COUNTDOWN TO SLANE: Fiachna ó Braonáin on Rolling Stones, 1982

The stand out Slane, for me, was the Rolling Stones in 1982. I was 16 at the time, a Stones superfan, and I went down very early in the morning to make sure I was up the front. It was the 7am bus because, back then, there was no such thing as premium tickets. The Chieftains were the first band on – what a brilliant start. They were followed by George Thorogood & The Destroyers, who’s a great blues guitar player; and then The J Geils Band.

Bill Wyman was still in the band at the time, and they began their set with ‘Under My Thumb’. I had a Marlboro in my mouth because I knew Keith smoked Marlboro – these are the things that are important when you’re young! I went with a friend, a pal of mine from France who was over for the summer. We had our rucksacks, with just a bottle of water and a sandwich between us. We ended up staying there the whole day, not moving at all. It was super exciting.

That was the stand-out occasion. I also played guitar with Simon Carmody, who was the opening act for Robbie Williams when he played Slane. I think it was myself and Peter from the Flowers and the set was around 20-25 minutes. I had my kids with me, and my daughters were Robbie Williams superfans, so I took them backstage where they got to meet him. That was a highlight.

• Fiachna Ó Braonáin is guitarist with Hothouse Flowers. He presents Late Date on RTÉ Radio One from Fri. to Sun