth touring internationally as Principle Soprano Soloist with Riverdance. She has gone on to make music with the likes of Irish music legends Paul Brady and Van Morrison. She was awarded the N.Ireland Arts Council SIAP for work on her critically acclaimed solo album Jellymould.

The Savage Five are an exciting new voice in contemporary music – music for the soul.

Doors 1:30pm | Unreserved Seating

Bone Machine play the music of Tom Waits

*Limited Tickets available on the Door*

For the past year Irish audiences have witnessed an incendiary show performed by Bone Machine, that captures the character and musical genius of Tom Waits.

An exhilarating performance that’s playing to packed houses of increasingly adoring fans. The world of Mr Waits is uniquely presented with total authority.

Bone Machine are a band of internationally renowned touring and recording musicians that perform a firebrand, melancholic, and punk jazz set of Tom Waits songs. The band comprises Jack Healy on vocals, Martin O’Malley on guitars, Jon O’Connell on bass and Adam Shapiro on drums and rhythmic karma.

A show with Bone Machine will reinforce your belief in the songs of Tom Waits. From Martha to Downtown Train this band bring the heart, atmosphere and sweat to each performance. Ladies and gentlemen let us present… BONE MACHINE.

Doors 1:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Honor Heffernan – The Whistling Girl

*Tickets available on the Door*

I shall stay the way I am, because I do not give a damn!’ – Dorothy Parker

Composer Trevor Knight and singer Honor Heffernan are delighted to present The Whistling Girl, featuring new musical settings of the poetry of the great Dorothy Parker.

Audiences can expect a darkly sardonic evening’s entertainment in which the American wit and critic’s words are given a sonic face-lift fusing ‘dirty’-cabaret, electronic-vaudeville, rock and jazz.

A band of top Irish musicians including Garvan Gallagher/bass, Tom Jamieson/drums, Ed Deane/guitar and Trevor Knight/keyboards, will be fronted by internationally acclaimed vocalist and actress Honor Heffernan.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

King Creosote + support Joshua Burnside

*Limited Tickets available on the Door*

King Creosote one of Scotland’s most acclaimed and prolific singer-songwriters – a squeezebox Casanova with a cosmic wordplay fetish, whose voice leaves gentle devastation in its wake – comes to the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival for his Standing on Steptoes tour.

His 2016 record Astronaut Meets Appleman, explores the tension and harmony between tradition and technology – between analogue and digital philosophies – and also invokes a feeling, of “being caught between heaven and earth”.

Astronaut Meets Appleman follows King Creosote’s breakthrough record From Scotland With Love (2014) and his Mercury-nominated collaboration with Jon Hopkins, Diamond Mine (2011).

It arrives replete with a chamber-rock rabble and then some – harps and bagpipes come as standard, as does silence.

Doors 7:45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating

David Rodigan – 40th Anniversary Tour

+ support from Explosion Sound System DJs + The Skallions

*Tickets available on the Door*

David Rodigan MBE celebrates a remarkable 40 years in the business as both a prolific broadcaster and DJ. Performing his acclaimed DJ sets, running through his 40 years in reggae and related genres, we’re delighted to have David join us at CQAF for a masterclass in roots and reggae music.

Rodigan’s love of music started at the tender age of 15 when he started DJing at school dances and youth clubs and it’s kept growing ever since.

His Roots Rockers show on Capitol Radio cemented his reputation as one of the most knowledgeable and talented DJs on the scene. In 1990 Kiss FM relaunched as London’s first legal 24-hour dance music station and it was David that they turned to represent all things roots and reggae on the station.

In recent times he has taken his legendary show to BBC 1Xtra where he continues to share his passion for both cutting edge bass and classic reggae, ensuring that it remains a vital and paramount part of urban bass culture.

Doors 7:30pm | Standing

 

Sarah Kendall – One-Seventeen

Nominated twice for the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show and Total Fringe Sell Out 2015, 2016, 2017. Sarah Kendall embarks on a UK tour with her latest show One-Seventeen. A blistering hour of storytelling from the creator and star of the hit BBC Radio 4 series Australian Trilogy. Sarah has recently won a Writer’s Guild Award for Best Radio Comedy.

‘She will make you burst out laughing, she will make you gasp with horror and at moments you will find it hard not to cry. Kendall’s narrative is fluent, simply told and astonishingly beautiful in places. Like life her tone can turn in an instant, taking you from sadness to joy in a moment. She’ll make you laugh, she’ll make you think. And as you leave the theatre and walk out under the stars Kendall’s stories will still be running around in your head.’ SCOTSMAN ★★★★

‘Phenomenal storytelling, engagingly performed with a disarming lack of ego, funny and soulful by turns, this is comedy that restores your sense of wonder.’ CHORTLE ★★★★

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

*Tickets also available via Telephone on 028 90 235053*

Connla

*Tickets available on the Door*

Connla are one of the most exciting forces in Irish music right now with strong traditional roots as well as influences from across the globe.

They have already gathered a big following in the UK, Ireland, Europe and the USA for their sensitive and innovative arrangements of traditional and modern folk songs and tunes.

Songlines magazine made Connla their ‘must see act’ for the tour of the UK and stated ‘A band this young shouldn’t be this good’.

Hailing from the cities of Armagh and Derry, they are Ciara McCafferty (vocals), Ciaran Carlin (whistles), Paul Starrett (guitar) and Armagh siblings Emer and Conor Mallon on harp and uilleann pipes.

Today’s show will mark the release of new album The Next Chapter, one of the most eagerly awaited new trad albums in recent years.

Doors 1:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Lankum

*Tickets available on the Door*

As punk in attitude as they are traditional in sound, Lankum are one of the most talked about bands to come out of Ireland in decades.

Nominated for a clutch of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2018, they combine distinctive four-part vocal harmonies with arrangements of uilleann pipes, concertina, Russian accordion, fiddle and guitar.

A typical Lankum set will include humorous Dublin music hall ditties and street-songs, classic ballads from the Traveller tradition, traditional Irish and American dance tunes, and their own original material.

The band’s two albums Cold Old Fire and Between the Earth and Sky have won universally glowing reviews. Key influences are Irish legends such as Frank Harte, Planxty and The Dubliners mixed with subtle traces of the group’s collective loves, from American old-timey music, ambient techno and psychedelic folk, to black metal, punk and rock n’ roll.

Doors 1:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Conor Caldwell Solo Album Launch – SOLD OUT

Conor Caldwell is a traditional fiddler and composer from Belfast. His music takes a contemporary approach whilst remaining reflective of his roots in the Donegal and Northern fiddle tradition. Exploring the capabilities of the fiddle and with the use of electronics, his music blends old and original tunes with sympathetic harmonies, textures and space.

Aside from his solo work, he plays in a duo project with fellow fiddler Danny Diamond (Slow Moving Clouds), with whom he released the critically acclaimed album NORTH in 2016, nominated by the Irish Times in its ‘Best Traditional’ category for that year.

A current recipient of the Moving On Music Emerging Artist Programme, Conor will launch his debut solo record during the CQAF with the help of a few special guests.

Doors 7:00pm | Unreserved Seating

Rob Auton – The Hair Show

*Tickets available on the Door*

A show for anyone who has, or has had, hair and hairs.

Award winning stand-up comedian and poet Rob Auton (Dave’s Funniest Joke Of The Fringe award winner, Glastonbury’s ‘Poet In Residence’) returns with another heart-felt and offbeat comedy/theatre/spoken word show that explores hair and hairs.

Rob casts an introspective eye over the world of hair, underpinned by leaving his head hair and beard to their own devices until he has performed The Hair Show for the final time.

Join Rob as he explores the importance of appearance and how people react to someone who looks like he has checked out.

For the past five years Rob has used his command of words and distinctive unconventional humour to explore seemingly mundane subjects: sleep, water, faces, the sky and the colour yellow. These shows have given rise to a cult status at the Fringe.

‘A genuine original.’  THE GUARDIAN

One of my absolute favourites.’ – DANIEL KITSON

‘Charming, eccentric and uplifting, Auton is a talent to watch.’ – INDEPENDENT

Doors 5:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Georgie Fame (Family Trio)

*Tickets available on the Door*

We know how to end a festival. With his much-loved blend of Jazz and Rhythm & Blues, Georgie Fame has consistently worked in the highest musical circles and has become a true icon of the British music scene.

So far there have been more than twenty albums and fourteen hit singles, including the Number 1’s: Yeh Yeh, Get Away and The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde. Add to this a long list of collaborations with some of music’s most famous names, including Muddy Waters, Gene Vincent, Bill Wyman, Eric Clapton and Van Morrison, and in Georgie Fame you have bona fide music legend!

Sends us home happy to have been in the presence of genuine cool.’ – THE GUARDIAN

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

LUISA OMIELAN: Politics for Bitches (Preview) – SOLD OUT

Currently filming her BBC3 series of the same name, comedy phenomenon Luisa Omielan (What Would Beyonce Do?! and Am I Right Ladies?!) is back with her third stand up instalment.

In her own words;
‘I believe it is my right to have an opinion on something I know absolutely nothing about!’
It’s time to wake up and start caring. Welcome to Politics for Bitches.

As seen on BBC 1, Live at the Apollo, Thigh Gap joke (45 million views) and host of Comic Relief.

★★★★★* Chortle|Metro|Skinny|Guardian|Scotsgay
‘The comedian British women have been waiting for ‘ – HUFFINGTON POST

 

The Iconettes + Terri Hooley DJ set – SOLD OUT

The Iconettes are a unique musical homage to some of the most famous girl groups and divas of a golden era of Motown and Soul; The Ronettes, The Three Degrees, The Marvelettes, The Crystals and of course the irresistible Supremes create just some of the template for The Iconettes style, glamour and musical influences.

Performing stunning harmonies live, this female close harmony vocal trio are a fun, sassy, tightly choreographed tribute to the iconic girl groups of the Soul and Motown era and the sounds of Philadelphia and Detroit.

Out to Lunch Extra Portion
After The Iconettes, massive Girl Group fan Terri Hooley will play some of his favourite tracks from the era for an hour (or maybe two).

Feel free to stay and enjoy.

Ibibio Sound Machine – Sold Out

Fronted by London-born Nigerian singer Eno Williams, Ibibio Sound Machine is a clash of African and electronic elements inspired in equal measure by the golden era of West African funk, disco, modern post-punk, and electro.

Recent months has been spent forging a reputation as a high-energy live act appearing on stages such as Later… with Jools Holland, Glastonbury, Roskilde, and the BBC 6 Music Festival, as well as at iconic venues such as Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London as part of Lauren Laverne’s Wonder Women series.

Weird and wonderful folk stories, recounted to Eno by her family as a child in her mother’s Ibibio tongue, form the creative fabric from which the band’s unique musical tapestry is woven.

Evocative poetic imagery and empowering messages set against an edgy, Afro-Electro soundscape give the band a unique space within the current wave of modern Afrocentric sounds sweeping across the globe.

The 4 of Us (support by Simon Murphy) – SOLD OUT

THE 4 OF US bring their critically acclaimed acoustic show to Out to Lunch showcasing songs from their forthcoming new album Sugar Island, as well as songs from their extensive back catalogue.

From their first anthem Mary – still a radio favourite, through to the UK-charting She Hits Me, to Sunlight – the band has notched up over two decades of radio hits and six top 20 charting albums.

Don’t miss this rare chance to catch them live in the intimate setting of the Black Box.

‘Never before have I been to a gig where the atmosphere has been so electric …’  THE IRISH NEWS

DJ Yoda – SOLD OUT

Following the viral success of his Stranger Things Mixtape – and quarter of a million plays on Soundcloud – DJ Yoda is taking his Eighties pop-culture nostalgia mix to Out to Lunch for the ultimate post-Festive season party.

Featuring favourites from 1983 (when Stranger Things is set) and laced with samples from the Netflix original series, expect Dolly Parton, Toto, Jefferson Airplane, The Clash, Joy Division and Foreigner mixed with dialogue from Chief Hopper, Eleven, Jonathan and Nancy.

Experience the mixtape live!

Hollie McNish & Tony Walsh – SOLD OUT

Hollie McNish: Out to Lunch is proud to Hollie performing poems from her new collection, Plum, as well as performing some favourites from previous books.

Plum is a new collection of poems which charts Hollie’s journey from childhood to attempted adulthood. Expect strong language as she talks about fruit and flesh, school discos, guilt, sex, politics, death, transformers and a lot of friendship.

With Benjamin Zephaniah stating ‘I can’t take my ears off her’, Kate Tempest describing her poetry as ‘welcoming, galvanising and beautiful’ and fans ranging from Pink, Tim Minchen, Marian Keyes to most of the UK’s midwives, Hollie McNish is a poet whose readings are not to be missed.

Tony Walsh: Millions have watched footage of poet, Tony Walsh, aka ‘Longfella’, reading his poem, This is the Place to those gathered in Albert Square in the aftermath of the terror attack in Manchester.

Liam Gallagher said it was ‘the best thing I’ve ever heard come out of any Mancunian’s mouth, ever’, whilst Jeanette Winterson said, Walsh “found words where there are no words”.

Tony’s passionate performances of his unashamedly defiant and political work have resonated with millions across the world, and the festival is excited to be hosting a poet truly of our time.

Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle

For some people, a housing crisis means not getting planning permission for a loft conversion. For others it means, quite simply, losing their home.

Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle is a feature documentary directed by Paul Sng (Sleaford Mods – Invisible Britain) and narrated by Maxine Peake, exploring the catastrophic failures that have led to a chronic shortage of social housing in Britain.

The film focuses on the neglect, demolition and regeneration of council estates in London, Glasgow and Nottingham, and investigates how the state works with the private sector to demolish council estates to build on the land they stand on, making properties that are unaffordable to the majority of people in the UK.

Dispossession is the story of people fighting for their communities, of people who know the difference between a house and a home, and who believe that housing is a human right, not an expensive luxury.

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The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and Out To Lunch are annual festivals of music, comedy, theatre, art and literature which take place in January and May in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

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Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival / Out To Lunch Arts Festival
Unit 8
Northern Whig House
Bridge Street
Belfast
BT1 1LU