The Scratch

What started with two acoustic guitars and a wooden box in a Dublin kitchen grew into one of Ireland's most beloved live bands. The Scratch blends triumphant folk refrains with hard rock and heavy metal - somewhere in that itchy spot between rage and melancholy.

The band had a previous life as a 100% metal outfit under the name Red Enemy, but at some point their Irish roots started calling. They traded their seven-string guitars for acoustic ones and injected their songs with humour and disarming honesty. They played street corners across Ireland until a performance at the 2017 Rory Gallagher International Festival went viral.

Street corners became sold-out concert halls. The highlight so far: a show at the Ziggo Dome as support for Dropkick Murphy's. On 7 December they bring a brand new album to De Helling in Utrecht.

Support: DUG

DUG combines American old-time music from the Appalachians with Irish folk classics. These two millennials in metal shirts sold out the Ambassador Theatre and earned two Grammy nominations - with one foot in the past and the other somewhere in the future of folk.