Live gig by the Galway folk trio The Whileaways at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast.
The Whileaways play the Crescent Arts Centre on Saturday 28 November, their first Belfast date in a while. They're a trio of songwriters ā Noriana Kennedy, Nicola Joyce and Noelie McDonnell ā who formed in Galway in 2012, after each had spent years recording and touring on their own. The three voices come together in harmony, and that's where the band sits: in the blend of the three of them singing together rather than as a lead and backing.
They've put out four critically acclaimed, award-winning albums since they started, and they've been nominated for Best Group and Best Album at the RTĆ Folk Awards. A fifth album is due in September 2026, so this show comes after that's out. Hot Press described their music as 'deceptively simple and deeply affecting with stunning melodies and harmonies', and the Irish Times has praised their lyrical tapestry. It's a good way to get a sense of what they do: the melodies and the harmonies are the thing, and the lyrics carry their own weight.
Beyond their own songs, they also put on Bird on the Wire, a collaboration with singer Pauline Scanlon that brings in a ten-piece band with strings to work through the songs of Leonard Cohen. That played to sold-out audiences across Ireland in 2019 and 2021, so they're as comfortable with other people's writing as they are with their own.
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The gig is on Saturday 28 November, 19:30 to 21:30, with doors opening at 18:45. Tickets are Ā£22.50 plus a Ā£2.50 booking fee.
