Category: OTL2025

A swift return for one of our favourite new Irish artists. Muireann Bradley is a 17 year old folk and blues guitarist and singer from Ballybofey in County Donegal. She specializes in performing acoustic fingerpicking country, piedmont, and ragtime blues styles from the 1920s, 30s and 40s as well as later folk, country and Americana.

Her influences include Blind Blake, Rev Gary Davis, Memphis Minnie, Elizabeth Cotten, Mississippi John Hurt, Stefan Grossman, Ari Eisinger, John Fahey and Roy Bookbinder.

Her father started teaching her guitar when she was nine and then in 2020, she received an offer from Josh Rosenthal of Tompkins Square Records to record an album after he saw her on youtube. In December 2023 this album “I kept these old Blues” was released to rave reviews.

Before the end of 2023 Muireann had played a live session on Highland Radio which went viral and received a standing ovation when she performed on Jools Holland’s annual New Year’s Eve Hootenanny.

In 2024 she did live sessions for Cerys Matthews’ BBC Radio 2 Blues Show,  the Stephen McCauley show on BBC Radio Ulster and Ray Cuddihy’s Mise Sessions on RTE Radio 1. She also performed live on The Late Late Show and filmed sessions for Other Voices Anam in Ormond Castle and Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

“I Kept These Old Blues” reached number 1 on the Amazon download chart U.K. and got into the top 10 on the ITunes chart UK  and broke into the Amazon New Folk Music Chart in the U.S. Not bad for a debut album in a genre now considered pretty uncommercial.

Hard copies of her album have been selling out everywhere leading to a second pressing with a third now on the way.

Muireann’s performances online have been viewed over 2 million times and her Irish and U.K. gigs have sold out.

Alongside his brother Maurice, Belfast DJ and producer Noel Watson has established himself as a pioneer in the intersection of music and fashion culture. Whether that’s sharing stages with The Beastie Boys, DJing with Frankie Knuckles or walking Commes Des Garcon with Jean Michel Basquiet, Noel has routinely been at the cutting edge of culture.

During the mid-eighties, the brothers quickly became involved in London’s early warehouse scene throwing parties during Soho’s DEMOB years whilst also holding down residencies at The DELIRIUM! Club and HEAVEN Nightclub. As a result, they were key players in the development of underground dance music culture.

Elsewhere, Noel curated films and Vitrines for the ICA Gallery’s OFF-SITE Exhibition @ Selfridges Old Hotel London, where he was included alongside 60 of London’s most celebrated creative luminaries from the last 3 decades

The Watson brothers mixed the iconic Electro Compilation series for Streetsounds, they hosted and played alongside the biggest names in Hip Hop and Electro/House music, including Run DMC, L.L Cool J, The Beastie Boys, Schoolly D, DJ Cheese, Chuck Brown and The Soul Searchers, Joyce Sims, Frankie Knuckles, Derek May, Marshall Jefferson, Virgo, Fingers Inc, Kym Mazell and Divine to name a few.

This led to the Watson brothers being credited as pioneers of the Electro/House/Warehouse Music scene  (Noel features in the film “This Is Acid” and BBC 4’s recent ‘Can You Feel It, How Dance Music Conquered The World’ Documentary). He has mixed the music soundtracks for iconic fashion designers Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan and Ally Capellino, soundtracked underground art house film ‘Starvecrow’ and worked on contemporary modern dance soundscapes alongside Jazzy B for Bunty Matthia’s Harlemation Dance Company at London’s Royal Festival Hall, Serpentine Gallery and Riverside studios.

Over the last 3 decades and to the present day, Noel has spread the word for Club Music and subculture Worldwide.

Having graced the wheels of steel at Clubs everywhere from Back To Basics, Cream, The Hacienda, Schoom, Pikes Ibiza, MK and The Limelight NYC, and Club Nights all over the World, he became a festival regular with slot’s alongside Todd Terry and DJ Sneak at Glastonbury for Bez’s Acid House, Wilderness Festival, Vintage Festival, Secret Garden Party and Ireland’s Electric Picnic.

His sets move from the classic House, Funk, Disco and Electro Sounds from the 80’s and 90’s, to contemporary Cosmic Disco and Re-Edits from today. He has Mixed and Produced Sets for Labels and Websites from the legendary Test Pressing to London’s Multi-Faceted NTS Radio and the highly respected Far-Out Recordings.

His musical production credits include working with spoken word artists Sonja Sohn and Saul Williams, as Fini Dolo, signed to Warner Brothers Arthrob record label, as well as a slew of bands and artists during the early noughties to today.

Currently his role as creative programmer at Belfast’s Black Box sees him providing an outlet for up and coming DJ’s/Artists/Bands in the city, whilst still performing at clubs as a legendary guest DJ.

His remix of a new MC G.L.O.B.E release from New York’s Soul Sonic Force is due for release soon on new Dublin imprint RESUME RECORDS, which also features mixes from the Egyptian Lover and forthcoming releases from 80’s NYC legends MC Sha-Rock and The World Famous Supreme Team.

Take a leisurely stroll on a Sunday afternoon to find out a little more about some of the historic pubs of the Cathedral Quarter area of Belfast.

Each pub, from Kelly’s Cellars to the Dirty Onion, The Duke of York to White’s Tavern, and The Morning Star to McHugh’s has fascinating tales and links to our city’s history that will be teased out. You’ll learn why several establishments claim the city’s ‘oldest pub’ title, which of them is in fact the oldest tavern, and what precisely the ‘oldest’ claims of some of the others relate to!

Exploring the oldest part of Belfast town before it became a city in 1888, you’ll hear about early merchants and importers, where secret societies met, the pick-up points for mail coaches, old jails, former whiskey warehouses, newspapers of long ago, and more.

The tour will start from outside Kelly’s Cellars at 2.00pm. The tour will end at 3.30pm outside McHugh’s, where you may choose to stay on to enjoy a drink or coffee and perhaps an afternoon traditional music session.

The tour will cover up to 1.5 miles and will take place whatever the weather, so please come prepared. No refreshments are included as part of the tour ticket.

Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch joins us for this in-conversation event about his debut, a life-affirming novel.

It’s the early 1990s in Glasgow, and Stephen – music loving romantic – has emerged from a lengthy hospital stay diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, a little-understood disease that has robbed him of any prospects of work, a social life or independent living.

Meeting fellow strugglers, who the world seems to care less and less for, they form their own support group and try to get by as cheaply and as painlessly as possible. Finding that he has the ability to write songs, albeit in a slow and fledgling way, Stephen wakes to the possibility of a spiritual life beyond the everyday.

Leaving Glasgow in search of a cure in the mythic warmth of California, Stephen and his friend Richard float between hostels, sofas, and park benches. Could the trip really offer them both a new-world reinvention?

Stuart Murdoch is the lead singer and songwriter for the iconic Glasgow-based band Belle and Sebastian. Since forming in the mid-1990s, the band has released twelve studio albums to high acclaim, including If You’re Feeling Sinister and The Boy With the Arab Strap. In 2012 Murdoch scripted, composed, and directed the movie God Help the Girl.

Renowned for his cutting edge comedy and intrepid social commentary, Andrew has appeared on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, he is also the recognisable voice of MTV’s hit show Ex On The Beach. As well as being a regular on Radio 4 as the host of Welcome to Wherever You Are, he’s frequently on The News Quiz, which he has also guest hosted.

As seen on Qi (BBC Two),Live At The Apollo (BBC One), Have I Got News For You (BBC One), Celebrity Juice (ITV2) Mock The Week (BBC Two) Conspiracy Road Trip (BBC3) and High Road Low Road (rté)..

Throughout his career, Andrew has had many sell-out shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has also performed at The Amnesty / Channel Four’s Secret Policeman’s Ball (alongside Eddie Izzard, Chevy Chase and Dylan Moran), Glastonbury, Kilkenny’s Cat Laughs, The HBO US Comedy Arts Festival in Las Vegas (alongside Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock), and several appearances at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival.

Andrew has recorded three specials (Conflict Revolution, Andrew Maxwell: Live In Dublin & Maxwell: One Inch Punch).

Niall McKenna’s first cookbook has been 20 years in the making, and What’s It All About? spills over with passion for this place, its people and its produce.

What’s It All About? is a carefully curated collection of 140 dishes that have been customer favourites in his five restaurants. It’s a beautifully embossed white hard-backed book, which Niall says he wants readers to “not keep clean”.

From favourites of chili crab linguine and honey madeleines to apple and blackberry crumble tart and soda farl, as well as a range of stocks, sauces and dressings, Niall believes the recipes are achievable for all ages and that people shouldn’t be afraid to give it a go.

He is keen to stress that What’s It All About? isn’t just a cookbook, but “a dander” through 20 years of Belfast hospitality, including striking images of iconic Belfast landmarks and the art that has adorned the walls of his restaurants, and most of all it’s a homage to the often-underrated simplicity of enjoying good times together.

“I genuinely believe that there are few places in the world more perfectly suited to making and enjoying great food. We have all the ingredients right here — the produce, great people and awesome places. ‘That’s what it’s all about’,” adds Niall, explaining the inspiration behind the book’s title.

Join us for a fascinating insight into the making of a successful restaurant and Niall talks about his life with BBC’s Kathy Clugston.

‘This production plays to the versatility in Claire Keegan’s language, with which she fills her simple tale with maximum drama.’Jackie Hayden.

Claire Keegan’s Booker Prize-nominated novel Small Things Like These, an unforgettable story of hope and heroism, is brought to the stage by Four Rivers January with Andrew Bennett (Seán in the Oscar-nominated The Quiet Girl/ An Cailin Ciuin) accompanied by new music from singer-songwriter Eleanor McEoy (A Woman’s Heart).

Described as ‘resonant and deeply moving’ by Hilary Mantel, Small Things Like These is set in an Irish rural town in the 1980s in the run up to Christmas: as coal merchant Bill Furlong does his rounds, he discovers a girl locked away in terrible conditions in the local convent.

Unlike the silent majority, he decides to do something about it.

This staged reading of Small Things Like These is performed masterly by Andrew Bennett. One of the finest actors of his generation, Andrew recently completed a new series for Sky Originals, Small Town, Big Story, and Blackshore for the BBC.

Eleanor McEvoy performs original music she composed for Small Things Like These. Her critically acclaimed canon of work spans sixteen albums, with numerous cover versions of her songs by Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, Phil Coulter, Eliza Carthy, Jack L, and Saint Sister.

Written and performed by Ruairi Conaghan. Directed by Patrick O’Kane.

In this compelling and moving solo play, Downton Abbey’s Ruairi Conaghan tells the story of the murder of a loved one and the lasting and unpredictable trauma that flowed from it.

At a time when the violent legacies of Northern Ireland’s recent past have never been more important to talk about, this acclaimed show uses storytelling, song, poetry, humour, cinema and Shakespeare to tell this courageous, joyous, uplifting tale of recovery.

Performed with raw, courageous, soul-bearing honesty. If we can find empathy, there is always hope.

Selected Edinburgh Fringe reviews:

5 *****   “ I was profoundly utterly moved by Conaghans compelling play. An honest, important representation of the healing power of Theatre”   THREEWEEKS EDINBURGH

5*****   “ A master storyteller,using his skills with language to induce tears and laughter in equal amounts,”   ONE4REVIEW

“ An extraordinary solo performance with a deeply human story that resonates long after leaving the venue.”  FRINGE REVIEW

4****   “A fearless performance that comes straight from the heart” THE LIST

4****   “ Conaghan is a gifted and charismatic storyteller keeping the audience hanging on every word.”  BROADWAY BABY

4****    “ Conaghan’s brave story makes every emotion come to the surface” ENTERTAINMENT NOW

4****   “ Heartfelt, full of love, emotional, moving and rendered with grace” NORTH WEST END UK

Céili Caller – Ronan Eastwood

Come and join us for the first ever Out to Lunch Céilí. An afternoon of céilí dancing, set dancing and 2-hand dancing with one of Ireland’s top Céili Callers.

No previous experience needed as full instruction will be given throughout.

There’ll be dancing, sandwiches and a cup of tea in your hand.

Pauline Black, lead singer of 2-Tone hit band The Selecter, tells her extraordinary life story in the same frank manner that helped shape her as an iconic, era-defining female musician.

Pauline had a difficult upbringing and joining the 2-Tone music movement in 1979 was the perfect catalyst; enabling her to explore and express all sides of herself. Looking back at her own ground-breaking experience in this feature documentary, Pauline traces how her legacy came about and how it is relevant to the world today, especially where society pushes the boundaries of gender, politics, race and identity.

Pauline, of mixed Nigerian and Jewish heritage, was adopted into a white family in Essex in the 50’s. Her upbringing was defined by casual racism from within her own family. Pauline went on to find her own identity in the Coventry 2-Tone music scene and The Selecter was a reflection of working-class life in Thatcher’s Britain, their music as social reportage and with an ethos of anti-racism and anti-sexism.

This is a cinematic and visceral documentary mixing intimate actuality, archive and interviews and a storming soundtrack. Contributors include Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson, Don Letts, Skin, Damon Albarn, Rhoda Dakar, Lynval Golding, Mykaell Riley, Sonia Boyce and Jools Holland.

Dir. Jane Mingay| UK| 2024| 92 mins

1985’s Rain Dogs has been hailed as one of the most important albums of Tom Waits’ career. The middle child between 1983’s Swordfishtrombones and 1987’s Frank’s Wild Years, it is a loose concept album about “the urban dispossessed” of New York City.

Join us at the Oh Yeah Music Centre as part of the Out To Lunch Festival on Friday 10th January  as we celebrate 40 years of Rain Dogs.

We’ll be assembling the fantastic musicians from our 2023 Swordfishtrombones event, Kyron Bourke, Duke Special, Clara Tracey and Mike Mormecha who will offer their spin on this classic album.

The tickets are £20, strictly limited and unreserved seating. Bar service available throughout. 18+

“Every lyric was an effortless rhyme you could only dream of ever writing.” – Thom Yorke

“..bony and menacingly beautiful.” – Rolling Stone

The White Horse Guitar Club – renowned for their soulful blend of Americana and roots music infused with an Irish heartbeat, continue to captivate audiences worldwide.

Their rendition of Townes Van Zandt’s classic, “If I Needed You,” has amassed over 1.5 million views on YouTube, catching the attention of BBC 6 presenter Cerys Matthews, who featured them on her popular Sunday radio show, praising them as “…taking Ireland, and the rest of the world by storm.”

Favourites on Irish airwaves, the band’s music is regularly played by renowned presenters Fiachna Ó Braonáin, John Creedon, and Tom Dunne. The band’s journey is not just about music, as member Joe Carey states, “The band is very much based around camaraderie, friendship, and joy, sometimes a missing facet of bands. It’s one we hold very dear. Musically, we could be considered a choral band; voices are central to what we do, all 11 of us sing in unison, harmony, and melody. The fact that there are also 11 guitars adds to the unique sound and interpretation of the songs that we carry. On paper, it shouldn’t work, but it does.”

The White Horse Guitar Club is a diverse group, comprising individuals from various walks of life – from a stonemason to an engineer, a photographer to a teacher. Yet, they all share a common passion for singing, playing, and performing live, forging strong connections with their audiences in Ireland and beyond.

The White Horse Guitar Club’s music resonates deeply with a growing fanbase, reflecting their belief in the power of music to unite and inspire change. On the back of 2 sold out national tours the band are really looking forward to playing at the Out to Lunch festival.

“There is an authenticity to The White Horse Guitar Club’s performance in which the musicians allow themselves to take all the risks while delivering a very professional concert. This has the great effect of making the experience a very personal one for everyone in attendance. Good for the heart and soul – the music knows no borders.”  Michael D. Higgins

1985’s Rain Dogs has been hailed as one of the most important albums of Tom Waits’ career. The middle child between 1983’s Swordfishtrombones and 1987’s Frank’s Wild Years, it is a loose concept album about “the urban dispossessed” of New York City.

Join us at the Oh Yeah Music Centre as part of the Out To Lunch Festival on Saturday 11 January  as we celebrate 40 years of Rain Dogs.

We’ll be assembling the fantastic musicians from our 2023 Swordfishtrombones event, Kyron Bourke, Duke Special, Clara Tracey and Mike Mormecha who will offer their spin on this classic album.

The tickets are £20, strictly limited and unreserved seating. Bar service available throughout. 18+

“Every lyric was an effortless rhyme you could only dream of ever writing.” – Thom Yorke

“..bony and menacingly beautiful.” – Rolling Stone

Formed in Gillingham in 2020, The Zac Schulze Gang are an electrifying blues-rock trio built on the playing of front man Zac Schulze and joined by bassist Ant Greenwell and drummer Ben Schulze. ​​​​​

The gang create their signature sound by blending rock and blues with influences from punk, funk, country, jazz, soul, metal and pop.

​After earning a reputation as one of the hardest working bands in the country, they are now touring internationally across the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe and North America. They have toured and shared the bill with artists such as Samantha Fish, Jesse Dayton, Eddie 9V, Nine Below Zero, Aynsley Lister, Band of Friends and The Cinelli Brothers.

The gang have been nominated multiple times in both the 2023 and 2024 UK Blues Awards, winning the UK Blues Emerging Band of the Year award for 2024. They were also invited to play at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival 2023 in Los Angeles and made an appearance at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention in 2024 to large acclaim.​​​

​With a debut studio album on the horizon in 2025, the Zac Schulze Gang are setting up to be a future powerhouse of their genre.

“The Morricone Experience” is a tribute to the late maestro of film music who wrote over 400 film compositions in his lifetime, including the scores for audience favourites “A Fistful of Dollars”, “The Good the Bad and the Ugly”,” Cinema Paradiso”, and “The Mission”.

The ensemble comprises acclaimed solo international artists residing in Ireland. These include Dundalk locals Annemarie McGahon (viola), Francesca De Nardi (violin), Davide Forti (cello) and Annalisa Monticelli (piano) and Dubliners Katy Kelly (soprano) and Morgan Crowley (tenor).

Featured on RTÈ’s Arena, this ensemble played to a sold-out crowd in the Pavilion Theatre & Castletown House and are touring theatres throughout Ireland until the end of 2025.

Landless are Ruth Clinton, Meabh Meir, Sinead Lynch and Lily Power. They sing unaccompanied traditional songs from Irish, Scottish, English and American traditions in close four-part harmony. Their repertoire features songs of love, death and lamentation, as well as work songs, shape-note hymns and more recently-penned folk songs.

Landless have performed in a variety of settings, both in Ireland and abroad, and are closely involved with traditional singing sessions in Dublin and Belfast.

Landless released their second album, Lúireach, in 2024. Working again with John ‘Spud’ Murphy (Lankum/Katie Kim), this album has received widespread critical acclaim and features subtle instrumentation as well as unaccompanied singing. They released their debut album Bleaching Bones in March 2018.

Press for Lúireach:

“Four female singers whose voices seem to rise from the sacra of their spines, emerging from their bodies in heavenly flight or heavy drones …. Long-term Celtic music fans should flock to them – they’re a deliciously doomier Clannad – while devotees of Ireland’s current, brilliant scene should also respond to their stunning intensity.” Guardian Folk Album of the Month *****

“Instrumentals are sparse – little strokes, plucks and drones deployed to gently push the song’s emotion, rather than as ornamentation. The focus here is on the band’s extraordinary voices. Placed front and centre in the mix, they weave in and out of each other, latticing together to create a shapeshifting whole that sweeps elegantly from low, dark drones to transcendent highs.” The Quietus

“… a four-part harmony group who – on their second LP – come across like Macbeth’s Weird Sisters crashing a Sandy Denny séance. Lankum’s Cormac MacDiarmada guests as trad tunes get a Marble Index makeover: The Grey Selkie Of Sule Skerry and The Wounded Hussar in particular could stun a bat at 30 paces. Unearthly.” **** MOJO

The irrepressible Lucy Porter bounces back into action with a show all about regrets. Frank Sinatra had too few to mention, but Lucy’s got hundreds, and she’s prepared to go into graphic detail about all of them. Disastrous dates, professional calamities, ruined friendships and parenting fails. Lucy describes all the mistakes she’s made, works out why they happened, and ponders how her life would have turned out if she’d acted differently.

Lucy looks at the things we might all collectively regret – not sticking to the work-life balance we strove for during lockdown, not realising that clapping for the NHS wouldn’t be enough to save it, allowing people we thought were quite fun on TV to become politicians.

How does regret tie in with guilt and shame? As a middle-aged, middle-class, left-leaning ex-Catholic, guilt is one of Lucy’s top five hobbies (along with going to the garden centre, doing jigsaws, making bread and watching subtitled foreign dramas on Netflix. She’s also ashamed of all these hobbies.)

It’s not all negative though. If you regret something, you can use it to change your ways: see the thing you regret as your rock bottom, and let it spur you on to become a better person. Lucy looks at how she can use shameful or annoying things from her past to change her future.

Lucy regrets volunteering at the school fete when her kids were younger, because now she’s committed to being the Hook a Duck Lady twice a year for the rest of her life. Maybe she could learn to say No a bit more? /b>

“Impeccably punch-lined anecdotes… Genuinely delightful” **** The Telegraph

“A treat from start to finish” ***** The Herald

The Ulster Orchestra is delighted to return to Out To Lunch with a programme for a small group of its wind players.

Amongst the musical gems for chamber ensemble, you’ll hear Trois pièces brèves by Jacques Ibert, a work from Jazz Age Paris with an unexpected local connection, Malcolm Arnold’s quirky, witty arrangements of Three Sea Shanties (listen out for the drunken sailor!) and György Ligeti’s colourful and whimsical Six Bagatelles.

BELFAST PREMIERE

The work of Belfast composer Neil Martin has been performed across the globe, from Ground Zero to Mostar Bridge from the Royal Albert Hall to the International Space Station.

Neil is simultaneously a producer, an arranger, a musician but above all an artist. He thrives on collaboration with performers, writers, and thinkers from all walks of life.

This feature documentary for TG4 / BBC Gaeilge, co-funded by NI Screen’s ILBF, follows Neil through grief, celebration and new ambitions asking whether the work of being an artist is ever really finished.

Director: Damian McCann

A BelowTheRadarTV production

In conversation with Paul McVeigh

Charlotte Brontë, who dazzled the world with some of literature’s most vital and richly-drawn characters, spent her brief but extraordinary life in search of love. She eventually found it with Arthur Bell, a reserved yet passionate Irishman. After marrying, the pair honeymooned in Ireland – a glimmer of happiness in a life shadowed by tragedy.

That moment of joy was destined to be short-lived however, as Brontë died just nine months into their marriage. Her genius, and the aura of mystery surrounding her, meant she’d been mythologised even within her own lifetime – a process which only intensified after her death.

Observed through the eyes of Mary Nicholls – who encountered Charlotte on that fateful journey to Ireland, and who went on to wed her widower Arthur –Charlotte is a story of three lives irrevocably intertwined. Bound by passion and obsession, friendship and loss, loyalty and deception – this a story of Brontë’s short but pivotal time in Ireland as never before told.

Martina Devlin’s enthralling new novel Charlotte weaves back and forth through Charlotte’s life, reflecting on the myths built around her by those who knew her, those who thought they knew her, and those who longed to know her. Above all, this is a story of fiction: who creates it, who lives it, who owns it.

‘Charlotte is elegant and sophisticated but also completely gripping. Martina Devlin brilliantly creates the world around this iconic writer, with characters who have the power to surprise and compel. I loved it.’ Emily Hourican

‘In Charlotte, the raw gold of Charlotte Brontë’s marriage to Arthur Nicholls has been wrought in a wonderful artefact; this is a beautiful novel full of mystery, intrigue and story.’ Carlo Gébler

‘A powerful and compelling novel that expertly imagines the lives and times of those closest to Brontë, and captivates the reader with its cleverness and eloquence.’ Mary Costello

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Martina Devlin has written novels, plays and short stories. She has won the Royal Society of Literature’s V.S. Pritchett Prize, a Hennessy Literary Award, and been shortlisted three times for the Irish Book Awards.

She writes a weekly current affairs column for the Irish Independent for which she has won a number of prizes, including National Newspapers of Ireland commentator of the year. She holds a PhD in literary practice from Trinity College Dublin.

Tenx9 is teaming up with Out to Lunch Festival again for our first event of 2025 and our theme is Moving. Get in touch with your true stories at tenx9.com/submissions and join us in the Black Box on January 17 2024.

Tenx9 is a storytelling evening where nine people have up to ten minutes each to tell a true story from their own life. It was created in 2011 by Paul Doran & Pádraig Ó Tuama in the Black Box in Belfast. It aims to strip away the barriers that prevent people from sharing their experiences. It is always free of charge.

Belfast Harpist, Ursula Burns Launches her first record of contemporary harp compositions, “The Secret Melodies of Trees”. The album was produced by Donal O’Connor at Redbox studios in 2024.

After 30 years of performance, shows, albums and gigs, Ursula wanted to celebrate the milestone with her first instrumental harp album.

Supported by the Arts Council, the collection is recorded in the original ethos of Belfast Harper’s Assemble where the intent was to demonstrate the technique and composition of the harpers.

This is the Belfast Launch of the Record. Ursula looks forward to unearthing her secret melodies in her home town.

Three-time Edinburgh Fringe Best Show nominee, Josie Long tries out ideas and hopes for the best in preparation for a full show next year, but please be reassured that you are in the safe hands of an accomplished professional.

‘Idealism and irrepressible fun are never far from the surface when Long stakes to the stage’ (Guardian). ****

Katharine Timoney is a jazz singer-songwriter from Belfast.  Her music combines elements of vocal jazz and retro soul drawing inspiration from powerhouse voices such as Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin.

In 2023, the title track of her EP ‘Life Came into Colour’ won The UK Songwriting Contest (Jazz category) following significant radio support from JazzFM UK and Spotify who included it in their playlist, ‘Best Vocal Jazz of 2022’.

In May 2024, she released new music with her single ‘It Won’t Always Be This Way’ shortly after performing at Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Katharine’s next record is due for release in 2025.

Mancunian electronic pioneers 808 State, known best for genre defining records including: Ninety, Gorgeous, ex:el and Don Solaris, are inspired equally by the haunting of their home city’s industrial past (and, for that matter, the influence of classic Detroit techno) but still remain true to their career-long focus on what’s to come next…

“We’re trying to make a future for other people to immerse themselves in,” says Graham Massey. “That’s always been a big part of 808 State: these kind of landscapes of futurism.”

Originally formed by Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson in 1988, the group’s early work was a prominent influence on the UK’s burgeoning acid house scene.

808 State’s first album – Newbuild – is now regarded as a milestone in UK electronica. Quadrastate followed this and included Pacific State which became an end-of-night anthem at the Haçienda. The track broke out of the dance underground when it was picked up by daytime BBC Radio 1.

The band pushed against dance-celebrity culture with intentionally minimalist record sleeves and a reluctance to self-promote. In 1989 Paul Morley signed the band to the ZTT label, and the first fruit of this partnership, the album Ninety, was awarded 10 out of 10 by the NME. The Guardian declared that with this record, “808 State mapped out the future of club music, utilising techno, ambient and rock…”

Now in 2024/25, the band continue to perform across the world, led by original founding member Graham Massey, with their music continuing to inspire and influence crowds wherever they go.

Brìghde Chaimbeul is one of the most exciting musical minds in the world of Celtic folk today. She’s a master of the Scottish smallpipes – the bellows-blown, mellower and more emotive cousin to the famous Great Highland bagpipes – and she’s taken them to the global stage.

A native Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Skye, Brìghde roots her music in her language and culture. She rose to prominence as a prodigy of traditional music, but has since begun a journey to take the smallpipes into uncharted territory.

She draws inspiration from the world of interconnected piping traditions, including those from Eastern Europe, Cape Breton and Ireland, and her most recent album brings in influence from ambient, avant garde and electronic music.

One can talk about Brìghde’s awards (BBC Young Folk Award; BBC Horizons Award; Songlines Top of the World…) and her wide array of collaborators (Caroline Polachek, Colin Stetson, Gruff Rhys, Aidan O’Rourke…) but after it all, her music speaks for itself.

Haunting, entrancing, breathtaking, beautiful – this open-eared, understatedly virtuosic performer is transforming and creating new definitions for Scottish folk in the 21st century.

“Simultaneously ancient and modern, profound and direct” – The Guardian

“Unique, exciting and forward-looking” The Quietus

“Mesmerising” – Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2

“Exciting, unusual and gorgeous” – Songlines

“Enchanting … Chaimbeul has an ability to bring a strangely modern, almost electronic, sound from this most traditional of instruments.” The Wire

Fiercely independent, Nashville-based recording artist, Ron Pope, carved his niche in the digital era’s early days with his breakout hit, “A Drop in the Ocean,” which has amassed over 1 billion streams, earning platinum status in the US, alongside double platinum status in Sweden.

His prolific songwriting is a natural fit for Music City’s Americana, roots, and country communities, garnering praise from publications such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, CMT, Relix, and The Tennessean.

With each release, including his most recent album, Inside Voices, released in June 2023, Pope continues to captivate audiences with his raw authenticity and profound storytelling, soul-stirring melodies, and introspective lyricism.

Beyond his own musical endeavours, Pope writes and produces for other artists, and serves as a guiding light for aspiring musicians navigating the ever-changing landscape of today’s music industry. Pope has been steadily releasing singles in 2024 that will culminate in his upcoming album in 2025.

“…Pope’s ability to express the sadness and uncertainty, doubts and desires that accompany life’s challenges and transitions translates on a universal level.” – American Songwriter

(Arrive 10 mins before at Leonardo Hotel Belfast on Great Victoria Street in Belfast city centre)

Join your guide Andrew Johnston (of Alternative Ulstours) on a walking tour of historic Belfast cinema sites, from luxury picture palaces to fleeting fleapits!

Step back in time to the city’s golden age of nightlife, when dozens of characterful movie houses entertained the masses!

Along the way, you’ll find out about the Belfast church mission that gave celluloid sermons, the venue where a car bomb brought down the final curtain, the posh movie theatre that allowed unique souvenirs, the Belfast’s billiards bar that took a shot at the silver screen and the only place brave enough to show the original Dracula!

Please note:
• The walking tour starts at the Leonardo Hotel, GreatVictoria Street.
• Please arrive 10 minutes before the scheduled start time
• The tour will last two hours and cover around one and a half miles on mainly flat, even ground
• The tour ends at the Avenue Cinema in CastleCourt Shopping Centre on Royal Avenue in Belfast city centre
• The tour will go ahead in all weathers, so please dress accordingly and stay hydrated
• There are public toilets near the start and end points, and we can make a toilet stop approximately halfway through the tour if required.
• The route is fully accessible, but please inform us in advance of any mobility issues
• Your guide is a professional Level 4 tour guide and former newspaper entertainment journalist
• The tour is fully insured through Tour Guides NI

With interview by Alexander Poots.

Out to Lunch is delighted to present the Belfast launch of Rosemary Jenkinson’s debut dystopian novel ‘The Memorisers’ under the nom de plume of Jo Eliot.

The Memorisers is a blistering portrayal of World War III and a satire on the West’s current assault on free speech. Jo is a journalist reporting from the front line of a war-torn country. One day, she wakes up in hospital after being caught up in a drone attack. The problem is she can’t remember the story she was covering…

Rosemary Jenkinson is an award-winning short story author and playwright with a swathe of literary successes to her credit. She received a Major Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and was artist-in-residence at the Lyric Theatre Belfast and Leuven College for Irish Studies. She is currently Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Queen’s University.

As research for The Memorisers, Rosemary travelled five times to war-torn Ukraine. Spending time in the frontline city of Kherson and experiencing Zaporizhzhia under drone attack has provided Rosemary with the impetus to imagine the Russo-Ukrainian war spreading West.

A vivid, urgent and compelling story about the tenacity of memory. In the apocalyptic and bookless world conjured up by Jo Eliot, words have power – and remembering forbidden words becomes an act of resistance. – Martina Devlin

Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster and – according to the Washington Post – a rock star mythologist.

She is the author of novels The Amber Fury, shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize; The Children of Jocasta, A Thousand Ships, which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020, Stone Blind which was long listed for the Women’s Prize in 2023. Her non-fiction books include The Ancient Guide to Modern Life and Pandora’s Jar and Divine Might which were best sellers in both the UK and the US.

Natalie has spoken on the modern relevance of the classical world on three continents, from Cambridge to Chicago to Auckland.

She has written and presented ten series of the BBC Radio 4 show, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics.

Dani Larkin is a songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist currently based in Belfast. Her debut album, Notes For A Maiden Warrior (2021), received widespread critical acclaim and catapulted Larkin to the international stage with performances at SXSW and WOMEX as well as tours with Snow Patrol, Lisa O’Neill, Glen Hansard, and Rufus Wainright.

Larkin has since collaborated with the Ulster Orchestra and RTÉ Concert Orchestra and released Walking With Natives (2023) which saw her tour Australia, Korea, Finland, Canada, Ireland, the UK and a run of sold out shows at the Irish Arts Centre NYC.

With television appearances on BBC 1, Virgin Media Ireland’s Fanning At Whelans, Canada’s CTV, alongside radio performances on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and RTÉ Radio 1, Larkin has accompanied her songwriting prowess with insights into story and song taking the listener on a pathway to the beyond.

With a profound performance at the RTÉ Folk Awards coupled with her tours in Europe, Australia, Asia and North America, Larkin has been heralded as a ‘must-see’ live performer on the national and international stage. Described as a ‘beguiling’ and ‘powerful’, songwriter and ‘virtuoso guitarist’ (Songlines Magazine) Larkin’s live performances enrapture audiences within a seamlessly woven narrative within carefully considered sonic landscape.

** “Hotly tipped singer-songwriter” – Mark Radcliff BBC Radio 2

“Electrifying singer-songwriter and folk award nominee” – The Irish Times 

Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Catherine Bohart’s back and ready to talk about her feelings (again)…

Join one of the UK and Ireland’s most-exciting comics for a hilariously twisted second coming-of-age saga as she reckons with death-obsessed parents, queer reproduction and how adulthood, frankly, isn’t living up to her expectations.

Host of hit podcast Trusty Hogs. As seen and heard on Live at the Apollo, The Mash Report, Immaculate (Amazon Prime special), Mock the Week and The News Quiz.

Nominee: Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2024 Best Show

Praise for Again, With Feelings:

‘Firecracker hour… her best yet’ ★★★★★ The Guardian

‘A very endearing hour of entertainment’ ★★★★★ Reviews Hub

‘Hilarious… a funny and revealing show’ ★★★★ The Scotsman

‘Naturally funny… utterly consumable’ ★★★★ The Times

‘Blistering execution and rapid-fire gags… a gem’ ★★★★ The Age

‘A stand-up in such command of her material… a real delight’ ★★★★ Chortle

John Craigie has mastered the art of creating live shows that feel more like intimate conversations than performances. Infusing humor, wit, and poignant storytelling, his shows are a space where audience members feel like old friends.

Whether he’s headlining solo or sharing the stage with longtime collaborators, Craigie’s ability to make his crowd laugh, reflect, and connect is second to none. As he prepares to release Greatest Hits… Just Kidding… Live – No Hits, his latest live album captures the warmth and spontaneity of these memorable nights.

As a tried-and-true performer, he has regularly sold out solo tours in addition to hitting the road with the likes of Langhorne Slim, Brett Dennen, Mason Jennings, Bella White and Jack Johnson. He has picked up fans with sets at Newport Folk Festival, Pickathon, Edmonton Folk Festival, and High Sierra Music Festival.

Giving back as much as possible, he notably launched the #KeepItWarm Tour during the holidays. By donating $1 from every ticket sale, this headline run has raised money for regional non-profits with the goal of fighting food insecurity.

An avowed Beatles acolyte, he has performed acoustic renditions of the albums Abbey Road and Let It Be live in front of packed crowds and partnered with Record Store Day for limited-edition vinyl releases of those concerts..

Simultaneously, his catalog has continued to reel in tens of millions of streams fueled by favorites such as “I Am California,” “Highway Blood,” “Don’t Ask,” and “Microdose.”

Maintaining a prolific pace, 2024’s Pagan Church saw him join forces with TK & The Holy Know-Nothings. Among many highlights, it logged six weeks at #1 on the Americana Radio Albums Chart. Inciting critical applause, Pop Matters raved, “All of Craigie’s songs are made of something truly ineffable,” and American Highways assured, “Along with excellent musicianship across the album, there are genuinely pretty moments on ‘Pagan Church.’”

To John, the live albums seek to achieve a sound where the listener will feel like they’re in the venue, sitting and experiencing the show with the rest of the crowd.

After a sold-out presentation last year we return to the Black Box for another fabulous hour of glamour and sparkle.

NI Opera presents a lunchtime performance of cabaret classics as part of the Out To Lunch Festival.

After multiple sell-out lunchtime shows, we’re extending the concept this year by hosting an evening performance of fabulous opera with a light supper of sandwiches.  Join us in the Black Box for a fabulous hour of glamour and sparkle.

NI Opera is delighted to present this performance of cabaret classics as part of the Out To Lunch Festival.

Chicago-based bluegrass outfit Special Consensus has covered a lot of musical territory in the half a century since banjoist Greg Cahill founded the band in 1975.

Two-time GRAMMY nominees and six-time International Bluegrass Music Association winners, the group has amassed an expansive discography of over 20 releases including 2020’s CHICAGO BARN DANCE which highlighted the important role the Windy City played in the early development of bluegrass music.

With their latest release GREAT BLUE NORTH, Special Consensus turns their gaze northward, across the great lakes, to Canada. The album offers a thoughtfully curated collection of well-known and obscure songs from Canadian writers and features collaborations with some Canada’s most notable bluegrass and folk musicians.

Taken as a whole, GREAT BLUE NORTH expands Special Consensus’s musical footprint, furthering their legacy as Chicago’s premiere bluegrass ambassadors and establishing them as torchbearers for the international reach of bluegrass music. Cahill adds:  We hope the international bluegrass community will enjoy the new music and join us in celebrating the fact that bluegrass music truly has no borders!”

GREAT BLUE NORTH is the 21st Special Consensus recording. The Gordon Lightfoot song from the album “Alberta Bound” received the 2023 IBMA Collaborative Recording of the Year Award and the accompanying video won the IBMA Music Video Of The Year Award in September 2024.

Special Consensus have been coming to Ireland biennially since the mid ‘90’s and have established an extensive legion of fans over the years. Always a special Out to Lunch show.

Bob Dylan was born in Duluth, Minnesota 83 years ago and is widely regarded as the world’s greatest living songwriter. Tony Villiers was born in Co. Armagh several decades later and Dylan has always been a touchstone and towering presence in his life.

Today’s performance will feature many of those great Dylan songs that have inspired Tony, the stories behind the songs and what they meant to a young man growing up in Armagh in the 80’s and 90’s and right up to the present day.

 “Dylan and The Band in The Big Pink basement, after a couple of bottles of red” R2 Magazine

“You want your support to be good…but not this good!” Mark Kermode, BBC & The Dodge Brothers

“…frantic, dirty blues sounds of the 60’s Reeperbahn. Other more tender moments drip with an ‘Astral Weeks’ like sweet cherry wine” Folk & Tumble

“All the attributes of a modern day folk music hero” Fatea, David Dee Moore

“Superb songwriting rooted in a great tradition.” Ralph McLean, BBC Radio Ulster

A banner-maker and trade unionist for the best part of 40 years, Ed Hall’s work shot to artistic fame as a collaborator with Jeremy Deller in 1999.

Ed’s banners have given visibility and voice to social issues as they have arisen, and his passion for symbolising justice and activism are evident in his hand-stitched works. The skill and craft of creating beautiful, vibrant and easily recognisable iconography has long continued and remains part of a tradition of activism through visual arts in society today.

The conversation will explore his interest in the history of banner-making in Northern Ireland, and share his knowledge of how banners have been used since the 14th century and their vital presence in protests today. Ed will also temporarily exhibit some of his own hand-crafted banners throughout the lobby at the venue for one night only.

Ed will be in conversation with designer and Rough Trade Books Creative Director, Craig Oldham, a fellow visual activist, in advance of his talk The Tools of Protest on 24^th January in the same venue.

Old friends join forces to present an evening of acoustic roots music.  Multi Grammy winner Tim O’Brien has traveled the world for the past 50 years with his own mix of American folk, bluegrass, blues, and Celtic sounds. Now O’Brien and his wife,  mandolinist and singer Jan Fabricius team up with iconic traditional players Seamie O’Dowd and Dermot Byrne for Irish dates early in 2025.

O’Brien is a preferred sideman for people like Mark Knopfler and Steve Earle, and his original songs have been covered by Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks. Notable recordings include  the Dylan covers of “Red on Blonde”, the Grammy winning folk of “Fiddler’s Green”, and the Appalachian / Irish collaboration “The Crossing”.

In recent years Tim’s main performing and  songwriting partner is his wife Jan Fabricius who adds her vocals and mandolin to O’Brien’s guitar, fiddle, and vocal. Their sweet vocal blend and co-written songs feature prominently  on the recent O’Brien releases “He Walked On” and “Cup of Sugar”.

Joining the Nashville duo are renowned Irish musicians Dermot Byrne on accordion and Seamie O’Dowd on guitar, fiddle, bouzouki and vocals. O’Dowd, from Sligo, and Byrne,  from Donegal, grew up in musical families and went on to renown in the trad world in their collaborations with Dervish (O’Dowd), Altan (Byrne), and a veritable who’s who of the  genre.

In concert, the quartet features selections from O’Brien’s extensive repertoire of traditional and original music, with regular steps into the spotlight by Byrne, Fabricius and  O’Dowd.

40 years on from the Miners’ strikes, Craig Oldham has published In Loving Memory of Work through Rough Trade Books. Described as ‘Powerful’ by Creative Review and ‘Superb’ by Jeremy Deller, Ken Loach also declared ‘Every University should place an order.’

Curated and edited by designer and author, Craig Oldham, In Loving Memory of Work tells the story of the UK Miners’ Strike 1984-85 through the visual culture of the working class affected during this pivotal period. Photographs, posters, badges, banners and more are presented alongside contemporary commentary.

Craig talks about the impact of image-making and design on this particular movement and more broadly explores the vital role visual material plays in dissent and in the radical and revolutionary moment.

The talk is accompanied by a month-long exhibition of posters designed by Craig and his design practice, Office of Craig, and how design influences and supports various solidarity movements.

You can visit the exhibition at the Black Box on Hill Street, Belfast, from 4^th – 26^th January.

BIOGRAPHY:

Craig Oldham has been named as one of the most influential designers working in the UK, and has written books on a range of topics including education, culture and politics. He runs his design practice, Office of Craig, in Manchester and is Creative Director of Rough Trade Books.

To mark twenty years since the release of Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, Joel Harkin will be joined by a seven-piece band and special guests to perform the classic album in its entirety.

Just as resonant now as they were in 2005, Conor Oberst’s sprawling lyrics on I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning explore perennial themes of isolation, nihilism, American imperialism, and that last stubbornly inextinguishable spark of hope.

Sonically, the album charts a course through popular music from Beethoven, to the vigour of 1960s protest songs, to desolate country of the 1970s, and on through the alternative music of the 1990s and 2000s. This talented collection of friends and collaborators will faithfully recreate these ten songs about being very young and feeling very old.

Joel Harkin is a musician from Convoy, Co. Donegal who has made a home for himself in Belfast’s music scene. He has loved Bright Eyes for half of his life so far. He’s been looking forward to this for ages. “Let’s fuck it up, boys. Make some noise!”

The Swing Gals are Northern Ireland’s original and leading vocal harmony trio. The girls have been performing together for over 15 years and are renowned for their innovative vocal arrangements of swing, jazz and a variety of popular modern genres.

They are delighted to return to the Out to Lunch Festival after their successful sell out performance in 2022. The Gals perform with their own band and appearances with the superb 16 piece Indigo Big Band have delighted their audiences.

Today’s line up consists of Ruth Jennings, Clare Galway and Orla McKeagney, accompanied by Kathy McKeagney.  They will perform a varied programme of their sophisticated arrangements of songs from the iconic Andrews Sisters, ABBA, Diana Krall and the Sugababes.

Legendary 70s folk-rock pioneers LINDISFARNE return to form with a classic five-piece line up of long-time members fronted by original founder-member Rod Clements on vocals, mandolin, fiddle and slide guitar.

With a repertoire of unforgettable songs like Meet Me On The Corner, Fog On The Tyne, Lady Eleanor and Run For Home and a reputation for live performance second to none,

LINDISFARNE’s power to galvanise festival and concert audiences remains undimmed and is guaranteed to get the crowd on its feet and singing along.

LINDISFARNE 2025 are:

ROD CLEMENTS (1969-present) Vocal, mandolin, fiddle, guitars

DAVE HULL-DENHOLM (1994-present) Vocal, guitars

STEVE DAGGETT (1986-present) Vocal, keyboards, guitars

IAN THOMSON (1995-present) Bass, vocal

PAUL SMITH Drums

OTL presents the original vampire classic with a live score performance by Belfast’s own Documenta.

In F.W. Murnau’s classic chiller, the mysterious Count Orlok summons Thomas Hutter to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen. But Orlok is also the vampire Nosferatu, and when Hutter struggles to escape the castle, he knows that Ellen is in grave danger…

Documenta’s lysergic drone-pop fully espouses Sonic Boom’s mantra, “three chords good, two chords better, one chord best.” Running with the idea of minimalism equals maximalism, and imbuing it with a beatific four-guitar attack and repetition (repetition, repetition). Widescreen, Kosmische-leaning psychedelia at its best.

Get ready to immerse yourself in a sonic journey of bass-heavy beats and lyrical prowess as Explosion Sound System meets the legendary MC Cheshire Cat.

Prepare to be captivated by the raw energy and infectious rhythms of reggae, dub, and jungle. Explosion Sound System, renowned for their heavyweight sound, will set the stage with their blend of heavy basslines and hypnotic melodies. Joining them on stage will be the iconic MC Cheshire Cat, a true pioneer of the UK’s underground music scene. Known for his razor-sharp lyricism, powerful delivery, and ability to ignite any crowd, Cheshire Cat has been a key figure in the sound system scene for decades. His collaborations with legendary acts like Leftfield have solidified his status as a true icon of the genre.

Supporting the main event will be Belfast Jungle Don, Stu Undadog.

Seán Ronayne in conversation on his book  ‘Nature Boy’. Seán will also play birdsong audio clips throughout the event. His book recently won Irish Book Awards Biography of the Year:

Seán Ronayne always knew he was different. Nicknamed ‘nature boy’ by the other kids, as a child he struggled to fit in and regularly escaped to the woods and coastlines around his home in Cork.

The natural world was his happy place and where he discovered his true passion – identifying and understanding birds through their sound and song. A passion that would save him in the weeks and months following a near‑death experience in his late teens. Even in the darkest times, nature became his guiding light.

As Seán found his path working as an ornithologist, he began to see how, by highlighting the wonder and beauty of the natural world, he could draw attention to the danger it currently faces.

And, at the age of thirty-two, Seán received an autism diagnosis and his life finally started to make sense.

Here, Seán takes us on his journey. From his adventures in the Sahara Desert, the jungles of Nepal and the streets of Thailand, to discovering the night sounds of Catalunya, and his mission to sound record all the regularly occurring bird species in Ireland, Nature Boy is an inspiring story of love, connection and the healing power of nature.

‘Seán’s sensitivity to the natural world captivates the reader, allowing all of us approach closer and appreciate more the sublime beauty of what surrounds us’ – Manchán Magan

‘A stunning testament to the wonders of nature’ –  Pádraic Fogarty

‘Seán is perhaps the greatest and most eloquent champion for Irish nature I have come across. Powerful, impassioned and deeply moving, please read this book, now!’ –  Niall Hatch, BirdWatch Ireland

‘With disarming honesty, eloquence and humour, Seán Ronayne recounts how he took possession of a childhood taunt and made it his adult mission’  – Magnus Robb

‘Informative, inspiring and insightful, this book is a heartfelt and enthralling personal journey of a life ensconced in nature’ –  Anja Murray

New Street Adventure
‘Every now and then a band shakes you from your reveries about pop’s golden past and reminds you there are still classic chapters to be written’, Paul Moody (Q Magazine)

Led by singer and songwriter Nick Corbin, New Street Adventure released two albums on the legendary Acid Jazz Records, producing soul-fuelled tunes cut with a distinctly British edge that saw Nick hailed by The Guardian’s Tim Jonze as having “an innate understanding of classic songwriting”.

The band toured the UK and Europe several times, headlining the likes of London’s Jazz Cafe and 100 Club, Hamburg’s Mojo Club and sharing the bill with the likes of Lee Fields & The Expressions, The Milk, Leroy Hutson and The Rifles, before separating in early 2018.

Carmy Love
Soul singer Carmy Love launched her solo career in 2021, with her debut 45 ‘Rebel / Thinkin’ About You‘ on Big AC Records selling out prior to its official release and gaining praise from Craig Charles (6 Music), Robert Elms (BBC London) and Norman Jay (Soho Radio) amongst many others.

Born and raised in North West London, Carmy had a rich musical upbringing: Her Mother and Step-Father were DJs on several underground stations including Roots, Unique and Flava Radio. The likes of Janet Kay, Louisa Marks and Chaka Khan all featured heavily during her formative years, whilst an early grounding in Gospel singing developed her vocal style and stage craft.

Having also sung with Cool Million, PM Warson, Charles and House Gospel Choir, Carmy was also an original member of New Street Adventure, making a major contribution to “No Hard Feelings” – NSA’s debut album on Acid Jazz – with her stunning backing vocals elevating the record to modern soul classic status.

The Gold Tips
The Gold Tips blow a non-stop soul hurricane. They emerged out of Belfast, fully formed, not too long ago. Their distinctive, righteous sound, created and driven by frontman Eamonn McNamee, is soaked in a deep love of Sam Cooke, Stax & Rock ‘n’ Roll and has already seen them pack clubs and carry them to festival main stages.

The band opened for the legendary Nile Rodgers & Chic to a sell-out crowd at Custom House Square, Belfast in August 2021 and Van Morrison on the same stage in 2022.

Their debut album ‘Parade’ released in February last year, is a 9 track, horn-drenched, glorious squall forged in the great sounds of the past and sounding absolutely of the moment.

Aaron Craig
Aaron Craig is a Belfast-based musician, singer, and songwriter. Influenced by the energy of rock with emotion of soul. Drawing inspiration from the rich musical heritage of various genres, he plays music that is both timeless and fresh.

The acclaimed book, Curepedia, written in 2023 by music journalist Simon Price, was described as an encyclopaedic biography and homage to The Cure. It’s now a live show, especially for fans of the legendary English goth band or anyone with a love of the alternative sounds of the 80s.

This special event features a fascinating interview with and readings by Simon Price. Joe Nawaz will pose the questions, before its opened up for an audience Q&A. Don’t miss this chance to hear from a bona fide Cure expert.

Simon then brings one of Brighton’s best-loved club nights SPELLBOUND – ‘The Alternative 80s Night’, as he spins the best of Goth, Post-Punk, New Romantic, Alternative Rock, Synth from 1979 – 1989. Expect everything from the Virgin Prunes, The Cramps to Siouxsie & The Banshees and much more.

More about Curepedia

Curepedia (published by White Rabbit) was ranked by The Guardian as one of their five best music books of 2023.

Despite forming in 1978, The Cure continue to be a massive draw for Irish audiences as shown by their 2022 sell-out show at the Dublin 3 Arena. Songs like Lullaby, The Walk, Friday I’m in Love, Close to Me, In Between Days, Just Like Heaven and Boys Don’t Cry still inspire a fervent brand of fandom in Ireland.

Their iconic status as elder statesmen of Alternative Rock remains undiminished – if anything, their tireless touring has ensured that it has grown with every passing year – and lead singer Robert Smith is an endlessly fascinating figure to successive generations of fans. The Cure’s influence reverberates through genres including Emo, Goth, Industrial and Indie Rock.

In Curepedia, Price also goes beyond the music in this mammoth biography, offering a detailed analysis of The Cure’s wider cultural impact on British male mental health, toxic masculinity and stoicism in the face of emotional trauma with an essay on Boys Don’t Cry. Over the years, the song has become more than a pop song but an antidote to the “English stiff upper lip” mentality and an anthem for male sensitivity.

Providing rich cultural context for the inspirations behind the band’s ever-evolving and diverse discography, Curepedia is the go-to book for every music fan.

“Simon Price is a goth aficionado, and his encyclopaedic knowledge of The Cure was a pleasure to study and absorb – highly recommended for superfans or anyone with an interest in one of our most treasured bands of the past four decades” Tim Burgess (The Charlatans)

Simon Price

Simon Price is a Welsh music journalist and author. He wrote extensively for Melody Maker in the 80’s and is a regular contributor to The Quietus and The Guardian among others. He’s also the author of Everything: A Book About Manic Street Preachers. It was named Book of The Year by NME and Rock Book of The Decade by the Guardian.

‘The A-Z format of Curepedia allowed me to combine in-depth analysis with utter trivia in a way which is, I hope, both entertaining and informative, both factual and fun’. Simon Price

Signed copies of Curepedia will be available to purchase on the night

“But I didn’t do it! I was Andy Duframed!” Dreamgun bring their Film Reads parody of The Shawshank Redemption to Belfast for the first time.

Dreamgun takes your favourite movies and completely rewrites with jokes and nonsense. Unrehearsed, unprepared and performed by an award winning ensemble most of whom have seen The Shawshank Redemption.

“Hilarious live read-throughs of brilliantly rewritten film classics, a joy” – Dara Ó Briain

★★★★★- “Merciless, hilarious. Consistently sharp, rapid-fire funny writing and crackling performances” – The Irish Times

★★★★★- “Kept us in stitches and potentially destroyed a host of childhood memories.” – Broadway Baby

★★★★★ – The Wee Review       ★★★★★ – Rule of Three        ★★★★★ – FreshAir

Having reassessed her life through the prism of an ADHD diagnosis in last year’s funny and moving memoir, one of Britain’s most beloved and most scatterbrained stand-ups lets you back into her mind (warning: it’s cluttered in there).

Among other things, this show will be a love-letter to letter-writing, a trip back through her early years as a comic and woman-about-town, and a whirlwind tour of a chaotic, hilarious brain.

“She has plenty to say, and says it with pointedness and potency” Guardian

“Has the crowd in the palm of her hand’ The List

“Makes live comedy thrilling” Evening Standard