Mark Kermode Presents Gang of Three at Roisin Dubh

What to Expect

Mark Kermode is best known in Ireland and the UK as a film critic, a familiar voice from BBC radio and television film review shows, but he is also a working musician who plays double bass, and for this show he leads a band through a full performance of Gang of Four’s 1979 album “Entertainment!” from start to finish. Gang of Four were a Leeds post punk band whose angular, funk influenced guitar sound and pointedly political lyrics made “Entertainment!” one of the most influential records to come out of that scene, an album later bands from Franz Ferdinand to Bloc Party have pointed to as a direct reference point. Playing a landmark album in full and in order is a different kind of show to a normal gig, built around getting the record’s sequencing and tension right rather than chasing a greatest hits energy, and it rewards an audience who knows the source material. Expect a tight, rhythm driven set heavy on bass and scratchy guitar, introduced with the kind of knowledgeable commentary you would expect from someone who talks about music and film for a living.

Good to Know

• Date and time: Thursday 10 September 2026, doors 8pm
• Venue: Roisin Dubh, Upper Dominick Street, Galway City
• Price: see roisindubh.net for ticket price and availability
• A full album performance, expect the record played start to finish in order
• Standing venue, book ahead given the crossover appeal of a film critic led show

Getting There

Galway city is well connected from around the country, with Irish Rail running direct services from Dublin Heuston in around two hours fifteen minutes and Bus Eireann and Citylink both running frequent coaches from Dublin, Limerick and Cork. Roisin Dubh is on Upper Dominick Street in Galway’s West End, about a 10 to 15 minute walk from Eyre Square and the train and bus station on Station Road, with plenty of bars nearby for before or after the show.