Kings of Convenience

Kings of Convenience bring their quietly sculpted folk-pop to Vicar Street in Dublin on 19 May 2027. Formed in Bergen, the duo of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe have been playing together since their teens, writing songs built on close-knit harmonies, soft acoustic guitars and unhurried tempos. Their debut Quiet Is the New Loud (2001) set the tone for a lean, melodic approach, followed the same year by Versus, a collection of remixes. Riot on an Empty Street (2004) broadened their palette with a cameo from Feist, before Declaration of Dependence (2009) returned to a stripped-back core. After a long pause focused on side projects — The Whitest Boy Alive for Øye, Kommode for Bøe — they resurfaced with Peace or Love in 2021, refining their intimate, chamber-pop inflections.

On stage, they keep it minimal: two voices in tight balance, fingerpicked patterns that weave and breathe, arrangements that leave space for the room to settle. The set tends to roam across their catalogue, revisiting early pieces and newer songs with small shifts in tone and pacing. It’s a format that favors nuance over volume, where phrasing and guitar dialogue carry the songs. Kings of Convenience at Vicar Street is a chance to hear their catalogue up close, in the steady, acoustic frame that has defined their music.