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MS. DYNAMITE :: Sat 11th Feb Doors 11pm Tickets €17.50   Ms. Dynamite is a double BRIT Award and three time MOBO Awards winning UK garage, R&B and hip hop singer and rapper. Her debute album "A Little Deeper" featured the hit singles "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee" and "It Takes More." In September 2002, Ms. Dynamite became the first black female artist achieving a Mercury Music Prize, beating favorites the Streets, the Coral, and even music legend David Bowie. Three years later, she released her second album, Judgement Days. The overwhelming success that Ms Dynamite’s newest solo material, Neva Soft, has shocked both her and critics alike. Once again she has reasserted her place within the British music scene as a force to be reckoned with.

MICHAEL KIWANUKA :: Sun 12th Feb    Doors 8.30pm Tickets €12     special guests: THE STAVES        With Michael Kiwanuka, it’s all about the voice. A voice that he describes as “hitting straight through to the core” with direct, emotional songs about love, yearning, comfort and belonging. Now 23, growing up in North London Michael struggled at times to see where he fitted in. An avid England and Spurs fan, he found it hard to imagine a day when a name like Kiwanuka could sit comfortably on the back of a football shirt here. Nonetheless, when his parents took him and his brother back to the Uganda to visit family, he and his brother were immediately recognised as English tourists. Like most of his schoolmates, he liked bands like Nirvana and Blur, but it was only when he discovered that Jimi Hendrix was black that he was able to imagine himself picking up a guitar. In his teens, two other icons helped him find his voice. A friend gave him a Bob Dylan box set, and Michael was bowled over by the power of a well-crafted song, delivered with just urgent vocals and an acoustic guitar. There were later to be other influences from Bill Withers and Terry Callier to John Martyn and Laura Marling, it was Dylan and Otis Redding who laid the foundations for Michael’s own rootsy, folk-inflected modern soul.

FIGHTING WITH WIRE :: Mon 13th Feb Doors 9pm Tickets € 8 special guests: Freeze the Atlantic + ELK 'Derry's Fighting With Wire play like they're already headlining stadiums.' - Kerrang! 'a flawless modern rock record' Zane Lowe Radio1 Fighting With Wire are a 3-piece rock band from Derry, Northern Ireland. They released their debut album ‘Man Vs Monster’ through Smalltown America Records in 2008 to widespread critical acclaim. The band are known for their explosive live shows and have toured relentlessly in the UK, Ireland and throughout Europe, appearing at many festivals such as Reading and Leeds, Download, Sonisphere, T In The Park, Oxegen, Radio One Big Weekend and also SXSW and CMJ in the US. The band secured a record deal with Atlantic Records in 2008 which led to them linking up with Grammy award winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains, Deftones) to record the follow up to Man Vs Monster in Nashville, Tennessee. Fighting With Wire will be on tour with 90s hardcore heroes Helmet in March/April 2012 throughout Europe and the UK to promote their eagerly anticipated second album, due for release late Spring 2012

GEMMA HAYES :: Sat 18th Feb Doors 8pm Tickets €15   Gemma Hayes has long established herself as one of Ireland's foremost musical talents. Known for her eclectic blend of folk, prog rock and electronica, Gemma has managed to carve out quite a rare musical path. Her debut album, Night on My Side, received great critical acclaim from all corners, garnering a prestigious UK Mercury Prize nomination and earning her an award as Ireland's best female. Gemma's subsequent release, The Roads Don't Love You, earned her yet another nod as Ireland's best female artist. Hollywood has beckoned over the years as well, using her music in a variety of programmes and films -- from Grey's Anatomy to Alias and most recently One Tree Hill and The Vampire Diaries. Gemma Hayes' much anticipated fourth studio album, Let it Break, out now, is an evolution of Gemma's unique style of music, combining prog rock, folk and electronica. The album is a collaboration with producer David Odlum, and features Paul Noonan of Bell X1 and Ann Scott.

CLUEKID :: Sat 25th Feb Doors 11pm Tickets € 8   Cluekid has a vast musical background, initially based around a lot of old rock music, his father was a guitarist and Cluekid played the drums, building the foundation for his musical future. Around the age of 16 Cluekid got into grime, leaning more towards the bassline beats, around this same time he linked with Cotti who was in the same grime scene, Cluekid then joind the 4n4mat crew, where they started doing sets on pirate radio shows. This also helped Cluekid to start producing beats. Later on Cluekid linked up with Chef and loefah and started to create dubstep going on to release on ‘-30 recordings’ and 'Skreams' ‘Disfigured Dubz’ and with his new label ‘Bullfrog beats’ things don’t look to be slowing down. Cluekid’s mixing is also as big as his ambitions, with shows all over Europe and headlining tours as far away as Australia, dubz cut and huge bass lines makes his live shows unmissable event.

HUSH WARCRY :: Fri 2nd March Doors 8pm Tickets € 8   If you’re a fan of Wild Beasts, check out these young college-going Corkonians Hush War Cry. The name sounds like some heavy metal rallying call but the music is delicate, nuanced and oh so sweet. There’s an impressive accomplished sound happening here from such a young band. Blending subtle shadings of shoegaze with a dreamy pop sound, HUSH WAR CRY certainly live up to their names, being a mixture of something soothing which could at any moment erupt into a clarion call of action.

DELORENTOS :: Sat 3rd March Doors 8pm Tickets €14   DELORENTOS are delighted to announce the forthcoming release of a 12-track album, 'Little Sparks', on 27 January 2012 along with a full electric tour to co-incide. Recorded with Mercury Music Prize Award Winner Rob Kirwan (PJ Harvey), the 12 tracks are the fully-fledged fruits of the band’s recordings over 2011 and display a depth of songwriting prowess that ably eclipses the band’s first two albums and offers a real insight into the ever-growing potential of the band. It follows hot on the heels of the recent 4-track EP (of the same name) and was accompanied by a successful acoustic tour of Ireland (the band’s first ever). All of which signals a new approach by the band who are keen to embrace and share all aspects of their interests and skills from here onwards.

THE ANSWER :: Sun 4th March Doors 9pm Tickets €15 special guests: THE UNION The road to rock 'n' roll glory is littered with the smouldering remnants of bands that blazed brightly for a few brief moments and then fizzled out in a cloud of thwarted ambitions. But every now and then a band emerges that walk, talk and rock like true saviours of our beloved music's spirit and soul. The Answer have spent the last decade proving their rock 'n' roll credentials and making the kind of life-affirming, eardrum-threatening music that separates the truly great from the merely adequate. After a few self-financed, low-key releases, the band emerged into the mainstream spotlight in 2005 when their debut single Keep Believin' became the subject of great critical acclaim and led The Answer to the 'Best New Band' award at that year's Classic Rock Awards. Their followup album Rise went on to sell over 125,000 copies worldwide, a startling achievement that ensured that when the band released their second album, the mighty Everyday Demons, three years later, the world was more than ready to embrace The Answer on an even greater scale. The end result of their fearsome reputation, both as an astonishing live band and as rock's brightest hopes, was a two-year stint as chief support to AC/DC, which took them around the world and into some of the biggest venues on the planet.

WALLIS BIRD :: Thurs 8th March Doors 8pm Tickets €15   Wallis Bird has announced a return to Ireland with her band for an Irish Tour next March. The Meteor Best Irish Female winner is currently putting the finishing touches to her new album – the follow up to the widely acclaimed 'New Boots'. Wallis’ live shows and album release have garnered her rave reviews from all quarters, with 4 * reviews being given by national publications including The Guardian, Daily Express and The Sun, who called her ‘a stunning female singer-songwriter to take note of…..a future star’. "It's her humour and bold honesty that makes Bird so special **** " THE SUN "An engaging, Janis Joplin-like holler" DAILY EXPRESS "One of the most energised performers around. Wonderful **** " SUNDAY EXPRESS "Quirky jazz-rock, reminiscent of Fiona Apple or a young Janis Joplin" DAILY STAR

THERAPY? :: Fri 9th March Doors 8.30pm Tickets €25   Following last year’s 2 spectacular sold out shows at Cyprus Avenue, Therapy? with be back in Cork to showcase new tracks of their highly anticipated 13th studio album “ A Brief Crack of Light” due out Feb 2012.

SCROOBIUS PIP :: Sun 11th March Doors 9pm Tickets €15 special guest: B. DOLAN Distinctively attired in trucker cap, charity shop suit and THAT beard, Scroobius Pip is a leading light and unmistakable face of the UK's spoken word scene. Having jacked in the role of punk-bass-player for a marginally more stable career in poetry, Scroobius Pip has been proffering his everyman polemics since the mid-2000s. In a scene revived by cultural unease, political disaffection and a desire for lyrical content, Pip brought an unfailing wit and disarming stage persona to the uncomfortable truths of the day; such crowd-pleasing themes as self harm, domestic violence, and whether watching Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks is a worthwhile use of our precious, readily commodified time. Now best known as one half of unlikely chart bothering duo dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip,  So, 4 years on from that first unexpected radio play, with a collected cast of eyebrow-raising collaborators Scroobius Pip's alternative pop persona re-unites with that jilted teenage Punk. Scroobius Pip's Distraction Pieces is out now on his own Speech Development label.

WHITE HILLS :: Thurs 15th March Doors 9pm Tickets €10   White Hills newest and most energized recording to date is bursting with raw energy packed into their most concise songs to date. Fear not long time White Hills fans, there is still loads of killer guitar work and fuzzed out psychedelia on Frying on this Rock. Their highly sought after and deluxe vinyl editions as well as the super limited CDR and 7' releases have made them a band who get talked about as much in reviews as they do on social networks. Their boundless live performances, especially the higher profile ones at ATP New York, Supersonic and several Roadburn Festivals, or their dates with the Flaming Lips and Sleep have established White Hills as one of the most talked about space rock bands currently performing. Their 2011 H-p1 album topped several UK end of the year lists including one of the world's most influential record stores, Rough Trade.

INME :: Wed 21st March Doors 9pm Tickets €10   InMe are an English alternative rock band based in Brentwood, Essex, who have to date released 4 highly successful studio albums, spawning a number of Top 40 UK singles and years of touring and playing great shows and festivals around the UK, Europe and the world. Phoenix: The Best of InMe was released on Monday 27th September and featured 3 songs from each previous album, along with 3 new tracks. Kerrang awarded the album 4/5 and Phoenix went in at #26 in the UK rock chart.

SOLO BANTON :: Sat 31st March Doors 11pm Tickets €8   After a long career in the reggae music business as a top sound-man and producer, Solo Banton began as a recording artist relatively recently after linking with Kris Kemist of Reality Shock. Kemist persuaded him to jump in the booth and record a track called 'The Warning'.. the rest is history. Solo is a natural born entertainer and was immediately recognised for his vintage deejay style and intelligent (often comical) lyrical content. He soon found himself in great demand for his musical talents, working with the likes of Jahtari, Maffi, Mungos Hifi, Zion Gate Hifi and Dubkasm and recording hit after hit; Songs like ‘Talk To Me’, ‘Walk Like Rasta’, ‘Old Time Something’, ‘No’, ‘Bun Babylon Coke’, ‘Joke Ting’, ‘Chalice Haffi Blaze’ and many more. In 2010 the debut album ‘Walk Like Rasta’ dropped and since then Solo has been permanently on the road, touring ever further afield. His live performances have gone from strength to strength, with Solo’s very lighthearted style, his message comes across very well and is easy to understand. Within minutes he has the crowd exactly where he wants them then slams down track after track, always leaving the party-goer very satisfied and asking for more Solo Banton.

TWIN ATLANTIC :: Tues 10th April Doors 9pm Tickets €10   When Glasgow’s Twin Atlantic released their 2009 mini-album, Vivarium, it immediately found an awestruck audience. The reviews were uniformly ecstatic. Grand, sweeping and eloquent, it was a collection of songs with a heart and soul, crafted by passion and informed by staunch lyrical and musical frankness. It set Twin Atlantic on a rollercoaster – one that has led, now, to the release of their full debut, Free, on Red Bull Records, an inspiring collection of songs full of ambition, pain, belief and soul. In a world of music dominated by talent show winners, mass-marketed bands and meaningless music, here, finally, is a band in which to invest your heart. 'This brilliant record, one of the most anticipated of the year, has been tipped by tastemakers and fans alike. If Vivarium left the band poised for greatness, 2012 will be the year in which they attain it.

SIMONE FELICE GROUP (ex Felice Bros + Duke & The King) :: Sun 22nd April Doors 8.30pm Tickets €13.50   SIMONE FELICE makes a triumphant return with the release of his debut album on April 2nd (for Reveal Records), and is charted to travel the length and breadth of the United Kingdom and Ireland with his band of remarkable players, who together make up the rootsy and hauntingly harmonious SIMONE FELICE GROUP. As well as debuting material from his outstanding new release, the acclaimed wordsmith will be performing many of the classics his devoted followers hold dear from his time with The Felice Brothers and The Duke and The King. Radio hit 'You & I Belong' (with friends from Mumford and Sons) finds Simone at his melodic best, his star now burning brighter than ever. Simone Felice is a record certain to cement Felice's place as one of the great songwriter-poets of his generation. Come one, come all. 'Each song somehow sounding like a classic, each live performance suggesting we are in the presence of a rare, fiery brilliance.’ (The Guardian) 'Spellbinding’ (Uncut) 'Utterly devastating live.' (Q Magazine)

DRY THE RIVER :: Tues 24th April Doors 9pm Tickets €12.50 With their highly anticipated debut album Shallow Bed due for release in March 2012, Dry the River have already enjoyed a great amount of success. The band played a number of headline dates in the UK which culminated in a sold-out show at London’s Scala, and they recently supported Bombay Bicycle Club on their sold-out UK tour. This summer also saw the band play some rapturously received festival gigs on both sides of the Atlantic, some highlights being their shows at SXSW in Texas, Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury, Latitude and most recently End of the Road and Bestival. To top the year off the band were recently recommended as one to watch by the BBC Sound of 2012 poll.