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Slane
Location(s) Slane Castle, Slane, County Meath, Ireland
Years active 1981 - present
Founded by
Date(s) 20 June (2009)
Genre(s) Rock
Website

Slane Concert (often referred as just Slane) is a concert held most years since 1981 in Slane Castle in Slane village, County Meath, in the Republic of Ireland. Slane lies between Navan and Drogheda, about 45 km northwest of Dublin. Concerts typically occur on a Saturday in August, from noon to 22:00. However, the next event in 2009 will see Oasis play the castle on 20 June. The grounds of Slane Castle form a natural amphitheatre. Attendance is usually around 80,000 - 100,000.

2001 was the only year in which the concert was held twice in one year. Both concerts were headlined by U2. 1 The 2005 concert was controversially cancelled after headliner Eminem pulled out after entering drug rehabilitation. One of the boundaries of the venue is the River Boyne. Several people have died while trying to swim the river to gain free access to the concert, including one during REM's concert in 1995.

Contents

Controversies

Mountcharles insists that the venue be played by rock bands and will not not allow so-called manufactured bands such as Westlife or Six to play at his castle grounds. Westlife and Six manager Louis Walsh maintains that Westlife have no interest in playing at Slane, saying a Croke Park gig would be a "dream come true" for his band and that it would be "a far better venue than a field in Meath".2

The 2004 concert attracted protests from the people of Slane, as it was to be held on a Sunday. The inhabitants were fearful of repeats of the civil unrest that had occurred the previous time a concert had been held on a Sunday, Bob Dylan in 1984. This was due to concert-goers arriving the day before, Saturday, and consuming large amounts of alcohol before attending the Sunday concert. The matter was resolved by postponing the start of the concert and having a notably smaller lineup than other years.citation needed Jim Kerr of Simple Minds was allegedly once given a ride home from Slane on the back of Bono's Harley-Davidson. 3

The public going through the gates at Slane for The Rolling Stones concert in 2007.

DVD and video

Bands who have appeared more than once

The Rolling Stones and U2 are the only bands to have headlined the Slane event more than once, other than U2 playing twice in one year. Several other bands have supported a headliner and returned as a headliner themselves. These are included in the table below.

Act Years
Oasis (1995, 20091)
Red Hot Chili Peppers (2001, 2003)
Robbie Williams (1998, 1999)
Stereophonics (1999, 2002)
U2 (1981, 1983, 2001 X2)

Some acts have appeared more than once but never as a headline act. These are included in the table below.

Act Years
Dara (2000, 20012)
James (1993, 1998)
Moby (2000, 20012)
The Charlatans (2002, 2007)

1. This is set to become official in June 2009. 2. The second of two concerts that occurred in this year.

List of Slane lineups

This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

1980s

The first Slane Concert was held in 1981 and for seven consecutive years until 1987 a concert occurred without fail. The seven concerts of the 1980s were headlined respectively by Thin Lizzy, The Rolling Stones, U2, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Queen and David Bowie. In 1983 for the third Slane Concert, which was headlined for the first time by U2, Slane Castle was refused permission to hold a concert, so the "Slane Concert" was held in the Phoenix Park Racecourse in Dublin. This marks the only occasion in which Slane occurred outside Slane. U2 appeared at Slane in 1981 and 1983, whilst in 1984 Bono took to the stage to do a duet with Bob Dylan during his encore. This marked the last appearance by a member of U2 on the Slane stage until their unique double-headliner in 2001. Thus Bono has appeared at Slane on a total of five occasions, three of these being in the first four concerts.

1981

Headliner

1982

Headliner

1983

Headliner

1984

Headliner

3. These made special guest appearances during Dylan's encores.

1985

Headliner

1986

Headliner

1987

Headliner

1990s

After a five year absence, still the longest since the event began in 1981, Slane Concert returned in 1992. The five concerts of the 1990s were headlined respectively by Guns N' Roses, Neil Young, R.E.M., The Verve and Robbie Williams. The 1995 concert, headlined by R.E.M., was notable for the death of one individual who attempted to swim the nearby River Boyne to reach the concert area. The same concert marked the debut of Oasis on the Slane stage; they are set to return in 2009 to headline the event. The 1998 event was headlined by The Verve, their last appearance in Ireland until Oxegen 2008; in 1998 the band appeared alongside special guests Manic Street Preachers and also Robbie Williams who would return the following year to headline. Stereophonics played support in 1999 only to return to headline in 2002. The 1990s saw no performances by any members of U2, the only decade thus far in which this has been the case.

1992

Headliner

1993

Headliner

1995

Headliner

1998

Headliner

1999

Headliner

2000s

The eight concerts of the 2000s were headlined respectively by Bryan Adams, U2 (twice), Stereophonics, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, The Rolling Stones and Oasis. This decade marked the arrival of a new innovation for Slane - two concerts in the same year in 2001. Both were headlined by U2 and both featured an entirely different set of support acts that encompassed the Slane debuts of Coldplay, Counting Crows, Nelly Furtado, Ash, Kelis, The Walls and JJ72 whilst offering returns to Moby and Dara. Red Hot Chili Peppers also appeared for the first time and would return to headline the 2003 event. 2005 was to have been another original and unique event, centred instead of on rock music around the rap genre, only for Eminem to cancel unexpectedly after the event's announcement and selling out. MCD sought legal damages in the High Court.4 The resultant two year break in 2005 and 2006 saw Slane return with headliners The Rolling Stones, only the second artist after U2 to headline the event in two different years, and marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of their first appearance. Lord Henry Mountcharles delay in the picking of suitable acts led to there being no event in 2008; 5 however Oasis have secured the headlining berth for the final concert of Slane's third decade with support from The Prodigy.

2000

Headliner

2001

1st Concert

Headliner
2nd concert

Headliner

2002

Headliner

2003

Headliner

2004

Headliner

2007

Headliner

2009

Headliner Oasis 7

External links

References

  1. ^ Irish Examiner
  2. ^ "Westlife plan concert at Croke Park". RTÉ Mobile. 2002-08-20. http://m.rte.ie/entertainment/news/2002/0820/westlife.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-13. 
  3. ^ Friday Night 80s (Brian McCaul). Today FM. 14 November 2008.
  4. ^ "Concert promoter seeks €1.5m over Eminem pull-out". Irish Independent. 2006-12-05. http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/concert-promoter-seeks-15m-over-eminem-pullout-62961.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-26. 
  5. ^ "Slane 2008 cancelled". Phantom FM. 2008-04-10. http://www.phantom.ie/content/view/1476/104/. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  6. ^ "The Prodigy added to Slane line-up". Hot Press. 2008-10-21. http://www.hotpress.com/news/4942482.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-22. 
  7. ^ Oasisinet
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