Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

There is little over a week until the start of this year’s Galway International Arts Festival, and a host of the major concerts are already sold out. This is a guide to some of the gigs that, at the time of writing, still have some tickets available. The GIAF is the highlight of many Galwegians’ calendar, and the roster of acts this year is as ambitious and wide-ranging as ever. A blend of Irish and international artists, there is so much lined up that a handful of gigs may have flown under your radar.

Mogwai at the Heineken Big Top,

Thursday, July 24

Mogwai have been around since 1995 but their last two records – surprise covid chart-topper As the Love Continues and its powerful, jagged follow-up The Bad Fire – have catapulted the Glasgow four-piece into a new era.

Hosting a band renowned for epic, textured soundscapes, Fisheries Field is likely to be blanketed in a hazy post-rock trance that grows and swells as the night goes on. By the end of their set, Mogwai’s sound is a ferocious wall, buoyed by flashing white lights and mellifluous, vocoder-heavy singing.

Biig Piig at Monroe’s Live,

Friday, July 18

Born in Cork, Jessica Smyth’s upbringing was spread across several parts of Ireland, Marbella and London – a geographical path that has fed her sound as singer and rapper Biig Piig.

Airy, bilingual vocals are the stitch tying Smyth’s club-friendly R&B tracks with pared back pop music. Collaborations with Kojaque, Metronomy and Maverick Sabre are evidence of her versatility and willingness to expand her sound. After a decade of honing the project, Smyth’s debut album as Biig Piig arrived in February – it will likely dominate her set at Monroe’s.

A Lazarus Soul at Monroe’s Live,

Friday, July 25

Brian Brannigan, the vocalist and fulcrum for A Lazarus Soul, is a masterful chronicler of people and stories in his lyrics.

The band have been around since 2001, but their star has grown in recent years since an appropriate spotlight was shone on 2019’s brilliant The D They Put Between the R & L. The music is minimalist, weaving a steady platform for Brannigan’s characters – often misfortunate figures in disadvantaged Irish communities that draw on his upbringing in the working-class Dublin suburb of Finglas.

With half the band based in France, A Lazarus Soul are relatively infrequent performers, making this appearance in Galway a significant opportunity for fans.

 Pictured: Mogwai…tickets still available for Big Top gig at the Arts Festival.