Van to 'Mick' it to Slane?Sunday, May 27, 2007
By John McGurk
Stone me . . . Van Morrison could be vying for the title of king of the castle with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger!
For rumours are rife 'Van the Man' will be one of the Stones' special guests at the Slane summer festival.
A total of 80,000 tickets were snapped up for The Rolling Stones' return to the Co Meath estate 25 years after their first gig there.
Morrison - aiming to score his fourth consecutive UK Top 20 hit album next month - has already signed up to support the ageing rockers at a number of their European stadium shows this summer.
He has confirmed special guest slots in
Norway, Belgium, Holland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark in July and August.
As yet, no support acts have been announced for the Slane bill.
However, speculation is growing the 61-year-old Belfast musician will make his second Slane festival appearance, following a brief encore spot with Bob Dylan in 1984.
A spokesman for MCD Promotions told Sunday Life he could not confirm if Morrison will support the Stones in Ireland.
What is certain, though, is that Morrison will play two sold-out shows at the Guinness Blues On The Bay Festival in Warrenpoint today.
He releases a new compilation album - The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3 - on June 11.
The 31-track double CD features a selection of famous songs, special live versions of fan favourites, rare remixes and two unreleased tracks.
One of the previously unheard tunes - Cry For Home, a duet with Tom Jones - will be released as a digital download on June 4.
The other unreleased track is a version of long-time favourite Tupelo Honey performed with American country star Bobby Bare.
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