O night divine

Damien Rice will be rounding off a staggeringly successful 2002 with an appearance on Later With Jools Holland this Friday night (November 29th, BBC2, 11.30 pm).

Damien is due to perform 'The Blower's Daughter', a single and listeners'-favourite from his debut album O.

"We're very excited about it," says a label spokesperson. "[Later] aside, he's also playing The Tabernacle, in London, on Thursday November 28th - which sold out two weeks in advance. It's a 450-capacity venue," she adds, "so we were really pleased.

"We're coming back in February to do some more shows, so then hopefully the album will go into phase two."

In the meantime, Rice will be storming his way across Ireland with a major headline tour, kicking off in The Black Box, Galway on December 3rd.

The complete tour list, as if you need to be reminded, is:

The Black Box, Galway (December 3)
The Spirit Store, Dundalk (4)
Solas, Drogheda on (5)
Olympia Theatre, Dublin (7, 8, 9)
*Cancelled* The Arts Centre, Mullingar (11) *Cancelled*
*New* Birr Theatre and Arts Centre, Birr (11) *New*
Royal Spa Hotel, Lisdoonvarna (12)
Coolera House, Sligo (13)
Stardust, Derry (14)
The Limelight, Belfast (15)
De Barra's, Clonakilty (17)
Limerick University Concert Hall, Limerick (18)
Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney (20)
Garter Lane Arts Theatre, Waterford (21)
Cork Opera House, Cork (22)
Newbridge, Kildare (January 2)