O2 in the park

Boybands, Girlbands, Rock Bands, Pop Bands. They were all on show today in the Phoenix Park.
To the 100,000 strong crowd who turned out to see over 30 acts perform, it was a hugely enjoyable afternoon, the 30-odd minute walk through the park to the site notwithstanding. The crowd, mainly made up of girls waiting for a glimpse of Westlife, Blue, Girls Aloud and Brian McFadden revelled in the scorching sun, which inevitably burned this reviewer’s neck. Still, can’t complain, in Ireland any sun is welcome
No Way Out kicked off proceedings, followed by Fran King, You’re A Star winner Chris Doran, South African PopRockers Franklin and Bellefire. The third biggest cheer of the day (the top two went to Westlife and Brian McFadden) was reserved for Blue, who – complete with acrobatic backing dancers – really got the show going.
Firm party faves Picturehouse kept the rock flag flying by treating the crowd to a roasting version of ‘Heavenly Day’ and new single ‘Meet Me’. Alphastates plugged their latest offering ‘Last Day Of Summer’ from their Made From Sand album which went down a treat after all the bubblegum pop.
Aslan, Mickey Harte, the ever thoughtful Mark Geary and Irish/American combo Saucy Monky kept the party going, the latter making the most impact with their with their upful take on The Divinyls ‘I Touch Myself’.
Then the second biggest cheer of the day, Brian McFadden sauntering on to do (and it has to be said) a blistering version of his current hit ‘Real To Me’. Girls Aloud soon followed, and the guys in the crowd certainly took notice! Finally, headliners Westlife raced through a mini greatest hits set to a wild response.
No doubt there’s going to be another gathering in the park next year – and if the weather is like this I’ll be there. Unless Ireland are playing in the footie again of course!