COUNTDOWN TO SLANE: Ruth Scott on Robbie Williams, 1999

I wasn't living in Dublin very long and I wasn't working in radio very long either, so I was very excited to finally get to Slane. I was on air on 2FM on the weekend, until about three o'clock. I remember taking loads of calls from people on air and there were busloads of people who would sing the chorus of 'Angels' at the drop of a hat - I'm sure there's brilliant audio of that somewhere! I got to feel the build-up on the radio - people were just so excited - and then, on the dot of three o'clock, I was out the door. There was no traffic by then, so I flew up. I parked my car in some random field. My friends and I had arranged to meet under one of the big trees in the middle of Slane Castle. Can you imagine trying to meet your friends now in the middle of an 80,000 strong crowd? But we did!

I got there in time to see David Gray, who I love - so this was the perfect, early festival vibe. Happy Mondays were there too and Stereophonics, who were great. Robbie came out to 'Let Me Entertain You' and you just can't beat that for an opening number. I like the idea of someone growing from support act to main act, so maybe I was hoping that would reflect on my own life! I remember the crazy excitement. At the very end, I was so pleased because the person I had gone down with had brought a picnic and left it in the boot of the car. Afterwards, when we eventually found the car - which might have taken us an hour - we had a little picnic. We sat and watched the tail lights as the cars crawled out of the roads around Slane. It was heavenly actually. I have a feeling that I got back to Dublin so late that I was dropped right to the door of 2FM, and went in and did the early breakfast show the next day! That's as rock and roll as it gets!

Imagine: my first year living in Dublin; my first year or two working in radio; tickets to Slane; and having the craic talking to the punters. Amazing. It was the most perfect day.