Having won the Mercury Music Prize, Antony and the Johnsons return to the capital for a captivating performance in November.

Antony and the Johnsons have released their second album, I am a Bird Now to ecstatic reviews with haunting and effecting songs like "Spiraling", "Hope There's Someone" and "You Are My Sister".

When Antony was a boy in California he caught the image of Boy George on Culture Club's debut album, Kissing to Be Clever and had an inclination that he would someday be a singer too. A decade later, Antony had decamped to New York and began performing at the Pyramid Club in the East Village.

Assembling the Johnsons, Antony recorded his first album, Antony and the Johnsons showcasing the stunning mixture of feminine torch blues and classical masculinity that makes up Antony voice. In 2003, Lou Reed asked Antony to interpret "Perfect Day" for his album, The Raven and took the singer on his American and European tour.

When word got out that Antony was recording his second album, a host of the music stars were lining up to work with him including Lou Reed, Devendra Banhart, Rufus Wainwright and his childhood hero, Boy George. I Am a Bird Now is an intimate album of perfectly realised emotion and exquisite musical simplicity.

Often accompanied by sparse arrangements, Antony transforms introspective ballads into some of the most emotional and soulful music created in the last decade. Antony achieves somethings so pure and personal that his music goes right to the source of the listener's emotions in a way that is both exhilarating and disquieting.

Promising to be the gig of 2005, Antony and the Johnsons play Vicar Street on the 2^nd.

Antony and the Johnsons
Vicar Street
Buy Tickets

Time: 8.30pm

Tickets: €29.50

Tickets are available from Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.ie

Vicar Street

58-59 Thomas St,

Dublin 2.

Tel: + 353 (0) 1 4546656