8 Gigs That Are Well Worth Your Time And Money This Summer

With summer started and the good weather that’s here to stay, it’s definitely important to note all the festivals and concerts that are a must-go this season. Last weekend was the beginning of it all with Life Festival in Mullingar ringing in the summer feeling. Headliners such as Fat Boy Slim, Jax Jones, Van Helden and Hannah Wants were all there over the weekend to play to a crowd of thousands.

With June coming around the corner, a recap on all the best music events this summer is needed.

1. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has been set to play Croke Park for some time now, an event that sold out in no time, and had an extra date added due to high demand. With her new album released last year, with hella shade being thrown at certain people *cough* Kanye *cough*, this concert won’t be one to miss. The last time Taylor was in Ireland was 2015 for her 1989 world tour and fans are eager for her return after 3 years of waiting. She’ll be playing Croke Park on the 15^th and 16^th of June

2. Shania Twain

This one was definitely a shock to all when it was announced. Shania is a five time Grammy award winning artist, with many Double Diamond-selling albums under her belt, and has recently released a new album called ‘NOW’, and it’s the first time she’s been to Ireland in 13 years. She is one of the most popular country singers of all time, and will be playing the 3 Arena on the 26^th of September, and an extra date has been added for the 27^th of September.

3. Queen and Adam Lambert

The legends that are Queen have paired up with pop-singer Adam Lambert and have released dates to play an open-air concert in Marley Park on the 8^th of July this summer. This will be part of Queens ‘One more around the block’ tour. It sounds like it will be a pretty epic show.

New Tour Date! @QueenWillRock + @adamlambert to play Dublin’s Marlay Park on July 8th. Tickets go on sale on Friday 9th March @ https://t.co/glcAf6vTSf at 9am GMT. pic.twitter.com/udMzxJQtSp

— Queen (@QueenWillRock) March 2, 2018

4. The Killers and Franz Ferdinand

After releasing a new album in September, The Killers will be playing the RDS on June 26^th alongside Franz Ferdinand, singers of ‘Take Me Out’, who released their brand new album ‘Always Ascending’ in 2017 and had a sold out gig in the Olympia. The Killers have always been known to play amazing gigs, and never disappoint. 14 years after they released ‘Mr. Brightside’ and ‘Somebody Told Me’, The Killers are still releasing top quality music, with their latest album ‘Wonderful Wonderful’ topping the charts the first week it was released. This gig is definitely one to be looking forward to.

5. Live At The Marquee

During the month of June there are loads of well-known, mostly Irish acts set to play the arena. Kodaline (7^th June), a-ha (12^th June), The Script (25^th June), Bell X1 (15^th June), Picture This (20^th June), Jenny Greene and RTÉ concert orchestra (22^nd June), and Gavin James (16^th June) are just a few of the acts set to play. Live at the Marquee in Cork is always a well anticipated concert and isn’t far from Cork City if you’re looking to out after.

6. Electric Picnic

There’s not much I can tell you about Electric Picnic other than you have to go at least once in your life time. It’s one of Ireland's biggest festivals, is always highly recommended and always has a great, diverse line-up. This year is hosting acts such as Dua Lipa, Kendrick Lamar, The Kooks, N.E.R.D, George Ezra, Jorja Smith and King Krule. The festival is on in Stradbally, Co.Offally from the 31^st of August to the 2^nd of September.

7. Sea Sessions

Sea Sessions is a surf festival in Bundoran, Donegal, from the 22^nd to the 24^th of June. Acts such as Dizzee Rascal, Walking on Cars, Everything Everything, Rudimental, Hannah Wants, The Blizzards, Versatile and Le Galaxie, just to name a few, are set to play. It’s been described as “the most Irish beach party you could ever attend”.

8. Forbidden Fruit

Forbidden Fruit is due to play this bank holiday weekend, and if you’re lucky enough to have the long weekend off it’s worth the buy, even just for one of the days. Saturday will see Glass Animals and Idris Elba, for example. Sunday; Bonobo, Bicep, Denis Sulta. Monday; Unknown Mortal Orchestra and The War on Drugs. Tickets are still available and the concert will be held in The Royal Hospital, Kilmainham.

Of course there’s more to add to the list, such as Longitude, Michael Bublé and Belfast’s Vital Festival, but there’s only so many gigs you can squeeze into one summer!