Watch as my entire salary goes on music gigs next year.
In the same way every tv show that has ever been popular has faced or is facing a reboot (Gossip Girl, Prison Break, Gilmore Girls, to name but a few) all the music of our youth is making a 2020s comeback, and unlike the constant reboot news, I’m not mad at it.
Dublin already has a stellar 2024 line-up of some of the best acts to grace the music world from the 90s and 2000s, everyone from Cascada, to Pink, to Blink-182.
Maybe it’s because my inability to move past the music of the noughties and 2010s make it basically impossible for me to consume any new music (is this what getting older feels like?) but long may this trend last. Let’s get The Saturdays back (I think we could convince Una Healy), Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, The Black Eyed Peas – Destiny’s Child might be a stretch, but hey, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Ne-Y0
The most recent nostalgia gig to be announced is from none other than Ne-Yo. The Grammy-winning singer songwriter rose to fame with hits like “So Sick” and “Sexy Love” from his 2006 debut album “In My Own Words”.
He has achieved widespread acclaim in R&B and pop, and as someone who’s music taste has barely evolved beyond the noughties and early 2010s, it is always a joy to hear a Ne-Yo song come on at the club, (the bar… my own playlist okay, I don’t go out much). “Closer” is a personal favourite of mine.
Ne-Yo featured on the most recent season of Love Island to whisk the girls off to Casa Amor following a private concert, and now he’s coming to Dublin on March 22nd 2024 as part of his Champagne & Roses Tour. Tickets go on sale next week, with prices beginning at €65.70.
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Girls Aloud
After much speculation and heavy hinting, Girls Aloud officially confirmed they are reuniting next year, kicking off a UK and Ireland tour in Dublin’s 3Arena, before heading to the SSE in Belfast.
Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Kimberly Walsh, and Nicola Roberts are coming together in memory of their friend and former bandmate Sarah Harding, who passed away from breast cancer in September 2021.
Girls Aloud dominated the music charts in the noughties, exploding on the scene with hits like “Sound of the Underground”, “Biology”, “The Show”, and “Can’t Speak French” to name but a few. We will not be wasting time trying to get our hands on tickets for the 3Arena show on Saturday May 18th.
While Sarah will of course be dreadfully missed from the line-up, we have no doubt that her presence will be felt and honoured.
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Nelly Furtado
It’s been a few years since I’ve graced Royal Hospital Kilmainham to attend Forbidden Fruit over the June bank holiday weekend, but there is not a hope I’ll be missing it with Nelly Furtado headlining in 2024.
Another late 2000s, early 2010s icon, there is not a bar or club that won’t play at least one Nelly Furtado song over the course of an evening (generally “Promiscuous”, which I am more than okay with).
Forbidden Fruit have yet to reveal whether Furtado will be playing on the Saturday or Sunday, which has patrons (and by patrons, I mean myself) panicking over which day to go, panic that will likely lead to purchasing a weekend ticket just to be safe. The 90s babies will not allow the chance to watch Furtado perform “Maneater” live pass them by – meaning Forbidden Fruit is likely to sell out at lightning speed this year.
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Pink
It’s been a huge week for music news, as Pink, who has not performed in Ireland in five years, also announced a Dublin gig, in the Aviva Stadium no less.
She will be taking over the D4 sports stadium on June 20th as part of her Summer Carnival Tour, performing for up to 51,700 people, and no doubt she will make good use of her arena, warming it up in time for Taylor Swift’s gigs which will take place there.
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Fatboy Slim
Huge news, for fans of Derry Girls, and of Fatboy Slim of course, as the legendary DJ is returning to Ireland to kick off his 8-show tour in Dublin next summer.
Fatboy Slim will be taking over Fairview Park on June 14th, beginning his Fatboy Slim Loves Summer tour, after which he will be heading to Cornwall, Manchester, Scarborough, Bedfordshire, Glasgow, Galway, and finally Halifax.
That’s right, Dublin isn’t the only Irish location – the DJ will be heading to Galway Airport for a gig on August 9th for his second last show.
What perhaps makes this more exciting is the final season of Derry Girls, which aired in 2022, had a whole episode focusing on Fatboy Slim headlining an event in Derry, and the absolute chaos that ensued as a result.
Fans will remember the girls purchasing the last five tickets available, only for a brawl to break out, leading to a stressed out James to tear the tickets up, which of course means Michelle has to lie on national television to secure more tickets – it’s an iconic episode, even by this show’s standards, made all the better by their urgency to see Fatboy Slim.
In a particularly funny scene, the Derry Girls are discussing how the DJ is “bigger than God” and a “genius” on the same level as Beethoven, except, according to Orla, “good”.
Blink-182
Angsty 90s kids everywhere rejoiced last year when Blink-182 embarked on a world tour, even stopping into Ireland with the intention of playinf two gigs.
The band were supposed to play in Dublin on September 5th, but had to cancel the gig so drummer Travis Barker could fly back to the US to be with Kourtney Kardashian when she was rushed to hospital needing foetal surgery. The pair have since welcomed their son Rocky Thirteen Barker.
The cancelled shows were part of a Blink-182 global tour, which was described as their biggest ever, and saw bandmates Barker, Mark Hoppus, and Tom DeLonge reuniting for the first time in nearly 10 years.
Now you can expect to see them playing on August 27th at Royal Hospital Kilmainham – get ready to belt “Say it ain’t so, I will not go. Turn the lights off, carry me home!”
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Cascada
Noughties megastar Cascada is set to return to Dublin on March 1st for a gig in The Academy.
It’s not been too long since Cascada has performed a “Miracle” in Ireland – she had performances in Cork and Dublin in September, and she must’ve really liked the Irish crowd to return so soon.
Front-singer Natalie Horler and her team of producers and writers Yann Peifer (Yanou) and Manuel Reuter (Manian) have topped charts in more than 20 countries with their irresistible dance-pop songs. Collecting numerous awards (e.g. the World Music Award in 2007) throughout their career, they have established themselves as one of the tops European dance floor acts of the present.
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