- Music
- 18 Jul 01
U2 Get the Green Light for Second Slane
U2 MAKE IRISH rock ‘n’ roll history on September 1st when they play a second show at Slane Castle.
Talking last week, a spokesman said that, “U2, SFX and MCD would like to thank the officials of Meath County Council for today’s decision, which was taken in response to the phenomenal demand for a second concert. The band and the promoters would also like to thank An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Minister Noel Dempsey and the other Statutory Authorities, the Gardai and the residents for their participation in the review process which led to the granting of the licence.”
The 80,000 tickets were put on sale immediately and sold-out within 94 minutes. Of these, 58% were obtained in person from Ticketmaster, 22% over the telephone and 20% online.
“The ‘on sale immediately’ system was implemented following advance consultation with the Gardai and Ticketmaster in the interests of public safety,” the spokesman continues. “Fans are advised that there are no further tickets available.”
According to a well-placed source, “The Gardai didn’t want people queuing overnight and then reacting angrily – as they did outside HMV Grafton Street in April – when tickets ran out. There was also concern about the number of young kids who were camping out.”
Support for Slane 2 is provided by Moby, Foo Fighters, Nelly Furtado and Lord Henry Mountcharles’ charges Dara.
Finally, advice has been issued to concert-goers who are worried about the validity of their tickets: “Some notable differences between genuine and forged tickets are as follows – the hologram on the forgeries have stars, the genuine ticket does not. The hologram on some forgeries can be scraped off. Additional security measures are built in to the genuine tickets. These cannot be disclosed for security reasons but will be easily detected on the day of the show.”