Brendan Benson spent years ploughing his own idiosyncratic furrow underneath the mainstream. His albums mesh perfect power pop melodies with a rough-hewn low-fi sensibility. Despite the popiness and obvious accessibility, he never achieved wide success. His albums are perfectly formed slices of West Coast magic.

National Dance Company Wales, formerly Diversions, arrives for a performance in Cork under its new name with work by cutting-edge international choreographers. The double bill will comprise 'Veil of Stars' by Andonis Foniadakis, his debut work with the Company, and a new commission from Netherlands-based choreographer Itzik Galili.

O'Doherty is a charmingly whimsical but utterly endearing comedian with a penchant for combining his comedic performance with tunes played on his miniature electronic keyboard. He brings his new show to Cork this Saturday. There are many comedians who seem to be frustrated musicians.

Thursday 25 February
What: Baby Dee + The Cairo Song
Where: Crane Lane Theatre
When: 8pm

With touchdown of Passion Pit's Heineken Green Spheres show imminent, the final countdown for Cork music fans to apply is on. Would-be gig goers have until Monday 1 March to apply for free tickets on www.heinekenmusic.ie for the gig, which takes place in The Savoy theatre on 12 March.

Mick Flannery's success continues apace and he returns to play some Cork gigs, including an 'all ages' performance. He is one of the most talented musicians to have come out of Cork. Despite his tender years he is establishing himself as a major Irish artist. A few weeks ago Mick and John Spillane were the subject of an RTE 1 'The View' music special. In it the two played their own songs and each other's songs.

The always-excellent independent Limerick label Out On A Limb will have a label night that will take place in The Quad this Friday 26 February. Unusually, this is the first label night they have held in Cork in three years. What did we do? Out ON A Limb has already toured to Dublin, Galway and Limerick.

Comedy of the week:
David O'Doherty, The Pavilion, Saturday 27 February @ 8pm.
O'Doherty is a charmingly whimsical but utterly endearing comedian with a penchant for combining his comedic performance with tunes played on his miniature electronic keyboard.

Their demented characters were hilariously funny and unforgettable yet they also had that ring of reality, so we all recognised something of the characters they portrayed. We knew characters that had a tincture of the creations of Kenny and Shortt. His new show is a return to the kind of comedy he made his name with in the eighties and uses the changing face of contemporary Ireland to display a new cast of characters and use his observational style to great effect.

Few bands embody the spirit of Spinal Tap quite as well as Hayseed Dixie. Hayseed Dixie is an American band which began in 2000 with the release of their first album, 'A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC'. The band performs a mixture of cover versions of hard rock songs and original compositions in a style that is a cross between bluegrass and rock music.