Greetings from The Wolf & Seahorse
This week in Belfast, the city is running flat out. Zach Bryan plays Boucher to something like 80,000 people across two sold-out nights, The Cure and Kings of Leon close out the week at Belsonic in Ormeau Park, and in between there is Paul Weller at Custom House Square and The Lumineers at the SSE Arena.
On top of all that, the Belfast City Blues Festival takes over the Cathedral Quarter from Friday with more than forty free gigs, the Deer's Head and the Black Box have something on every night, and the Oh Yeah Centre is alive as always.
This is our pick of what's on this week. As always for a full event list check out the link at the bottom of the email.
Let's dive in 👇
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Zach Bryan
Tuesday 23 June · Doors 17:00 · Boucher Playing Fields
The Oklahoma songwriter who went from posting phone recordings to filling stadiums is in Belfast for a double-header, roughly 80,000 people across the two nights and both long gone. Dijon and Fey Fili open. Boucher is fully open-air with no cover, so dress for whatever the sky decides, and give yourself time on the buses from town. If you held on to a ticket, this is the gig of the week.
The Cure at Belsonic
Sunday 28 June · Ormeau Park
Robert Smith brings nearly fifty years of catalogue to Ormeau Park, and the Belsonic stage suits the scale of a Cure show better than any indoor room could. They have been turning these into three-hour marathons on this run, deep cuts and all, not a greatest-hits clock-watch. One of the biggest nights of the Belfast summer.
Belfast City Blues Festival
Friday 26 to Sunday 28 June · Cathedral Quarter and across the city
Seventeen years in and still completely free, with over forty gigs packed across the Deer's Head, the Black Box, the Errigle and more. Highlights worth planning around: Dom Martin and Band at the Black Box on Friday, Crow Black Chicken at the Deer's Head across the weekend, the Rory Gallagher tribute and the Clara Rose Big Band on Saturday, and the Derry favourites The Mindbenders headlining the Deer's Head on Saturday night. Pick a venue, wander between them, pay nothing.
Paul Weller
Wednesday 24 June · 18:00 · Custom House Square
The Modfather outdoors at Custom House Square, five decades and twenty-eight albums in, from The Jam through The Style Council to a solo run that never coasted. Expect the hits delivered with no nostalgia and no apology.
The Lumineers
Wednesday 24 June · 18:00 · The SSE Arena
"Ho Hey" was a decade ago now, and the Denver band have grown into a far bigger, more open-hearted live act than that one song suggests. An arena full of people singing back every word is the whole appeal.
Kings of Leon at Belsonic
Monday 29 June · 18:00 · Ormeau Park
The Followill brothers close Belsonic with Florence Road opening, two decades on from the bar-band scrappiness and now squarely in stadium mode. "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody" land differently in an open park at full tilt.
Volume Control x Homeless Connect: Band Together
Friday 26 June · 18:30 · Oh Yeah Music Centre
A gig against homelessness with every penny going to Homeless Connect, run by the Volume Control crew who keep finding the city's better young acts. Good cause, good room, 14+.
Sounds of NI
Thursday 25 June · 19:30 · The Belfast Empire
A night of Northern Irish talent in the old converted church on Botanic, one of the best rooms in the city for exactly this kind of bill. A solid bet if you want to hear where the local scene is going.
Lee Meehan Organ Trio
Friday 26 June · 21:00 · Scott's Jazz Club
A late one out in Ballyhackamore, soulful organ-led jazz built around Meehan's debut record. Scott's is a proper jazz club in the old sense, low light and close quarters.
Tenx9: New Horizons with Belfast Photo Festival
Wednesday 24 June · 19:00 · The Black Box
Nine people, nine true stories, ten minutes each, this edition tied into the Belfast Photo Festival. Tenx9 is one of the loveliest regular nights in the city, ordinary people telling real stories with no notes and no act. Free in, get there early for a seat.
Seafood Fest
Saturday 27 June · 16:00 · TasteDiIsland
An evening of seafood vendors and tastings in the city centre, running 4pm to 9pm. Show up hungry and work your way along the stalls.
Steelworks Festival
Saturday 27 June · 14:00 · Titanic Distillers
A full day of music down at Titanic Distillers, 2pm to 11pm, in one of the more atmospheric spots in the Titanic Quarter. Check Skiddle for the running order before you head down.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Belfast check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
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