Music fans spoiled for choice in Cork in June

JUNE 20-30 Live at the Marquee

LATM 19 continues with a sold-out show tomorrow night as Dublin comedy-rappers Versatile bring their live show to the Cork, following a string of YouTube hits, festival appearances and, oddly enough, a Lifestyle Sports ad campaign.

The house/pop revival of recent years continues apace, as Gorgon City, Sonny Fodera and more fill the Marquee on Saturday, June 22, billed as the ‘One Day Festival’.

Amid all of this high-energy fare, Kris Kristofferson and The Strangers play the hits at the Marquee on Sunday the 23rd.

Bros didn’t bet on the reaction to a documentary springing them back to the arenas in 2019. Catch them on June 26th.

Homegrown pop-rockers The Academic play the Marquee on the 27th, fresh from their latest album being in contention for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize.

June 28 and 29 ought to see a rush on babysitters around the city, and possibly even some disinterested young adults alongside eagerly bopping parents, as Jenny Green reprises her live performance of 90s club classics with the help of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Tickets from ticketmaster.ie and all usual outlets.

JUNE 20-26: MCD Presents

A new season of big-name gigs for the summer kicks off this year at Musgrave Park, with MCD taking the wheel in direct competition to Aiken’s Marquee billing.

Off the back of number-one sophomore album , pop troubadour du jour George Ezra headlines tonight, with the full complement of chart-toppers and crowd-pleasers sure to be at hand.

Tomorrow night sees the radio-friendly fare continue, as Dingle arena-botherers Walking on Cars split a double-headliner with another UK pop lad of the moment in Lewis Capaldi, with Tom Walker on curtain-raising duties.

Completing a holy trinity of accessible pop-rock bookings, Saturday, June 22, sees pop pretty boys The Coronas top the billing ahead of emergent pop supernova Sigrid, and math-rock retirees All Tvvins.

Sunday, June 23, sees former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher take to the stage, to deliver material from recent effort .

Tuesday, June 25, marks the headline appearance of alt-pop chart-topper and overall heart-throb Hozier, fresh from touring new extended-player Nina Cried Power, which has captured lightning in a bottle for the Wicklow songster, it would seem.

The season finishes on its most interesting note on Wednesday, June 26, with Ms. Lauryn Hill, as the talismanic Fugees frontwoman continues to air material from her classic The Miseducation of… long-player.Tickets available from ticketmaster.ie and all usual retail outlets.

JUNE 21: Cuttin’ HeadsCollective @ Dali (10pm, €10)

The afterparty for Dublin hip-hoppers Versatile’s sold-out Marquee show sees the funny business done away with, as veteran Cork scratchologist Jus’Me is joined by Rostah to provide tunes, live turntablism and beat-making.

 Assembling in 2016 as a focal point for a disparate Leeside hip-hop community, Cuttin’ Heads Collective started with DJ residencies in venues around the city, shining a light on an array of talent in the process, before moving up to live gigs, workshops and all-dayers, providing a home and a support structure for heavy beats in Cork City. Having celebrated their second anniversary late last year, a brief hiatus was ended with a bang in the last two months, between high-profile headliners at the 400-cap Dali and the return of the group’s Summer Sessions at the Vicarstown Bar. Tickets available on the door, at Dali on Carey’s Lane.

JUNE 27: Junior Brother @ DeBarra’s of Clonakilty

Kerry troubadour Junior Brother has spent years assembling his life experiences and inner monologue into a blend of Irish tradition and English folk influence. Released via Strange Brew Records, album was written between the ages of 20 and 25, and bears all the marks of quarter-life crisis from the off.

 Recorded from Winter 2017 to Autumn 2018, the songs came together in Ailfionn Studios, Drumcondra under the hand of producer Chris Barry. with songs from the same session also appearing on a newly-released split cassette with Out on a Limb rockers Pow Pig. Tickets available from debarra.ie and on the door.

JUNE 28: Just Mustard @ Cyprus Avenue (7.30pm, €12.50)

After some heartstopping performances at venues around the country, Dundalk five-piece Just Mustard have been busy crafting their own unique blend of shoegaze, trip-hop and electronic-influenced music. Releasing their debut album to critical acclaim in 2018, the quintet’s burgeoning reputation saw them nominated for the Choice Music Prize.

 Support this time around from hometown buddy Trick Mist.Tickets from the Old Oak, and cyprusavenue.ie.

JUNE 30: The Paranoid Pit @ Fred Zeppelin’s (9pm, €7)

Belfast hardcore lads MOLARBEAR make their long-awaited return to Cork for a full headline show, after impressing at last year’s Monolith all-day festival, and they’re promising something special for June’s instalment of The Paranoid Pit, a monthly residency for Irish metal at Parliament Street’s great rock institution. Support on the night is from Cork punk-rockers Audible Joes and SELKIES. Tickets on the door.