“My voice is my passport” she now says. And what a voice; Warm, sweet, round, pure, pitch perfect, yet understated. Her first album ‘Song’, included material which embraced everything from jazz, the torch song, a Joni Mitchell cover (A Case Of You), and traditional South African music.

Opening things up tonight is a Beatles tribute band, but the real ‘belle of the ball’ is the appearance on Saturday night of the fantastic Aussie, Abba tribute band, Björn Again.

Two theatrical productions which, in their own way, are well worth seeing. We’ve already covered ‘Bug’ in the Theatre Nationale, but you might also want to check out ‘La Mégère apprivoisée’ (The Taming of the Shrew), outdoors at the Abbaye de Neumünster. The publicity seems to suggest it will be quite a spectacular production.

Most of the events fall under the auspices of the Fête de la Musique, but on top of that there’s the Duke’s little soiree in the city centre, and piling on the fun the commercial venues stage a couple of shows that would make anybodies weekend, on their own, at any other time of the year. So, strap yourself in, put on your baseball cap with the can holders, stock up on Red Bull and take a deep breath… It’s the l-o-n-g-e-s-t weekend in the Luxembourg year.

Since the end of the 18th century it has been customary to celebrate the sovereign’s birthday and traditionally, the date chosen was 23 January. But it’s a miserable time of year to party al fresco. If you are royalty, you can celebrate your birthday whenever you damn well please, so in 1961 it was decided to transfer the public celebration to warmer times. Thus was born the tradition of National Day on the 23rd of June of each year. History part over….

T&T have a big and loyal following in Germany (so we can expect a lot of cross-border traffic), and are universally known for the song ’After Dark’, which featured in the Roberto Rodriguez movie ’From Dusk Till Dawn’. All in all, it should be an absolute cracker of a show.

Religion, the legitimacy of power, technological developments are constantly moving, changing and shifting. The exhibition puts forward the argument that the end result of our transformation, evident now, will be a second nature, a ‘counter-nature’, with all it’s inherent risks

Suitably fed and watered it’s time to go clubbing. You, and about 5000 other souls that is, as The Pet Shop Boys bring their all singing, all dancing, multi-media, Pandemonium TourPetshopboys spectacular, to the Rockhal on Saturday night.

Perhaps the most curious and interesting act of the day is the folk group, Grupo Etnografico do Alto Minha. Curious and interesting because it was formed here in Luxembourg by 19 young Portuguese people, with the idea of promoting the traditions and culture of their Portuguese roots. The group chose to adopt the folklore, music, dance and costume from the Alto Minho region in the north of Portugal for their performances.

Saturday’s recommendations kick off early with the Rock am Park show in Hesperange, starting at 17h. The bill includes local boys Baby Oil [pictured] who certainly have ‘the know-how’ to rock a gig! And Sulivan, who, if you’ve never heard them before, are also well worth checking out.