:: Monday June 13, IRON MAIDEN plus guests Shinedown, Airbourne and Tempt
Ticket status: Still available
BRUCE Dickinson and co invite Belfast to scream for them once again as their Legacy Of The Beast tour finally returns to Ireland after getting underway a mere four years ago.
Yes, after much Covid-related delay, on Monday night Belfast metal fans will once again be treated to the veteran rockers' latest 'greatest hits' live spectacular, this one inspired by the band's official smartphone based role playing game (no, really – there's also a comic too) of the same name.
As ever with Maiden's 'hits' based shows, there are usually a few choice 'deep cuts' from their canon thrown in for good measure – they've released another album, 2021's Senjutsu, since their last visit to Belfast at the SSE Arena way back in 2018, so they might even whip out the singles Stratego and/or Writing on The Wall from that if you scream nicely.
A trio of riff-tastic supporting turns make this a great night out for any headbanger with Tuesday booked off work: reliably raucous Aussie road warriors Airbourne in particular will add an abundance of thunderous/catchy bang for your bucks.
:: Thursday June 16, GERRY CINNAMON plus guests Jake Bugg and Vistas
Ticket status: Still available
SCOTTISH singer/songwriter sensation Gerry Cinnamon is well on the way to making Belsonic at Ormeau Park a home-from-home.
His sold out headline slot at last year's event came as part of a 2021 summer tour which also included stops at London's Alexandra Palace, Musgrave Park in Cork and Dublin's Malahide Castle, along with a huge instantly sold-out homecoming show at Glasgow's 50,000 capacity Hampden Park.
Not bad going for a man with just two albums to his name.
Support comes from Jake Bugg, currently celebrating 10 years since the release of his chart-topping self-titled debut album, and Edinburgh indie popsters Vistas.
:: Friday June 17, TIËSTO plus guests Joel Corry and Shane Codd
Ticket status: Still available
FOLLOWING his sold out concert at Ormeau Park in 2019, Grammy-winning trance legend Tiësto returns to Belsonic for more beats-based bedlam next Friday night.
Guest sets come from chart-topping Geordie Shore survivor Joel Corry and someone called Shane Codd, who is apparently not the DJ alter-ego of local comedian Shane Todd but rather a Dublin-based dance artist who enjoyed a break-out Top 10 hit with his tune Get Out My Head back in 2020.
Every day's a school day, eh?
:: Saturday June 18, CALVIN HARRIS plus guest Solardo
Ticket status: Sold out
DUMFRIES-born 'choon' merchant Calvin Harris returns to Belfast next Saturday night at Belsonic to remind everyone that he's had 27 Top 10 singles and is a bit good at the whole 'getting loads of people in a big field to go buck daft' thing.
If you missed him back in 2015 when he sold out his headline appearance at Tennent's Vital, we have some bad news for you: this Belsonic show, which also features a supporting turn from Solardo – his collaborator on Rollercoaster from last year's Love Regenerator EP – is already long sold out.
:: Sunday June 19, PICTURE THIS plus guests The Vamps and Moncrieff
Ticket status: Sold out
POP rock sensations Picture This are one of those weird Irish acts who are apparently HUGE (in an 'all caps required' sense) yet nobody seems to know anyone who'll actually admit to liking them.
However, the slick Co Kildare quartet topped the Irish charts with their first two albums (last year's Life In Colour made it to Number 2), were reportedly the biggest selling Irish artists of 2017 and 2018 and became the first act to sell out five consecutive nights at Dublin's 3Arena in 2021.
They were last in Belfast to play two sold-out nights at Botanic Gardens back in 2019 and next Sunday's Belsonic show is – you guessed it – also sold out.
Yep, somebody likes them alright.
:: Thursday June 23, DERMOT KENNEDY plus guests James Vincent McMorrow and Sarcastic Sounds
Ticket status: Still available
ANOTHER man who's absolutely huge in Ireland but maybe not quite at the same level elsewhere – yet – is Dermot Kennedy. The former Dublin busker topped the charts in Ireland and Britain back in 2019 with debut album Without Fear, an alluring combination of grit and gloss showcasing his winning way with tender piano-powered ballads, acoustic guitar laments and proper crowd-rousing pop 'bangers'.
Back then, Kennedy seemed a surefire bet for Next Big Thing Ticket status, but then Covid hit in the midst of an American tour and kind of killed his momentum – though his tune Better Days did become something of hopeful anthem late last year as pandemic restrictions began to ease.
Having enjoyed two sold-out headline shows at last September's Belsonic, there's still every chance this year's appearance on June 23 will also go over the top in the next wee while – so move fast if you've been dithering over whether or not to go see him.
:: Friday June 24, LIAM GALLAGHER plus guests
Ticket status: Still available
WITH just two weeks to go until the former Oasis frontman's biggest Belfast show to date, we still have no clue about who's opening for him – but it's doubtful anyone will really care about the support acts just so long as Liam actually makes it to the stage without a recurrence of the helicopter-related mishap which forced the event to be rescheduled last year.
Having stolen a march on older brother Noel by embracing the Oasis canon in concert and actually giving fans what they want when it comes to new material: lairy rock and roll delivered with lip-curled vocals, plus the occasional sing-along ballad, as showcased on chart-topping new album C'Mon You Know.
Liam recently returned to the site of Oasis's historic Knebworth concerts to prove he can still pull whopper crowds under his own steam 25 years on from the height of Britpop. Currently on the cusp of his 50th birthday, his voice isn't quite the unstoppable force it once was – but when 160,000 people are still queuing up to belt out every word for him, that's kind of beside the point.
:: Saturday June 25, SCOOTER plus guests Will Atkinson and Pete Snodden
Ticket status: Still available
HAPPY hardcore veterans Scooter headlined Belfast's CHSq event two nights in a row last year much to the delight of those for whom music just isn't music if it's delivered at anything less than a nosebleed-inducing 180bpm.
Part of their ongoing God Save The Rave live campaign, the German combo's imminent stand at Ormeau Park will be their biggest ever Irish show – they promise to play all their hits while unleashing spectacular pyrotechnics involving flamethrowers.
Let's hope the latter don't have to be deployed as crowd control as the Belfast contingent of the global 'Scooter posse' work themselves up into a limb-blurring frenzy.
:: Sunday June 26, LEWIS CAPALDI plus guests Wild Youth, Luz and Emie Nathan
Ticket status: Sold out
PROFESSIONAL 'good guy' Lewis Capaldi's music might leave plenty of folks cold, but you'll not find many people slagging him off: he's just too damn likeable and 'dead on', as evidenced by myriad TV talkshow appearances and press interviews. Even Noel Gallagher couldn't manage to keep up his 'feud' with this affable Scots songsmith – and that's a man who knows a thing or two about how to hold a grudge.
Anyway, his Belsonic show is long sold-out, so more power to him and anyone going along to enjoy hearing their favourites (and every other tune besides) from the Glaswegian star's only album to date, 2019's mega-selling Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent.
:: Ticket details correct at time of press, see belsonic.com for latest info. All tickets available via ticketmaster.ie
