With a year’s worth of grandiose orchestral gigs behind him, Ireland’s sweetheart and son of Idaho Josh Ritter was enveigled into celebrating Whelan’s 20th birthday with three shows in a stripped down acoustic format.

When Richard Hawley first emerges as a be-quiffed silhouette against a white light and emits a swooping tenor-to-bass glissando to a double bass, piano and bouzouki backing (on ‘A Songbird’s Melody’) the entire audience gasps and swoons.

Radiating disinterest Tinchy Stryder performs alongside an equally bored looking DJ and an only slightly more enthused MCing wing-man, all against the backdrop of a light show to rival The X Factor.

Held over the October Bank Holiday weekend, the fifth annual Sligo Live drew record crowds to the north-west.

The set-list for the show, released in advance, whetted appetites for a career-spanning evening of greatest hits and fan favourites.

Academy 2. Within these pulsing walls, Heritage Centre introduce new track ‘The Boss’ by lamenting a seven week absence from the Irish stage.

Ferocious rock chick or girly pop vixen?

Here’s the deal. You can have the full bells-and-whistles Nick & the Bad Seeds production with all its attendant kinetics and dynamics, staged in a high-ceilinged cow palace or festival tent, or you can take your chances on the more roughshod and ragged-gloried variety up close and in your face in Vicar St, which isn’t nearly as slick but affords plenty of rarified moments.

I’d hate to be a Massive Attack roadie. Not only do they have four vocalists, six banks of synths, live guitars, drums and percussion to worry about, but there’s a huge ticker-taping video screen to put up and take down every bleedin’ night.