Search Results for:

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.

Fern Brady – SOLD OUT

Fern’s past two Edinburgh Fringe shows sold out through word of mouth alone and now she’s ready for her debut tour.

Scottish comedian Fern is here with a Scottish hour. Scottish. As seen on English comedian Russell Howard’s Stand Up Central, English comedian Stewart Lee’s Alternative Comedy Experience and Viceland’s new series Brexit Stage Left.

‘Suffer Fools’ is a stunning hour of incisive, relentlessly sharp comedy from one of the UK’s rising stars.

As heard on BBC Radio 4’s State of the Nations and BBC Scotland’s Breaking the News.

An astounding hour ***** List
Quick witted acerbic stand-up ***** Skinny

Keith James presents the music of Yusuf – Cat Stevens

Keith James presents an honest and loving reflection on the insightful and timeless music of Yusef – Cat Stevens.

The amassed body of music from this hugely popular and sincerely adored singer/songwriter made for a collection of ‘must have’ records across a whole generation.

Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were on everyone’s turntables and on every radio station, live versions are played in concerts, bars and on the world’s beaches to this day.

Songs such as Wild World, Father and Son, Moonshadow and Where do the Children Play have been covered by hundreds of Artists worldwide.

Keith James is one of the most active and inventive performers on this Country’s concert scene. All of his concerts are based on dedicated studies of poets and songwriters with whom both he himself and audiences identify as having a quality and integrity far above the norm.

‘Keith James has become a pillar of trust. A sublimely intimate and engaging voice’ – SUNDAY TIMES

Opera for Lunch – Sold Out

In this Out to Lunch special Northern Ireland Opera and the Lyric Theatre stage Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s thrilling and darkly comic The Threepenny Opera.

In anticipation, join members of the Northern Ireland Opera Studio as they transport you back to the 1920s for a recital exploring themes of love, war, and class.

Featuring music from The Threepenny Opera, as well as songs and showtunes of the era, don’t miss this perfect lunchtime musical treat!

Maria Hughes soprano
Lauren Scully soprano
Dawn Burns mezzo-soprano
Cormac Lawlor bass-baritone
Kevin Neville bass-baritone
Keith McAllister piano

Andrew Maxwell – Showtime – Sold out

Renowned for his cutting-edge comedy and intrepid social commentary, Andrew is also the recognisable voice of MTV’s hit show Ex On The Beach, which is now in its sixth series and has featured on Live At The Apollo (BBC One), Have I Got News For You (BBC One), Celebrity Juice (ITV2) and Mock The Week (BBC Two).

Throughout his career, Andrew has had many sell-out shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has also performed at Channel Four’s Secret Policeman’s Ball, Glastonbury, Kilkenny’s Cat Laughs and several appearances at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival.

An Evening with Jonathan Meades – CANCELLED

Jonathan Meades has written and performed in more than 50 television shows on predominantly topographical subjects such as shacks, garden cities, megastructures, buildings associated with vertigo, beer, pigs, and the architecture of Hitler and Stalin.

His credits include Jonathan Meades: Off Kilter (2009), Jonathan Meades on France (2012), The Joys of Essex (2013). His films, Bunkers, Brutalism, Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry, were broadcast on BBC4 in 2014.

His books include: An Encyclopaedia of Myself, which won the Best Memoir Award in the Spear’s Book Awards 2014, three works of fiction: Filthy English, Pompey and The Fowler Family Business and several anthologies including The Museum Without Walls.

‘Meades has been compared, favourably, to Rabelais and, flatteringly, to Swift. The truth is that he outstrips both in the gaudiness of his imagination.’ – HENRY HITCHINGS, TLS

‘A human Enigma machine…Jonathan Meades is the Jonathan Meades of our generation.’ – AA GILL,  THE SUNDAY TIMES

Bernard MacLaverty – Reading & Q&A – Sold Out

Sixteen years on from his last novel, Bernard MacLaverty reminds us why he is regarded as one of the greatest living Irish writers.

A retired couple, Gerry and Stella Gilmore, fly to Amsterdam for a long weekend. A holiday to refresh the senses, to do some sightseeing and generally to take stock of what remains of their lives. Their relationship seems safe, easy, familiar – but over the course of the four days we discover the deep uncertainties which exist between them.

Bernard MacLaverty is a master storyteller, and Midwinter Break is the essential MacLaverty novel: accurate, compassionate observation, effortlessly elegant writing and a tender, intimate, heart-rending story – but it is also a profound examination of human love and how we live together. Forty years on from his first book, Bernard MacLaverty has written his masterpiece.

‘This is a novel of great ambition by an artist at the very height of his powers.’ COLM TOIBIN

Booka Brass Band

Booka Brass’ debut album captures the live energy of the band lauded as one of Ireland’s greatest live acts.

Chilled Milk is a ten-track album full of the bands signature melodies and rhythmic pizazz. The album is made up of nine self-penned tunes and a raucous cover of Jason Derulo’s ‘Talk Dirty’ by the New Orleans inspired outfit.

Formed in late 2012 when a group of students were drawn together by their classical background and desire to experiment musically. Since then their trajectory has been constantly on the rise, from the success of their critically acclaimed debut EP BBB, a sold-out nationwide tour alongside collaborations and live performances with Irish music heavyweights including The Frames, Lisa Hannigan, Jape and James Vincent McMorrow.

The band laid the basis of the album in true Booka Brass style through jamming through ideas in an improvised setting. The album has drawn influence from jazz greats like Miles Davis and Art Blakey, to hip-hop icons Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar.

The albums sound is a fusion of Booka Brass’s classical mastery of their instruments combined with their understanding and passion for jazz sensibilities. Potentially the show of the festival.

‘Everyone’s favourite horn wielders..spicing jazz, hip hop and pop and adding lashings of brass, it’s a fun and inventive few minutes’ – HOT PRESS

‘Booka Brass Band have every right to be claimed as Ireland’s best live act right now’ – GOLDEN PLEC

‘If you can only take in one new act this festival season, make it Booka Brass Band’ – THE IRISH INDEPENDENT

The Irish Video Game Orchestra

The Irish Video Game Orchestra is a semi-professional orchestra dedicated to bringing new audiences to the orchestral music by performing famous video game scores that listeners already know and love.

Brought together by their mutual love for video games, and the wealth of music that can be found in their scores, the IVGO aims to create unforgettable performances for both its audiences and musicians.

Having only been performing for two years, the IVGO has received rave reviews from their concerts at Q-Con, Eirtakon, and their most recent independent concert, “A Journey of Heroes.” Christopher Hastings of Queen’s Radio said, “… if you are into orchestral music, video games, or both, there is definitely no reason why you shouldn’t keep an eye out for the next time the Irish Video Game Orchestra performs, because honestly, it was one of the most entertaining musical evenings I’ve experienced for a long while.”

With repertoire spanning the 30+ years of video game scores, every concert is different, but features music from both new games as well as the classic tunes known by all from The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, and so much more.

Wolfgang Flur

Wolfgang Flür is best known as the electro drummer of German electronic super group Kraftwerk between 1973 and 1986.

Along with his Kraftwerk musical partner Florian Schneider, he developed the world’s very first electronic drum machines and, as the first Electric Quartet, changed the face of music forever.

Arguably every electronic release of the last thirty years has been inspired by Wolfgang Flür’s amazing development and his colossus of a band.

Since 2004 Flür has been DJ’ing world-wide in clubs and festivals, playing tech house, industry and electro specialties of his own – he likes to call it ‘selected electro tunes for dancing’.

Wolfgang sees himself as a music presenter with historical electric background. Post Kraftwerk he’s busied himself writing books and collaborating with all sorts of intriguing musical master minds.

Tonight’s set will be accompanied by video projections and rare images from his Kraftwerk past shot to Wolfgang’s present projects.

Nuala Kennedy

For anyone who enjoys an imaginative blend of contemporary and traditional music; beautifully constructed airs, jigs and reels; love songs and ballads in both Gaelic and English; something rather special is special in the Black Box during Out to Lunch.

Singer and flute player Nuala Kennedy celebrated 10 years as a solo recording artist in 2016 with the launch of Behave the Bravest, her fourth solo album and her first album release on her own label Under the Arch Records.

Nuala Kennedy’s origins as a player and singer of traditional music in Ireland shine through on Behave the Bravest. Old traditional ballads of love, loss and immigration, are recomposed by Kennedy and continue to find resonance in the modern world.

Played and sung with verve and panache by a woman at the top of her game, Behave the Bravest is a fitting album to celebrate a decade of music making.

Nuala has performed and recorded with Will Oldham (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Norwegian musicians Frode Haltli and Vegar Vårdal as well as the late Canadian composer Oliver Schroer.

For this very special Festival show Nuala will be joined by Mike Bryan (guitar) and Donald Hay (percussion).

‘She instils a zesty, fresh brilliance for all her dazzling performances, which are enticingly enhanced by all her imaginative compositions. This album is just a complete winner all the way.’FOLKWALES

The Ballad of Shirley Collins

Widely regarded as the 20th century’s most important singer of English traditional song, Shirley Collins stood at the epicentre of the folk music scene during the 1960s and ’70s.

However, in 1980 she lost her voice in mysterious circumstances, and was forced to retire from musical life.

Rob Curry and Tim Plester’s documentary sets out to explore the story behind the icon, and chronicles Shirley’s battle, at the grand old age of 80, to rediscover that voice she lost so many years previously.

The film offsets this contemporary journey with a more literal one taken from the other end of her life, and makes fertile use of authentic 1959 audio-archive to recount the tale of Shirley’s seminal road-trip around America’s Deep South alongside her then-lover (and pre-eminent ethnomusicologist) Alan Lomax.

Featuring cameos from the comedian Stewart Lee and David Tibet of Current 93, the film eschews a straightforward biopic approach and mindfully sidesteps any rockumentary talking-heads; the filmmakers instead offering up a meditative and richly textured piece of portraiture.

One which uses Shirley’s story as a prism through which to explore and reflect upon themes of heritage, posterity and the true ancestral melodies of the people.

Here then is a film about loss and redemption. A film about sacrifice, healing and rebirth. A film which suggests that, during these turbulent and increasingly untethered times, we might just need Shirley Collins now more than ever.

Cosey Fanni Tutti (in conversation)

Punk pioneer and provocative performer Cosey Fanni Tutti was a thorn in an anxious establishment’s side during the 70s and 80s.

Her 1976 performance art exhibition, Prostitution, hit the tabloids and caused an almighty stir, with one Tory MP denouncing Cosey and her COUM Transmissions collaborators as ‘wreckers of civilisation’.

Art Sex Music is the autobiography of a musician who, as a founding member of the avant-garde group Throbbing Gristle and electronic pioneers Chris & Cosey, has consistently challenged the boundaries of music over the past four decades and whose work continues to be held at the vanguard of contemporary art, some of which resides as part of the Tate permanent collection.

Art Sex Music is the wise, shocking and elegant autobiography of a uniquely provocative artist. Come and hear how she look back on a fascinating life.

Robin Ince – Pragmatic Insanity SOLD OUT

Robin Ince’s first new stand up show in three years is a clash of the two cultures, a joyous romp through his favourite artists and strangest scientific ideas.

From the work of Stanley Spencer to Niels Bohr, it is 90 minutes fizzing with ideas about creativity in science and art, as well as asking why we believe we see what we see and why we believe what we believe.

Robin is the winner of a Sony Gold and Rose d’Or for the Infinite Monkey Cage and the Time Out Outstanding Contribution to Comedy, as well as The Francis Crick Science Journalism Award and 3 Chortle awards.

As seen on Mock The Week, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, The Now Show, The News Quiz and Loose Ends. Robin has just finished a 70 date, record breaking tour with Brian Cox that concludes at Wembley Arena.

‘An evening so bursting with energy and ideas…it’s a bundle of fascinating, surprising digressions’ – THE TIMES

*Evening Event – SOLD OUT*

Saffyre

Made up of sisters Shauneen, Maria and cousin Emma, the melodies and harmonies which are the signature Saffyre sound are a culmination of the country, folk and trad influences they grew up with in their native County Down.

After several releases here at home, the girls travelled to Florida to work with Grammy Award winning producer Jim Jonsin who co-wrote and produced the girls current release Run For Your Life.

The track has been playlisted by every major radio station in the country and the momentum around the band is growing by the day.

Tenx9

Tenx9 is a storytelling sensation. Nine people have up to Ten minutes each to tell a true story from their lives.

Begun in Belfast in 2011, it’s now spread to 10 cities round the world. Join the Tenx9 regulars for this night on 17th January in the Black Box for true stories of “Never Again” — things we regret are finished; things we’re glad are finished; things we’ll never do again; things we’ll never get to do again.

Adam Kay – This is Going to Hurt

Welcome to 97-hour weeks. Welcome to life and death decisions. Welcome to a constant tsunami of bodily fluids. Welcome to earning less than the hospital parking meter.

Wave goodbye to your friends and relationships . . . Welcome to the life of a junior doctor.

Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, comedian and former junior doctor Adam Kay’s This Is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line.

Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking by turns, these diaries are everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn’t – about life on and off the hospital ward.

And yes, it may leave a scar.


‘Painfully funny. The pain and the funniness somehow add up to something entirely good, entirely noble and entirely loveable.’
– STEPHEN FRY

‘…(a) heartening, laugh-out-loud confessional on the indignities and quiet joys of being a junior doctor in the UK National Heath Service’ – THE FINANCIAL TIMES

The Carole King & James Taylor Story – SOLD OUT

The Carole King & James Taylor Story takes you on an incredible journey through the career of the six-time Grammy Award winner and 20-time platinum hit maker Carole King and five-time Grammy Award winner American folk legend James Taylor.

This new “show-umentary” format gives a fascinating insight into the lives behind the music.

Featuring passionate renditions of Fire and Rain, Sweet Baby James, I Feel the Earth Move, Natural Woman, You’ve Got a Friend and many more this astonishing back catalogue is realised with authenticity by Phoebe Katis and Dan Clews, both well established artists in their own right.

The James Taylor & Carole King Story comes fresh from a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe festival where it delighted audiences and wowed critics.

“both guitar and voice took these fans back to The Troubadour in 1970” **** BROADWAYBABY

“Will leave any folk-rock fans wholly satisfied” **** SCOTSMAN

“Wow, what an experience” BBC KENT

“performance was immaculate” **** THREE WEEKS

Bernadette Morris – EP Launch

Having travelled the world since the release of her first album, including tours in Australia and the US, Bernadette Morris returned to the studio, this time with her own original material.

At this EP launch, Bernadette and her band present her new material which sits easily within the folk genre, as well as her fresh take on traditional Irish folk songs and lilting Gaelic laments.

Amy McAllister

From County Antrim, traditional harpist and singer Amy McAllister takes a contemporary distinctive approach to performing traditional harp airs, dance tunes, traditional songs alongside her original material.

Amy has toured internationally, represented Ireland twice at the Rio Harp Festival, and released her debut album String on String to critical acclaim in Spring 2017.

Deirdre Galway of Realta will  be accompanying her for this performance.

‘Amy McAllister’s vocals and instrumental skills are absolutely beguiling…a distinctive traditional vocal sound… a debut album which delivers on every level.’ Andy McMillen, BRIGHT YOUNG FOLK

“…An album that both understands the wealth of tradition and reveals a talent for innovation. Amy’s vivid voice is purely addictive; hear once, you want more.’ Tim Carroll, FOLKWORLDS

GoGo Penguin – SOLD OUT

Noted for their hypnotic melodies, visceral bass-lines and tidal rhythm, Manchester-based leftfield piano trio GoGo Penguin are pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Rob Turner.

Their music has been described as acoustic-electronica but they draw equally on rock, jazz and minimalism, game soundtracks and glitchy-electronica to create their unique music.

It’s music for the heart, head and feet and saw their album v2.0(Gondwana records) named a Mercury Prize album of the year 2014 alongside albums from Damon Albarn, Young Fathers and Jungle.

In 2015 they signed to Blue Note Records and released the album Man Made Object in 2016. More recently they have been touring their own score to Godfrey Reggio’s cult film Koyaanisqatsi.

Their new album, A Humdrum Star will be released on February 9, 2018.

‘The members stayed locked in their grooves, three young men making music with jazz instruments, rock dynamics and circumscribed dance-music strategies.’ – NEW YORK TIMES

‘Jazz dances with minimalism in the hadron collier of GoGo Penguin.’ – THE GUARDIAN

We are grateful to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for the loan of the Steinway Model D Grand Piano, for the purpose of this event.

Dave Arcari

Scottish guitarist & songwriter Dave Arcari’s alt.blues sounds owe as much to trash country, punk and rockabilly as they do pre-war Delta blues and have been showcased via ten internationally-acclaimed solo album releases.

Arcari’s recent album, Live at Memorial Hall, was released on 1 September 2017 on Buzz Records. As well as showcasing Arcari’s trademark National steel guitars, the release features performances on banjo, regular guitar and and cigar box which help capture the full breadth of Arcari’s song-writing and performance.

With a busy live schedule in the UK plus regular shows in USA, Finland, Estonia, France, Germany, Belgium, Poland and Ireland Arcari is one of the hardest gigging live artists on the circuit.

A series of shows with folks including Steve Earle, Alabama 3, Seasick Steve and Jon Spencer along with his relentless UK and European tour schedule have established Arcari as a formidable international solo performer who is fast building a media reputation as a ‘hell-raising National guitar madman’.

‘Dave plays like he got his skin turned inside out and pretty soon my skin was inside out too listening and it was all good. That boy bleeds for you – he a real down deep player and a soul man…’ – SEASICK STEVE

Yola Carter

Inspired by country and soul from the likes of The Band, Gillian Welch, Gene Clark, The Byrds, Staple Singers, Emmylou Harris, Otis Redding and Dolly Parton, Yola Carter is a force of nature and an incredibly talented singer-songwriter.

After 15 years as a writer, producer and featured vocalist with dance and pop artists such as Massive Attack, Duke Dumont, Katy Perry and Chase & Status and two albums and several years fronting the acclaimed band Phantom Limb, she embarked on the latest chapter of her career as a solo Americana artist at the start of 2016.

Live, the killer combination of Yola’s powerhouse voice, stage presence and superb soul-baring songs has proved completely irresistible from her very first show. 2017 has seen her play major stages all over the UK as well as festivals in Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Canada, blowing audiences away everywhere – whether performing as a stripped down acoustic trio, her full 10-piece country soul orchestra or in several different lineups in between.

Yola was chosen to represent the UK at the prestigious Americana Music Association showcase in Nashville in September 2016, where she made a huge impact.

She returned in Sep 2017 as part of the main AMA showcase programme and confirmed her status as a major Americana star in waiting generating an even more electric music industry and media buzz than the previous year. Yola was also an incredibly popular choice as the UK Artist Of The Year at the AMA UK Awards in London in Feb 2017.

“Country gospel with the driving energy of old-fashioned soul music…Her songs brandished big hooks and she filled them with stirring vocals, shouts, and yes, yodeling.” The Guardian

“A phenomenal talent, drawing on gospel, soul and country” The Independent

“A voice to die for…it could be likened to Aretha Franklin. She is that good.” Maverick

“Loose limbed, soulful and funky…it sounded like Mavis Staples fronting The Band…a stadium-sized talent.” Bristol 24/7

Music in the Glen

Music In The Glen are an exciting new trio performing the very best of Irish traditional music. Featuring the combined talents of Brendan Mulholland (flute) and founding Réalta members Conor Lamb (uilleann pipes, whistles) and Deirdre Galway (guitar), these musicians deliver the infectious rhythm and soul which are the hallmarks of Irish music.

Forged from a relationship of 20 years playing music together, Conor and Brendan have joined forces with Deirdre on accompaniment to create a sound that draws upon a long-developed bond and mutual musical understanding.

Each musician is a respected artist in their own field. Through different projects they have performed across the globe from Belfast to Washington, Moscow and Seoul in venues ranging from your local folk club to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the Milwaukee Irish Festival Main Stage.

Individually they have featured on a dozen albums and have performed with a variety of international acts including Réalta, Gráinne Holland, Craobh Rua, Micky McCluskey and Mary Dillon. Collectively they are one of the finest trios on the Irish music scene today.

Music In The Glen’s debut album will be released in January 2018 and the launch concert is sure to be a night to remember! Expect good times and a number of special appearances from the team’s musical friends.

Gone with the Gin – A Faculty Lecture – Sold Out

Let’s start 2018 as we mean to go on – with gin.

We’ve asked Graeme Millar, Head Distiller at the Echlinville Distillery, to kick off our 2018 Lecture series with an exploration of gin. Graeme will take us through the history, the process and the craft of gin but most importantly how to taste and enjoy it.

His work with with the hugely successful Jawbox Gin is the latest instalment in a long and international career in spirits and gin. As head distiller he oversees production and ensures consistency of quality and flavour.

So join us for an afternoon with a master gin distiller and start you’re year feeling ginvincible

Bunch of Kunst – A Film about Sleaford Mods

Thanks to their sweary rants about modern England, Nottingham duo Sleaford Mods have been called “the voice of Britain” by their fans, “Britain’s angriest band” by the Guardian and “The world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band” by Iggy Pop.

Jason Williamson, a former chicken factory worker and father of two, his band mate, beatmaker Andrew Fearn, and their manager Steve Underwood, avant-garde bedroom label owner and former bus driver, have won over fans with their brutally honest lyrics and DIY ethos.

Following them on their two-year journey from bedroom recording sessions to mainstream success, Christine Franz’s official documentary feature tells the story of three guys taking on the music business on their own terms.

Dave Johns – I, Fillum Star

The award-winning star of I, Daniel Blake brings his hit Edinburgh show to Belfast.
What happens to a comedian when he’s plucked from obscurity by master film maker Ken Loach and cast in the title role of one of the most acclaimed and talked about British films in recent years?

I, Daniel Blake became a beacon for social realism and, for Dave Johns, a rollercoaster ride of red carpet surrealism. From Cannes to the BAFTAs, chatting to Woody Allen in a lift and accepting awards alongside Hollywood’s greatest… he was there, wide-eyed… through it all.

Now, he’s back doing the thing he loves best – making people laugh.

Jan Ravens – Difficult Women

Who runs the world? Fiftysomething women, apparently. Dead Ringers star, Jan Ravens takes to the road with her well-loved impressions of Theresa May, Nicola Sturgeon, Diane Abbott, Hillary Clinton and many others, including Kirsty Wark, Lyse Doucet and Fiona Bruce.

Why, she asks, are women perceived as Difficult, when we are just being decisive, ambitious and tenacious? Well, come on, why?

Jan has been seen on, and contributed across the satirical spectrum on shows such as Newsnight, The Daily Politics, Mock the Week, QI, Question Time and Today.

‘A consummate impressionist’ – TIMES

‘Modern, topical, with a fresh satirical twist’ – TELEGRAPH

‘A brilliantly funny woman in her prime’ – KIRSTY WARK

Alison Spittle – Worrier Princess

Alison Spittle is one of Ireland’s brightest young comedy talents. The star and writer of RTE’s new major sitcom series Nowhere Fast, in 2018 Alison embarks on her first national tour, including a show at Dublin’s prestigious Vicar Street.

The host of The Alison Spittle Show on the Headstuff Podcast Network, Alison appears regularly on RTÉ (Brendan O’Connor’s Cutting Edge, Republic of Telly, Des Bishop, This is Ireland), TV3, Sky Arts and heard on Newstalk.

‘Whether character or citizen, Spittle comes across as a kind of genius.’ **** IRISH TIMES

‘Breezily chatty and effusively funny, Alison Spittle is a likeable combination of openness and chortling mischief.’  THE SCOTSMAN

‘Spectacular in a beautifully surreal way’ IRISH INDEPENDENT

Plus support from Andréa Farrell.

Lau – SOLD OUT

Lau is the pioneering contemporary folk trio comprising three of the UK’s finest traditional musicians: Kris Drever (vocals, guitar), Martin Green (accordion, wurlitzer, keys, electronics) and Aidan O’Rourke (fiddle).

Lau has garnered four awards for Best Group at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and also appeared on the Later… With Jools Holland TV show (BBC 2 TV). Individual members have all won multiple awards and recognition for their solo work.

Lau announces the release of its first ever retrospective album, Decade (The Best Of 2007-2017), a compilation of the band’s best tracks, curated by the band and manager Tom Rose from the song and tune suggestions of their very many fans.

They are taking this retrospective material to concerts and festival stages throughout the UK for a series of electrifying live shows.

‘The U.K’s best live band, Lau are remarkable – the most musically adventurous trio in British folk: exquisite and hypnotic, musicianship at its best.’ – THE GUARDIAN

A Rabbie Burns Lunch

Today is all about celebrating the poet and Scottish hero Robert Burns. And what better way to do so than by reading and sharing some of his most famous works over a plate of steaming haggis.

Scotland’s favourite son Robert ‘Rabbie’ Burns was known as the Ploughman Poet, the Bard of Ayrshire or simply The Bard. Burns was born on January 25, 1759 and Burns celebrations have been held in his honour on this date for over 200 years.

We’ll be having a special Burns Lunch complete with a bagpiper, toasts, haggis, neeps and tatties, a bit of poetry and some famous Burns songs led by singer songwriter Hugh Jordan.

The Selkirk Grace
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat
Sae let the Lord be thankit.

Le Vent du Nord

Combining a great stage presence with an energetic, dynamic flair, Le Vent du Nord are one of the leading names in Québecois folk music performing original songs inspired from their tradition- a truly fabulous sound!

Following their knockout success at festivals and events throughout the UK in 2017 the Québec-based quartet have been invited to return in 2018 with a new line –up to make them a Quintet! The group never fail to delight crowds with their glorious mix of fiddle and foot-tapping, guitar, accordion, piano, bass, hurdy-gurdy and wonderful four part harmonies. The band delivers catchy songs and tunes, inspired and influenced by Québec traditional folk styles, and their well-polished musical arrangements simply enhance this uplifting repertoire.

The band consist of singers / multi-instrumentalists Nicolas Boulerice, Simon Beaudry, Olivier Demers, Réjean Brunet and new member Andre Brunet (formerly of La Bottine Souriante; Celtic Fiddle Festival, De Temps Antan) and are now one of the best-loved Québec folk outfits throughout the world. Considered a driving force in progressive folk, Le Vent du Nord capture the energy and mirth of a Saturday night kitchen party, infusing old Québec with a breath of fresh, cosmopolitan air.

‘Puts all traditional folk naysayers to shame’ ~ VOIR MONTREAL

‘What stands out about the music… is its power and vitality. Québec couldn’t hope for better advocates.’ ~ ★★★★ nes

Hayes Carll

Hayes Carll is wildly literate, utterly slackerly, and impossibly romantic.  The 41-year old Texan is completely committed to the truth and unafraid to skewer pomposity, hypocrisy and small-minded thinking.

Carll connects with music lovers across genres lines. Playing rock clubs and honkytonks, he combines Ray Wylie Hubbard’s lean freewheeling squalor with Todd Snider’s brazen Gen Y reality and a healthy dose of love amongst unhealthy people.

He also looks to Kerouac, Dylan, Guy Clark, and John Prine for inspiration. Fiercely individual, Carll’s banged-up take on classic country is honed by the road – sometimes as a man and guitar, sometimes with his scrappy band, but always taking in the vistas and humanity before him.

About recent album he says: ‘Lovers and Leavers isn’t funny or raucous. There are very few hoots and almost no hollers.. But it is joyous, and it makes me smile. No, it’s not my “Blood on the Tracks,” nor is it any kind of opus. It’s my fifth record — a reflection of a specific time and place. It is quiet, like I wanted it to be. Like I wanted to be.”

The Leading Ladies

Michelle Baird, Ceara Grehan and Lynne McAllister bring three richly flavoured voices, unique harmonies and versatility to the stage. The ladies, who originally met through Northern Ireland Musical Societies, have all played leading roles in some of Ireland’s major theatres.

They have appeared at the Grand Opera House, Belfast’s Waterfront Hall and the National Concert Hall, Dublin, winning the Association of Irish Musical Societies’ coveted award for Best Female Singer in Ireland three times between them.

Their impressive repertoire, from stage to screen and opera to swing, offers a diverse range of entertainment to rival any West End show and their unique talent has been winning critical acclaim throughout the country.

Sit back, relax and enjoy a special lunchtime treat of Vintage 50s Swing & Jazz classics, along with some of your favourite West End & Broadway hits in an intimate cabaret setting. All performed in their own inimitable vocal arrangements and close harmony style.

The Oh Hellos + Sound of The Sirens

Since forming, The Oh Hellos has earned a rightful reputation as a very special live act. The siblings are joined on stage by an often-epic ensemble—a rotating roster of pickers and players numbering as many as 13 at any given time (hence the need to take this show to The Empire).

Dear Wormwood, the latest album from beloved brother and sister act The Oh Hellos, is out now. It was recorded, piece by piece, in the house where Maggie and Tyler live in San Marcos, Texas, and much like The Oh Hellos’ live performance, the album presents two alternating faces: at times delicate, intimate, affectionate; and at others, soaring and towering and joyfully explosive.

Their influences range from Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens to The Middle East and the Muppets, bending and blending styles and genres into a unique mixture of eclectic folk rock.

The Oh Hellos are Maggie and Tyler Heath from Southern Texas. The two began making music together in 2011 with a song written for their mom’s birthday, followed later that year by their self-titled, self-produced, independently released EP. The 4-track recording featured the hit song Hello My Old Heart which received national airplay in the US and currently has over nine million streams on Spotify.

Shirley Collins

Having released her first new album in 38 years at the end of 2016, and barely sharing her voice at all during such times, the legacy and importance of Shirley Collins simply can’t be overlooked.

A pivotal player in the English Folk Revival of 60s and 70s, which included the likes of Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, Fairport Convention, Bert Jansch and many more, few would disagree with Billy Bragg when he said of Shirley “without doubt one of England’s greatest cultural treasures”

Often using little more than her wonderful voice and a sparse instrumental backing, Collins music has always had a haunting quality to it and it remains the case to this day. It’s an honour to bring Collins to Belfast and the Out to Lunch Festival this January. We can’t wait.

Hazel O’Connor & Cormac De Barra – SOLD OUT

Hazel O’ Connor has fast established herself as a concert artist and performer to be reckoned with.  From initially catapulting to stardom with the starring role in Breaking Glass and the ensuing hits that followed, Hazel continues to tour extensively delighting sell-out audiences along the way, winning over fans old and new.

Her husky voice remains charged with passion and her enthusiasm, love of music, and wicked sense of humour, is ever present.

Having now returned to her Celtic soul folk-roots, live and on-stage for this very special set of shows, she performs in a captivating acoustic line-up with Cormac de Barra on Irish Harp, her musical partner for some 15 years.

The live-show combines Hazel’s unforgettable voice with the musicianship of Cormac in a stirring musical marriage, together they will reach into the very depths of your soul.  Cormac De Barra has represented Ireland internationally and currently also performs with Clannad and Moya Brennan. He has recorded three of his own harp-led CDs. The combination of de Barra’s harp with Hazel’s unforgettable voice is truly magical.

Today’s show will feature some great newly composed songs celebrating 37 years of song-writing and performance. No O’Connor show is complete without her original classics Will You, D-Days and Eighth Day or her new classics Rebecca, Driftwood, I’m Still Breathing and Acoustically Yours. Un-missable!

‘The expressive power of her singing, her songwriting craft and warm, strong personality here with Cormac De Barra’s expert playing of the Irish Harp.’ – THE TIMES

‘Simply stunning’ –   Janice Long – BBC RADIO 2

‘Sumptuous songs with a soulful, introspective lyrical depth. The arrangements are largely traditional in feel, helped by Cormac de Barra’s exquisite harp..Sseamless forays into pop blues and soul, and the familiar silken gravel of O’Connor’s voice’ –   IRISH TIMES.

Moon Duo with support from Documenta

Portlandian space-rock outfit Moon Duo bring their new album Occult Architecture Vol. 1 (out now on the Sacred Bones label) to the Black Box for the closing weekend of Out to Lunch.

The album takes the reliably excellent Moon Duo sound, built around Ripley Johnson’s remarkable, fluid guitar and Sanae Yamada’s Nuggets-meets-Conny Plank keyboards, adds a little more electronics than usual and also throws in some high concept darkness to boot (as borne out by titles like Cold Fear and The Death Set).

Written and recorded in Portland, the two-part epic reflects the hidden energies of rainclouds and sunshine and the deep creep of Northwest forests along with their effect on the psyche, inspired by the occult and esoteric literature of Mary Anne Atwood, Aleister Crowley, Colin Wilson, and Manly P. Hall

As the first instalment in a two-album series for 2018, it’s an immediate and hypnotic listen and this promises to be a momentous live gig.

Kaia Kater + support by Underhill Rose

Born of African-Caribbean descent in Québec, Kaia Kater grew up in two musical worlds:  the Canadian folk music of her Toronto home, and Appalachian music of West Virginia, where she has studied and lived.

Fueled by her rich low tenor vocals, jazz-influenced instrumentation, and beautifully understated banjo, her songs cast an unflinching eye on the realities faced by people of colour in North America.

Kater is part of the new generation of American roots musicians, with an original repertoire that weaves together Appalachian stories, personal narratives of the digital age, and hard-hitting songs that touch on modern issues like Black Lives Matter.

Her work has as much in common with Kendrick Lamar as it does with Pete Seeger, reminding us of the troubled pathways of our own history.

Underhill Rose
Harmonies. Soul-touching lyrics. Eye-catching stage presence. Underhill Rose have become synonymous with beautiful music, charming personalities, and rippling success.

The duo from North Carolina have released two albums which have garnered critical acclaim from around the globe. We’re delighted to welcome these female troubadours back to Belfast for what promises to be a stunning closing Out to Lunch show.

Iain Lee – The Rabbit Hole Live Podcast

The Rabbit Hole is a podcasting first – a free form phone-in, recorded in front of a live audience.

Hosted by Iain Lee (11 O’Clock Show, Big Brother, LBC, talkRADIO) and Katherine Boyle (BBC Radio, talkRADIO) this surreal and sometimes rather silly show is streamed online, allowing the audience at home as well as on site to call the shots.

The ideas come from all angles, and people can ring at any time to add to the conversation, or start their own. And don’t worry, the audience on site are allowed and encouraged to shout out and chip in any time they want.

From the big questions to the stupid ones, life changing moments to those you’d rather forget, no subject’s off-limits and there are no holds barred.

So join Iain and Kath down The Rabbit Hole. Where you’ll end up, nobody knows – but it’ll be a lot of fun finding out!

Listen – https://www.acast.com/therabbithole
Follow – @HeyRabbitHoleShow
Facebook – www.facebook.com/HeyRabbitHole

Supported By

dormant
embrace
FHM
up

Contact

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.

Join our mailing list to keep up to date with festival news, events and early ticket releases.

View Our Privacy Policy

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