Live Report: Aaron Rowe kicks off a stellar night at Other Voices

Aaron Rowe is one of many Other Voices filling the Guinness Storehouse tonight.

There's plenty of Guinness apparel in the crowd, but just as music Irish music merch. Band t-shirts from the likes of The Scratch, Fontaines D.C., and, of course, Aaron Rowe are dotted throughout the room. It's a celebration of Irish music in perhaps the most Irish setting imaginable.

Our host, MayKay, tells us all ticket proceeds from tonight's event will go towards the Guinness Dublin 8 Community. The neighbourhood initiative aims to celebrate Dublin 8's cultural, historical and architectural heritage.

Aaron Rowe opens the night with 'Painter (Double Edged Sword)'. A relatively new voice on the Irish music scene, his booming vocals quickly fill the room. It's just him and his guitar on stage, but he commands the attention of the crowd with ease.

"Only a couple of years ago, I was doing pub gigs and corporate events, I actually did a corporate gig here before," he tells the audience.

"It was on like the sixth floor, so I spent more time in the service lift than i did up here," he says, gesturing to towards the stage, drawing a laugh from the crowd.

His newer hit, 'Forever Now,' is upbeat and full-throttle, a classic declaration of enduring love and the promise to love someone "now" and "forever."

"You know the drill," he says. There's barely a moment's hesitation before the crowd begins clapping along as he belts out the chorus: "Forever now!"

Then comes a change of pace, 'Hollywood Sign' sees Rowe explore homesickness, alienation and imposter syndrome. His knack for storytelling shines through, bringing a more vulnerable dimension to the set.

Introducing the next song: "This is about me being a prick. Hope ye like it," 'Please Don't Hate Me' is one of his most intimate, stripped-back confessionals.

He may be a long way from his pub-gigging days, but the song has the conversational intimacy that feels perfectly suited to a pub setting.

"He's the man of the moment," someone murmurs in the crowd. They aren't wrong.

Aaron Rowe at the Guinness Storehouse on November 8th, 2026. Copyright Davide Nolfo/hotpress.com

Doireann Ní Ghlacáin follows with a change of language, bringing a little Gaeilge to the stage.

Coming from a folk dynasty, it's unsurprising that she delivers an old Irish lullaby. Drawing on her background in traditional Irish music, she brings warmth and wit to her performance, offering a moment of intimacy amid the evening's eclectic line-up.

Doireann Ni Ghlacain at the Guinness Storehouse on November 8th, 2026. Copyright Davide Nolfo/hotpress.com

JayaHadADream, the Irish-Jamaican rapper, who hails from the UK is next. She specialises in introspective hip-hop, grime and UK rap, and is making her Dublin debut tonight - informing us her mother was born just around the corner.

She draws on her own experiences of identity, race and inequality, delivering her words with a rawness and conviction that hits just as hard on stage as it does on record.

Much of her performance is taken from her 2025 mixtape Happiness From Agony, she turns her attention to politics, people and herself, delivering lyrics that are heavy, deliberate and deeply personal.

JayaHadADream at the Guinness Storehouse on November 8th, 2026. Copyright Davide Nolfo/hotpress.com

Texas-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Quiet Light are unfortunately unable to perform due to illness, but luckily Fionn Regan is on hand to take their place. Looking every bit the contemporary folk troubadour - flannel shirt, dark-wash jeans, beanie, guitar and harmonica holder - he delivers soft, slow-burning acoustic folk.

'Hurricane Bruise' from his upcoming album Berlin, Berlin, is an immediate standout, it's intricate fingerpicking and gentle vocals drawing the audience in.

Fionn Regan at the Guinness Storehouse on November 8th, 2026. Copyright Davide Nolfo/hotpress.com

Now its time for West Kerry's virtuoso Cormac Begley. He's quick to get feet stamping as he gives a masterclass in bass concertina. He says the instrument in his hands is one of just six in the world, and puts it to work in an old marching tune - just the thing to release a bit of ancestral rage.

Begley conjures such a dense, percussive pulse that his solo performance feels like a full band arrangement.

Cormac Begley at the Guinness Storehouse on November 8th, 2026. Copyright Davide Nolfo/hotpress.com

Drawing on influences including Shane MacGowan, Thin Lizzy and our last act Cormac Begley, Danish outfit Iceage bring the night to a close. The punk rockers deliver a selection of tracks from their latest album, For Love of Grace.

There's an expansive, loose, and gloriously messy quality to their sound. Guitar riffs shriek and frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt seems more than happy to shriek right alongside them.

It's a suitably raucous end to an evening that has celebrated the breadth, diversity and enduring spirit of Irish music, while making room for voices from further ahead.

Iceage at the Guinness Storehouse on November 8th, 2026. Copyright Davide Nolfo/hotpress.com