So if you are conscious to see what the minds of Northern Ireland’s musicians can craft, take a read (and listen!) to what we’ve been recommended to check out this week.

Our Top Pick

Selador / “Love Sweet Love”

Genre: Rock / Location: Derry/Londonderry

Our Rating:

Our Summary:

Loved it on the first listen, intrigued on the second and hooked on the third! Highly recommend. A mash-up of influences crafted perfectly into an instant classic.

Genre: Singer/songwriter / Location: Belfast

Our Rating:

Our Summary:

A solid song with a catchy chorus. Crafting a song that gets stuck in your head can be tough but Susi has nailed it here.

Genre: Singer/songwriter / Location: Belfast

Our Rating:

Our Summary:

A solid song with a catchy chorus. Crafting a song that gets stuck in your head can be tough but Susi has nailed it here.

The post Music Reviews – November Round-Up appeared first on Gigging NI.

GRAMMY® Award nominated, multi-platinum selling artist and songwriter, Tove Lo returns today with a brand-new track and official music video, titled ‘No One Dies From Love’ (Pretty Swede Records/mtheory). Co-written with long-time collaborator Ludvig Söderberg, neon keys illuminate a runway to the centre of the dancefloor as her voice resounds over a disco break, “No one dies from love, guess I’ll be the first.” The song signifies a new and exciting chapter for the Sweden-born, Los Angeles-based artist.

Listen to ‘No One Dies From Love’ HERE.

Tove recalls on making the song, “when you’re with someone for a long time and it ends all of a sudden, it’s like a part of you has died. This person is now a stranger to you. All of the memories are tainted. For the first part of the breakup, you believe you’re not supposed to feel good about anything you had together. What I believe I do best is ‘heartbreak you can dance to.’ The song is that.”

The video for ‘No One Dies From Love’ was filmed in Mexico City and was directed by the Brazilian duo Alaska, whom Tove previously collaborated with on the video for “Are U gonna tell her?”

Speaking about the video, Tove reveals, “All the songs on the album are very cinematic, dramatic and grand, so for the visual story I want to attach a character to each song. For No One Dies From Love it’s the classic vulnerable, lonely starlet looking for connection. This mini movie is a different kind of love story.”

Watch the official video for ‘No One Dies From Love’ HERE.

Alongside the release of ‘No One Dies From Love’, Tove Lo has alsoannounced a huge 2022 headline UK and European tour. Kicking off in Dublin on October 29^th, the tour will see Tove perform 15 dates across Europe, including shows in London, Paris, Berlin and more. Tove will also be performing several shows and festivals across Europe this summer, including opening for Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia Tour in Oslo, Norway, Open’er Festival in Poland, Lollapalooza Stockholm in Sweden and many more. See below for full tour dates. Tickets can be purchased here: https://tove-lo.com/tour

UK/EU Headline Dates

Oct 29: 3Olympia Theatre @ Dublin

Nov 01: SWG3 Galvanizers @ Glasgow

Nov 02: Academy @ Manchester

Nov 03: O2 Institute @ Birmingham

Nov 05: The Roundhouse @ London

Nov 08: La Madeleine @ Brussels

Nov 09: Live Music Hall @ Cologne

Nov 10: Bataclan @ Paris

Nov 12: Den Atelier @ Luxembourg

Nov 13: Melkweg @ Amsterdam

Nov 15: Astra Kulturhaus @ Berlin

Nov 16: Stodola @ Warsaw

Nov 18: Vega @ Copenhagen

Nov 19: Sentrum Scene @ Oslo

Nov 21: Berns @ Stockholm

Festival / Headline / Support Shows

Jun 26: Oslo, Norway @ Oslo Spektrum Arena [*Supporting Dua Lipa]

Jun 30: Gdynia, Poland @ Open’er Festival

Jul 01: Hämeenlinna, Finland @ Weekend Festival

Jul  02: Stockholm, Sweden @ Lollapalooza Stockholm

Jul 06: Barcelona, Spain @ Sala Bikini [^^headline]

Jul 07: Madrid, Spain @ Mad Cool Festival

Jul 09: Şişli, İstanbul, Turkey @ KüçükÇiftlik Park [^^headline]

Tove Lo has also announced the launch of her own record label Pretty Swede Records with mtheory, creating an independent platform for her artistry. “It’s amazing,” she smiles. “I have a lot of freedom, and it’s been fun to work with mtheory. This will be the first release under my label. I’m a pop girl, but I like to make things weird and be in full control of the whole vision. This is the perfect way to put out exactly what I want.”

The post Tove Lo set for Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre this October appeared first on Gigging NI.

TRAVIS announce a return to Northern Ireland with concerts confirmed at the Millennium Forum, Derry on Thursday 11 August and the Waterfront Hall, Belfast on Friday 12 August.

Marking the 20th Anniversary of their acclaimed 2001 studio album, Travis present a tour of The Invisible Band. This classic album features the renowned track Sing, and gets its name from the band’s feelings regarding “music being more important than the band making it.”

The band will perform the entire album in concert plus all the classic hits.

Tickets on sale this Friday at 9am.

The post Travis set for Belfast’s Waterfront Hall & Derry’s Forum appeared first on Gigging NI.

BRIT Award-winning, multi-platinum selling musician George Ezra today debuts his hugely infectious new single ‘Green Green Grass,’ the second song to be lifted from his forthcoming new album Gold Rush Kid, due for release on 10 June via Columbia Records. The single arrives alongside the announcement of a huge nationwide UK arena tour, scheduled for September and October, following George’s special show at London’s Finsbury Park in July.

‘Green Green Grass’ is an irresistibly joyful song about making the best of things, even when it might feel like the worst of things are afoot: “Green green grass, blue blue sky, you better throw a party on the day that I die.”

“I was on holiday in St Lucia with a few friends at Christmas 2018, with two of my closest mates from home,” explains George. “We were in this beach bar, drinking homemade rum punch and Piton, the local lager, flip-flopping between the two, pissing about with three local guys who worked there. And this music started up, three streets back from the sea.

“After about half an hour, I had to go see what it was. And there was a street party going on, with three different sound systems, people cooking in the street. I asked a woman what was going on and she told me it was a funeral – for three people. They were celebrating three lives! I thought: that is not how we do this at home. And it’s really beautiful.”

‘Green Green Grass’ follows the euphoric first single and album opener ‘Anyone For You,’ which continues to climb the UK Official Singles Chart and is the number one song at UK radio, with A-list rotation across all major stations.

George debuted both songs to a rapturous reception at his recent intimate gigs in London, Manchester and Edinburgh – shows praised as “a joyous singalong that was impossible to resist” (5*, The Telegraph), “blazing sunshine tempered by subtle shadow” (4*, Evening Standard) and a set filled with “hooks so plentiful he could go long-line fishing with them” (4*, The Guardian).

Listen / watch ‘Anyone For You’

“The Gold Rush Kid? That’s me,” says George, reflecting on the title of his third record – a 12-strong suite of marvellous, transporting, elevational songs, that more than anything “sound like me. That’s what ties them together.”

After two blockbuster albums – Wanted On Voyage (2014) and Staying At Tamara’s (2018), both of which reached number 1 in the UK and sold millions around the world, and the latter of which earned him his first number 1 single in ‘Shotgun’ and won him the 2019 Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist – it was time to return to heart and hearth, with an album written and produced entirely in London with longstanding collaborator Joel Pott.

Following the release of Gold Rush Kid, Ezra will play his biggest headline show to date, a special all day event at London’s Finsbury Park on 17 July 2022. Joining George at his first live show in almost three years, presented by Festival Republic, will be special guests Blossoms, Holly Humberstone, Mimi Webb, The Big Moon, Mychelle and the London International Gospel Choir. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.

He today announces a full nationwide UK arena tour to follow in September and October, beginning at Liverpool M&S Bank Arena on 13 September and taking in 11 shows, finishing at Sheffield FlyDSA Arena on 2 October. Fans who pre-order Gold Rush Kid before 3pm on Tuesday 26 April can access tickets via exclusive pre-sale, before they go on general sale at 10am, Friday 29 April via Ticketmaster.

George Ezra tour 2022

Sunday 17 July – Finsbury Park, London

Tuesday 13 September – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool

Wednesday 14 September – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

Friday 16 September – The AO Arena, Manchester

Tuesday 20 September – Utilita Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne

Thursday 22 September – Utilita Arena, Birmingham

Sunday 25 September – P&J Live, Aberdeen

Monday 26 September – The Ovo Hydro, Glasgow

Wednesday 28 September – SSE Arena, Belfast

Thursday 29 September – 3Arena, Dublin

Saturday 1 October – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

Sunday 2 October – Utilita Arena, Sheffield

Alongside the tour announcement, George has partnered with YouTube Music to be their Sustainability Partner for 2022. He says: “I am conscious that creating, touring and promoting a record has an impact on the environment, so I am delighted to announce I will be working with YouTube Music as their Sustainability Partner for 2022. They have very generously provided a significant financial contribution to support a cause of my choosing; this is going to be The National Trust, who are working hard to reverse the decline in nature and reduce the impact of climate change by planting trees and restoring landscapes. Together, we’ll directly use this money to plant 17,000 trees across the UK.”

The National Trust has committed to planting or establishing 20 million trees covering an area the size of Birmingham as part of their plan to become net zero by 2030. The carbon benefits from the 17,000 trees will go towards the charity’s own net zero ambitions.

National Trust Director General Hilary McGrady said: “We are enormously grateful to George for this donation, and it serves as an important reminder that only by a collective will and everyone playing their part will we help reverse some of the impacts of climate change and help the nation to reach net zero.

“This gift represents an important step as part of our ambition to try and tackle the effects of climate change. We are planting the trees in the right places to maximise the impact they will have in locking in carbon.”

YouTube Music is a music app made for music listening, on top of the magic of YouTube: making the world of music easier to explore and more personalised than ever.  Whether you want to listen, watch or discover – all the ways music moves you can be found in one place – not just music videos, but official albums, singles, remixes, live performances, covers and hard-to-find music you can only get on YouTube.

The post George Ezra announces SSE Belfast Arena show appeared first on Gigging NI.

Fresh from the success of ‘You Me Myself’, Irish brothers Harry and Alfie Hudson-Taylor push things forward with the release of new single ‘Hold Out Hope’, as the countdown continues to the release of their eagerly-awaited third studio album ‘Searching For The Answers’ on June 3rd.

‘You Me Myself’ has enjoyed over 1,200 plays on Irish radio so far, and the track has helped drive Hudson Taylor’s monthly streaming figures over 400,000. ‘Hold Out Hope’ is another uptempo, positive-energy track with a message everyone can relate to in these testing times:

“Hold out hope ‘cos better days will come.”

To coincide with the release of ‘Hold Out Hope’, Hudson Taylor are delighted to announce an Irish tour, their first since 2019. In addition to their 3Olympia Dublin headline show on Saturday 4th June, they will be playing at the following venues:

Fri 3^rd  June St Iberius Church, Wexford.

Sat 4^th  June  3Olympia, Dublin.

Sunday 5^th  June The West’s Awake Festival, Clonoulty/Rossmore, Tipperary.

Thursday 9^th June Monroe’s Live, Galway.

Friday 10^th June  Limelight 2, Belfast.

Saturday 11th June Sandinos, Derry.

Wed 15^th June   Cyprus Avenue, Cork.

Thurs 16^th June   Dolans Warehouse,Limerick.

Friday 17th June The Crescent Concert Hall, Drogheda.

9^th July Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre, Kilmangah, Kilkenny.

‘Hold Out Hope’ was released on Friday 15th April. ‘Searching For The Answers’ is released on LP, CD and on streaming platforms on Friday 3rd June.

The post Hudson Taylor announce Belfast return in 2022 appeared first on Gigging NI.

After a break of three years, Sunflowerfest is back with a great line-up of local music and will be bringing with it the same inclusive and family-friendly atmosphere that has made the festival so popular. The philosophy is simple; kindness, beauty, a love of humans and of nature. Leave any prejudices at the door and don’t take them home with you. Everyone is welcome at the festival and freedom of expression and tolerance are givens; everyone can be free to be themselves.

The festival features three days of entertainment across multiple stages and a wide range of music genres as well as poetry, comedy and a dedicated kids’ zone. Sunflower Bliss will offer festival goers yoga, massage and will include Sonic Temple.

Irish folk/world music titans KILA headline Friday night, with The Allergies closing out the main stage on Sunday evening with their unique brand of soul and funk. The headline act for Saturday night has not been announced as yet but Sunflower veterans will not be disappointed.

Bands confirmed for Sunflowerfest 2022 also include: The Bonnevilles, Spree, Twisted Sisters, Wynona Bleach, Electric Octopus, Sister Ghost, Accidents in the Workplace, Naked Bongo Band, WOTD, Forza Duo, Nasa Assassin, Ursula Burns, Ben Cutler, Alison McGrath, Swall Monkey, Alice LA, Stranglewire, Wardomized, Problem Patterns, Belfast Ukulele Jam, Paddy Godfrey and Ria Timkin.

Sunflowerfest are proud to announce their partnership with the Air Ambulance NI charity for this year’s festival and special thanks go to Forestside for their sponsorship of the Moot Stage at the festival.

The post Sunflowerfest returns to Tubby’s Farm this July appeared first on Gigging NI.

Rock titans ALTER BRIDGE are pleased to confirm an extensive European tour this winter which will include a Dublin show at 3Arena on 8^th December.

Tickets from €48 including booking fee go on sale this Friday at 10am via Ticketmaster.ie

The ‘Pawns & Kings’ tour will hit 25 cities over 18 countries, kicking off on November 1st in Hamburg, Germany and wrapping up on December 12th in London, England.

Bursting with riffs, Alter Bridge are currently hard at work recording their seventh studio album, the follow-up to the highly acclaimed, 2019-released ‘Walk The Sky’, which brought the group the #1 spot on over a dozen charts around the globe. The band have been sharing behind the scenes photos from the studio on their social media to whet fan’s appetites! With the as-yet-untitled album expected to be released later in 2022, those snapping up tickets for these dates will be the first in the world to hear the new songs live.

Joining them as special guests are Grammy-winning rockers HALESTORM. The esteemed  Pennsylvanian powerhouse will release their blistering new album ‘Back From The Dead’ on May 6th, which includes their latest single, ‘The Steeple’. Renowned as a spell-binding live music force, Halestorm’s set is sure to be an unmissable treat.

Getting the party started each night are none other than MAMMOTH WVH, visiting some countries for the first time in support of their much-lauded, self-titled debut record. Scooping a ‘Best Rock Song’ Grammy nomination this year for single ‘Distance’ and currently polishing those chops on the road with Guns N Roses, make sure you get in early to catch their set!

Dates line-up as follows:

Tue 1st Nov – GERMANY – HAMBURG Sporthalle

Wed 2nd Nov – DENMARK – COPENHAGEN Falconer

Fri 4th Nov – SWEDEN – GOTHENBURG Partille Arena

Sat 5th Nov – NORWAY – OSLO Sentrum Scene

Mon 7th Nov – POLAND – KATOWICE MCK

Wed 9th Nov – LUXEMBOURG – LUXEMBOURG Rockhal

Fri 11th Nov – GERMANY – BERLIN Columbiahalle

Sat 12th Nov – CZECH REPUBLIC – PRAGUE O2 Universum

Mon 14th Nov – HUNGARY – BUDAPEST Arena

Wed 16th Nov – FRANCE – PARIS Palais Des Sports

Fri 18th Nov – SPAIN – MADRID Vistalegre

Sun 20th Nov – SPAIN – BARCELONA Razzmataz1

Tue 22nd Nov – GERMANY – MUNICH Zenith

Wed 23rd Nov – SWITZERLAND – ZURICH Samsung Hall

Fri 25th Nov – ITALY – MILAN Mediolanum Forum

Sat 26th Nov – CROATIA – ZAGREB Dom Sportova

Mon 28th Nov – AUSTRIA – VIENNA Wiener Stadthalle

Wed 30th Nov – GERMANY – COLOGNE Palladium

Thu 1st Dec – NETHERLANDS – AMSTERDAM Ziggo Dome

Mon 5th Dec – ENGLAND – NOTTINGHAM Motorpoint Arena

Tue 6th Dec – SCOTLAND – GLASGOW SSE Hydro Arena

Thu 8th Dec – IRELAND – DUBLIN 3 Arena

Fri 9th Dec – ENGLAND – MANCHESTER AO Arena

Sun 11th Dec – ENGLAND – BIRMINGHAM Resorts World Arena

Mon 12th Dec – ENGLAND – LONDON O2 Arena

An artist and O2 presale for tickets begins Wednesday 27th April at 11am CEST (10am BST), with a Live Nation presale starting Thursday 28th April at 11am CEST. Tickets are then widely available from 11am CEST on Friday 29th April from all good box offices and online at www.AlterBridge.com. For fan VIP experiences, also visit www.AlterBridge.com.

Alter Bridge’s inimitable Myles Kennedy states, “Alter Bridge is returning to the EU/UK this winter with our friends from Halestorm and Mammoth. It’s going to be a delicious sonic smorgasbord of Earth-shaking Rock & Roll that goes to 11. Don’t miss it!”

Halestorm dynamo Lzzy Hale comments, “To all our European Freaks, we’ve missed you, and are so happy to announce that we are finally crossing the ocean to come and see you all again! This time around we are sharing the stage with all our friends in the legendary Alter Bridge and the one, the only Mammoth WVH! You do not want to miss this show! I can’t wait to experience the passion of you, the Euro Rock fans!!! See you front and centre!”

The post Alter Bridge & Halestorm set for Dublin 3Arena appeared first on Gigging NI.

Following their sold-out UK arena tour Stereophonics today announce their return to Ireland this summer with an outdoor show at Fairview Park, Dublin on Friday 1^st July 2022.

Stereophonics join a stellar line-up of gigs at Fairview Park this summer including Olivia Rodrigo, Phoebe Bridgers, Greta Van Fleet, Mabel & Inhaler. Rising Irish star Moncrieff will perform as special guest for Stereophonics.

‘Oochya!’, the band’s acclaimed new album, is out now and is available here.

Kelly Jones says: “The album title (‘Oochya!’) was always a saying me and the band used in the studio to mean “let’s have it”, a blast of energy and optimism and that’s what we wanted to get across with ‘Hinges’.” As Stereophonics celebrate 25 years as one of the UK’s most enduring and loved bands, with ‘Oochya!’ Kelly Jones continues to cement his place amongst the great British songwriters. Having now achieved 8 number 1 albums, 10 top 10 albums, 23 Platinum Sales Awards, 8.5 million albums sold in the UK alone, 5 BRIT nominations and 1 BRIT Award win, Stereophonics stand as undeniable giants of British music.

Tickets on sale this Friday 8^th April from 10am.

The post Stereophonics announce Dublin Fairview Park show appeared first on Gigging NI.

Dean Lewis has over 5.6+ billion streams of his music with 3.1M+ albums and Eps sold worldwide. He was welcomed into the Spotify Billions club for his song ‘Be Alright’ and has over 1M YouTube followers and 830K Tik Tok followers.

His most recent single ‘Falling Up’ is ARIA GOLD accredited in Australia with 45M+ Global Streams. 2019 saw Lewis as an Apple Up Next artist while his tours in the US and Australia were sold out, and he performed shows and festival in the UK and Europe. He performed over 200 shows that year. In Australia Lewis performed on the mainstage at Splendour in the Grass and performed at the AFL Grand Final.

Be Alright has over 2.8 billion streams and spent 5 weeks at # 1 on the ARIA SINGLES chart. It has been certified 11x platinum in Australia, triple platinum in the U.S.A, platinum in the UK and platinum+ in 24 other countries.

The post Dean Lewis returns to Ireland for 3Olympia show appeared first on Gigging NI.

Headline acts include Beth Orton, Martha Wainwright, Paul Brady, Paddy Raff, Eddi Reader, Villagers, Duke Special and the Hothouse Flowers, as well as festival favourites Celtic Soul, Ronnie Greer and Manukahunney. Specially commissioned events include Berts To Bangor, recreating the amazing jazz music performed at Berts Jazz Bar in the Merchant Hotel, Belfast. This year’s Classic Film screenings include Thelma and Louise and Chicago.

The fully seated events will take place on the Walled Garden lawn under a beautifully lit stretch tent, providing an outdoor garden experience but with protection from the elements.

“The Walled Garden worked really well for us last year in what was still an uneasy time with Covid restrictions. And our audiences loved it,” explains Open House director, Kieran Gilmore. “All events sold out really quickly last year, and with such a strong line-up this August, we expect high demand again when tickets go on sale.

“We’re also working on an extended programme of events outside of the garden, including a return to Music in the Park for July and August, Folk on a Boat, Island Picnic, and a series of food and drink events, which have always been enormously popular. So we’ll be back with further announcements over the coming weeks.”

The current Walled Garden programme can be viewed at www.openhousefestival.com with tickets on sale from Friday 1^st April at 10am. As social distancing is no longer required, tickets will revert to the pre-2021 format of unreserved seating.

The post Open House Festival announces lineup for 2022 appeared first on Gigging NI.