What's On in Belfast

Ashley McBryde — One of American country music's most electrifying and uncompromising voices rolls into Custom House Square for what promises to be a rousing open-air evening by the waterfront. Ashley McBryde has built a fierce reputation for storytelling that hits like a freight train — raw, funny, and deeply human — and seeing her perform under the Belfast sky as the summer light fades is the kind of memory you will still be talking about years from now. Doors open at 6:00pm, so get there early and soak up the setting before the magic starts. Check website for tickets.

Alter Bridge — Hard rock heavyweights Alter Bridge take over The Telegraph Building at 7:00pm, bringing their colossal, riff-laden sound to one of Belfast's most dramatically transformed venues. If you have never caught them live, be warned: Myles Kennedy's voice is genuinely staggering in person, and the band has a gift for turning a room full of strangers into a single heaving, fist-pumping organism. Check website for tickets and brace yourself for a proper evening of cathartic rock theatre.

Mike Reed's Separatist Party — For something altogether more adventurous, make your way to The Black Box at 8:00pm for an evening with Chicago drummer and composer Mike Reed and his brilliantly named Separatist Party. This is jazz that probes and surprises, built on spontaneity and genuine dialogue between musicians who seem to listen to each other as intently as they play — and in the warm, welcoming confines of the Black Box, the intimacy is everything. At £15, it is an absolute steal for a night of music that will stick in your head long after you leave.