I don't think the crowd was that drunk really. They sold Heineken light beer for 5 euro per plastic cup so you would have to drink pretty fast to get wasted. May be people brought their own stuff. Also, it is a common effect that people act drunk when they believe they should have been drunk. Might explain why so many people enjoyed the mud baths and "fights", not by accident but on purpose.

It was a beautiful setting, a bit like the historic setting in St Petersburg, but I keep asking myself why I spend all day and half of the night struggling with travel and walk in mud and freezing cold wind (yes it was cold for mid August) when they could hape played the show in a park in the city.

The shifting temperatures/winds made the sound equally shifting. Ever since I saw pictures from the Stones at Slane in 1982 I have been dreaming about that venue and finally my dream came through. As always a dream is different from reality, but I have to admit, if they announced another Stones show at Slane Castle, I would go again, but then I would bring rubber boots and a warm sweater, just in case... And I would check out what the helicopter rides which the numerous VIP's used actually cost!

Bjornulf

ROLLING STONED Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am just back from Dublin too! I flew out on
> friday night from London Gatwick, and as soon as I
> arrived in Dublin airport, I saw 2 blokes in
> STONES shirts, so we had a quick chat and they
> were from norway, I then got a taxi to the hotel I
> was staying in in BETTYSTOWN, that was laying on a
> coach to Slane. Had a good night in the hotel bar
> on friday, but felt hungover as hell on saturday
> morning! Hangover had cleared up by the time I got
> onto the bus, but no one really wanted to talk to
> me, as it was all mostly couples and little
> groups, so I stood on my own for 6 hours in the
> GOLD CIRCLE A section, but the show was great!
> Trouble was it took almosyt an hour to walk back
> to the bus, and we were told to be there by 23.45,
> or would be left behind, so i had to leave during
> PAINT IT BLACK,but heard the rest as i was walking
> away. One thign that really pissed me oof was the
> fact that they told us cameras were not allowed,
> yet everyone had them!


Private buses werent going to leave that early! They have a set time to expect to leave after the show ends and while they'll leave latecomers theyre not going to depart with half the bus being empty. It didnt end until almost 11 and it would have been phsyically impossible for ANYONE to have stayed until the end and got to a bus in 45 minutes

TM stated that the Stones would be on at 20,00 - meaning the show would be over by around 22.00. We were dropped off and as it said the coach departed one hour after the show, I mentioned to our driver that it would take at least that for ANYONE to get back as he was about 4 miles away, and what with the mud as well as the crowds that would be packing a small country road and unable to move fast. He said that he had been told that the show was over by 10 and the bus was to leave at 11. I told him that by 11 pm, the Stones would probably just have finished (as it turned out, it ended around 10.55 - then there were the fireworks). They are flexible, and also the public address system were telling people to leave slowly and carefully because of the hazardous conditions underfoot.

Show ended 10.55 pm. Out of Slane Castle 11.30 pm. Back at bus 12.30 am. Buses were still there!

bv Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think the crowd was that drunk really.
> They sold Heineken light beer for 5 euro per
> plastic cup so you would have to drink pretty fast
> to get wasted. May be people brought their own
> stuff.

They sure did. People were drinking on buses en route and partying on roadsides before going to the castle

>Also, it is a common effect that people act
> drunk when they believe they should have been
> drunk. Might explain why so many people enjoyed
> the mud baths and "fights", not by accident but on
> purpose.
>
> It was a beautiful setting, a bit like the
> historic setting in St Petersburg, but I keep
> asking myself why I spend all day and half of the
> night struggling with travel and walk in mud and
> freezing cold wind (yes it was cold for mid
> August) when they could hape played the show in a
> park in the city.

Strange as it may seem, this show wouldnt have sold as well had it been held in the city. In Ireland, Slane is seen as a "must see" annual festival event, in the way that Glastonbury or Roskilde would be seen in Britain or Scandinavia. They will sell tens of thousands or tickets based on the location alone - regardless of the fact that its quite remote - and attract a younger crowd. If they'd played the show at Croke Park and charged higher prices for seated tickets, they would have had problems filling it. The choice of Slane as the venue was, in terms of generating ticket sales, a master stroke.


>
> The shifting temperatures/winds made the sound
> equally shifting. Ever since I saw pictures from
> the Stones at Slane in 1982 I have been dreaming
> about that venue and finally my dream came
> through. As always a dream is different from
> reality, but I have to admit, if they announced
> another Stones show at Slane Castle, I would go
> again, but then I would bring rubber boots and a
> warm sweater, just in case... And I would check
> out what the helicopter rides which the numerous
> VIP's used actually cost!



Good to see you yesterday, although that purple raincoat would be more suited to an outdoor Prince concert...

I agree with what you are saying, but at the end of the day, I did not fancy being stranded in the middle of nowhere for the night, espeically as I was on my own and was not as if I could walk back, so I decided not to chance it! I will be at the O2 next week, with a group fo people, and we are all staying at a hotle nearby, so that will be better

magenta Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey I saw Morris Day and the Time last night, they
> came out and did their hits, some of them in
> medley form and others longer but no matter what,
> the crowd dug it. Like I have always said, the
> Stones came from era of HITS and some of the
> warhouses where hits. Better to have than not have
> the. SOMEBODY BRING A MIRROR.


I almost went to that. Sunset Junction, right?

I just come back from slane.

What can I write ? The more important for me... Keith is back and the nightmare beginning of this european tour (I witness) is far away behind us.

He was on fire.. fire on his eyes.. fire on his guitar.. I was first row in front of him.

The rest of the band as usual : perfect.. I am so excited to go at the O2 !!!

Sohoe wrote:


"Stickydion wrote: '1989/1990 tour: 115 shows but only 37 diffenent songs. On Licks Tour, at time when the band was playing 19 songs in Europe, we had finally 117 gigs and 78 different songs. More than doubling in relation to 1989/90 while the number of the gigs was almost the same !'

I don't think you can compare SW to Licks, since the concepts of those 2 tours were different."

Good observation. So you can compare ABB to any previous Stones tour. You know the numbers of 1981/1982, 1989/1990, 2002/2003. Look at the rest: 1994/1995, 137 shows, 60 different songs played. 1997/1998/1999, 153 shows, 76 different songs. So i think we should appreciate ABB's variety. Atleast this...

As a statistic in its own right, the number of songs played over the course of the tour isnt an accurate reflection on its 'variety' . Especially if so many of the songs are played every show and several of the lesser played ones are played only once or twice.

Licks had more variety and depth, despite the fact that this tour featured more songs played.

Noticed a reference to Slane being a yearly music festival type event but unless I fell asleep for a year or so and missed it, surely the last previous gig was Marge back in 2004. Mind you, I could be wrong and maybe I was sleeping but Slane has had problems getting crowds anything remotely like what has been seen at the Stones and even pre 2004 I don't recall yearly events... but as mentioned, I could've been asleep, maybe even ever so slightly intoxicated

2006 was the first year since 1997 were there was no scheduled concert.

There was no show in 2005, but only because Eminem cancelled.

So, its pretty much an annual event although the date of it isnt always the same.

The crowd was more restricted for the Stones this year because of the seating arrangements. I dont think theyve had much problem selling tickets. Robbie Williams and the Chili Peppers pulled in massive crowds in recent years and U2 had to add an (unprecedented) second show in 2001.

List of line ups :
[en.wikipedia.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-08-19 22:24 by Gazza.

Obviousy was asleep but since I wouldn't go to the back door to see any of the mentioned 'acts' maybe I'll just go back to sleep 'til the Stones return.

Gazza wrote:

"As a statistic in its own right, the number of songs played over the course of the tour isnt an accurate reflection on its 'variety' . Especially if so many of the songs are played every show and several of the lesser played ones are played only once or twice.

Licks had more variety and depth, despite the fact that this tour featured more songs played."


As Sohoe wrote, Licks had a different concept. Arena and theatre gigs in Europe. But compared to any other tour, ABB REALLY has more variety IMO.

i'll write up a proper report in a while, but suffice it to say for now that the show rocked. After a barnstorming, YCAGWYW, my pal Barry turned to me and said "that was savage - you know, i could f*ck off home now and feel i'd got me money's worth"

course then the b-stage thang happened, and we were right beside it; judging from a few of BVs photos, i think we were close enough to him.

by the way - if the lady with the KEITH RICHARDS ATHLETIC CLUB tracksuit top is reading this, i'm sorry, i genuinely wasn't takingg a picture of your arse; i thought the slogan was priceless...

now - if you'll excuse me, after that walk both ways, having difficulty ettin a cab last night, too much time spent in wellingtons etc...i'm off for a bath!

Springsteen and U2 packed it out. did U2 do two nights. and wobblie rilliams may have sold it out as well

Wow! 3 hours each way from Dublin (including getting loss time and waiting to exit) It was great to see Keith singing with mick on Dead Flowers. Set list was not challenging but the show was very enjoyable.

I'm not stupid, only joking.......... ;-)


Baboon Bro Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No: Mr Ed is the stupid one.
> No fun with these joke.
> Its almost as bad as them spoilers.

textmonkey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> i'll write up a proper report in a while, but
> suffice it to say for now that the show rocked.
> After a barnstorming, YCAGWYW, my pal Barry turned
> to me and said "that was savage - you know, i
> could f*ck off home now and feel i'd got me
> money's worth"
>
> course then the b-stage thang happened, and we
> were right beside it; judging from a few of BVs
> photos, i think we were close enough to him.
>
> by the way - if the lady with the KEITH RICHARDS
> ATHLETIC CLUB tracksuit top is reading this, i'm
> sorry, i genuinely wasn't takingg a picture of
> your arse; i thought the slogan was priceless...
>


I bumped into Princess Margaret from Shidoobee and she was wearing one of those, maybe it was her!

Nanker Phlegm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Springsteen and U2 packed it out. did U2 do two
> nights. and wobblie rilliams may have sold it out
> as well


yeah but I think what thurrick was referring to was recent years.

The show tends to sell out on the first day it goes on sale. The Stones show did the same.

U2 played two shows in 2001 on successive Saturdays. They had to get special permission from the village to do so as usually theyre guaranteed its a one day a year thing. Bono's dad died in between the two shows and he was pallbearer at his funeral the day before the 2nd show.

Springsteen's show in 1985 was limited to 65,000 after the riots that preceded the Dylan show the year before. There were so many gatecrashers it was estimated there may have been up to 100,000 at it. Attendance wise, it (un)officially surpassed any of the other shows.

What about Mr. Snow?

was Erik with you, Gazza?

never heard from Erik. Having problems getting in touch with him. Hopefully see him at the Pilot Inn (sorry to hear you're not coming, by the way)

Here's one of me (right) with Barking Paul and Princess Margaret from Shidoobee



Bumped into Harm briefly as well...didnt know he was going!



This is with Albert from Holland (from RocksOff) and Roadster32



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2007-08-20 00:57 by Gazza.

Baboon Bro Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pic from the immediate surroundings
> [img.photobucket.com]
> uppe/IE204.jpg
> [sheridan.geog.kent.edu]
> .jpg [irorszag-kepgaleria.lap.hu]


Looks like the Stones itself...

I just got back to the US and WOW. What a trip and show !!! I'll post a few pics and video later.

All I can say was Mick was it top form. His dancing on Midnight Rambler was fanastic !!!

Thanks God I bought Wellies for the show.

JJFlash from Slane

A few pics from Slane




Wellies - thank God we had them

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> So, anyway, a historic day with a bit of an 'alpha
> omega' to it with the Stones playing what may be
> their last Irish show (and maybe even their last
> stadium sized show) back where I'd first saw them
> a quarter of a century earlier. At that time Mick
> bade us farewell with a promise "we'll see you
> again some day". How we laughed at the time of the
> absurdity of such a remark - then again, it
> wouldnt be the last time we underestimated how
> utterly unique this band is.

Thanks for the review, Gazza. It seems like the concert was a real hit and the tour has been on an upward arc since the near-disastrous first shows (which I witnessed)...my recollections of the band and the concert later in the tour in Budapest were similar to yours in Slane: extremely young crowd, incredibly enthusiastic, thankful, ecstatic...and the Stones responding with vicious hooks and boundless energy...the only difference is you experienced rain and mud and I experienced searing heat and dust. I'm looking forward to a glorious conclusion to the tour in London.

Diamond rings, Vaseline, you gave me disease, well, I lost a lot of love over you.

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ronnie was introduced as the "Boy from Naas", and
> then, resplendent in a green shirt for the
> occasion came out and stood rubbing his arms as if
> he was freezing his bollocks off. Being something
> of a 'local', he got a massive reception. Never
> seen anything like it, a long chant of "Ronnie,
> Ronnie, Ronnie" which he of course absolutely
> milked, prowling around the stage and getting the
> crowd to keep it going. Mick had to delay
> Charlie's intro because it went on and on. Ronnie
> eventually went over to Mick, grabbed his
> microphone and shouted "Up The Royals" (I assumed
> this was some Gaelic football reference as I dont
> know of any football team in ireland with that
> nickname - with the benefit of research, it seems
> that Meath (the county where the show took place)
> is known as the "Royal County", so presumably the
> local team are known as the 'Royals')
>
> Charlie got introduced as "Charlie O' Watts",
> Keith got a huge welcome and made some sarcastic
> wisecrack about the weather. I dont know...I didnt
> find it THAT cold, to be honest. Depends what
> youre used to, I suppose.
>
> Musically, they sounded really good. Keith made a
> bit of a botch of the first part of the solo in
> 'Rough Justice' - Roadster and I shot ourselves a
> quick look that said "Eek!" but things soon
> recovered. His solo in 'Sympathy' was pretty short
> and ragged, but the song picked up and the latter
> part of it was pretty glorious. At one point, Mick
> missed a cue, sang in a place where he wasnt
> supposed to and Keith looked around in
> bewilderment with this pricless expression which
> seemed to say "Jagger - what the @#$%& ARE you
> doing?". Otherwise Keith seemed sharp enough. You
> kinda knew it was gonna be a good night when he
> absolutely bounded onstage, hit that first chord
> of 'Start Me Up', kicked his leg in the air and
> the crowd went absolutely nuts. He came out to
> both catwalks at various points, got down on his
> knee to the crowd when playing his solo on
> 'Tumbling Dice - generally he seemed to be moving
> around quite well.
>
> Ronnie though was absolutely superb. He really has
> risen to the challenge this summer when it was
> needed.
>
> Mick said a few lines in Gaelic before one song.
> No idea what it was as I dont speak it, and it was
> probably phonetically strange for some of the
> locals too., but a nice touch nonetheless. When
> doing his spoken intro to 'Dead Flowers' he asked
> 'Do you want me to say it in Gaelic?" and then
> did! 'Dead Flowers' was really beautiful. Great to
> see Keith singing back up vocals on it, although
> it was noticeable that when doing so, he didnt
> play guitar (it seems to be a Gerald Ford 'dont
> walk and chew gum at the same time' thing).
>
> 'Midnight Rambler' - well, I dont need to say much
> about it, other than it was utterly explosive.
> They just always seem to manage to nail this one.
>
> 'I go Crazy' went down really well. Helped partly
> by Lisa wearing a skirt which was flapping around
> so much in the breeze that at one point you could
> almost see what she had for breakfast. At the end
> of it, it just segued into 'Tumbling Dice' without
> a break which was really nicely done. I've really
> liked the versions of this song on this tour -
> Keith's added some extra little touches to the
> coda at the end which come across as a bit jazzy.
>
>
> Keith's set worked fine. Sang 'You got the silver
> really nicely and 'Wanna hold you', a train wreck
> on some early shows, seems to be working out
> nicely.
>
> Hard to really judge the b-stage because when
> youre standing there, youre hearing two sound
> systems competing with each other and sonically
> its a bit chaotic. Crowd absolutely went nuts
> during it though. We were at the back behind
> Darryl so it was hard to get too many good photos.
> They went through the closing warhorses really
> well, with JJF being really good and Brown Sugar
> was quite flawless.
>
> There was one moment more than any other that took
> me back to my first show at the same venue in
> 1982. I distinctly remember watching Mick towards
> the end of that show on JJF sprinting from one
> catwalk to the other and thinking "he's almost 39.
> How the @#$%& can he do that. He'll never be able
> to do THAT again in two or three years". Back
> then, I was 19 and you just associated musicians
> over 40 in the way we'd see the likes of Chuck
> Berry nowadays. Well, during 'Brown sugar', Mick
> just TOOK OFF and SPRINTED like a young gazelle
> down the catwalk to where the b-stage was. Cue a
> quite audible mass "GASP" from 60,000 people
> wondering how the hell a 64 year old man who has
> been moving like he does for two hours be capable
> of that.
>
> This was the first time I'd been to Slane in
> twelve years (my 6th visit overall with 1982 being
> the first). Theyve certainly organised it a bit
> better than was the case many years ago and those
> responsible (and the local police) deserve a lot
> of credit for doing so, plus the local villagers
> for putting up with this influx every summer. The
> ONE sore point was the walk from the buses to the
> castle itself which took about 75 minutes. Easy
> enough for someone able bodied like myself, but an
> absolute nightmare if (like a mate of mine) you're
> not so lucky. the rain stayed off for most of the
> day once we arrived, with just a couple of showers
> during the opening acts. Incredibly muddy in parts
> though, although we had a bit of canvas to stand
> on at the b stage which made it easier. dreadful
> getting out back up that hill in the mud, however.
> Took at least half an hour to get out of the
> castle grounds.
>
> Probably the youngest crowd I've ever seen at a
> Stones gig. Maybe even more so than 1982! When
> people doubted the Stones could sell this show out
> beforehand I said that the fact that it was at
> Slane would mean theyd be guaranteed to sell
> 30-40,000 tickets regardless of who is on, as this
> has become the biggest musical 'event' in Ireland
> every summer. So, it was a very youthful crowd,
> most of whom would have been seeing the band for
> the first time. the reaction seemed very positive,
> with them being really into it from the first
> number. Hopefully the lively reception from this
> show and the Isle of Wight festival have shown the
> Stones the positives to be gained in not
> continuing to ignore a younger audience.
>
> Also it was probably the most drunken crowd. As
> the great Spike Milligan once said, "All over the
> world, people are dying of thirst - but it seems
> the Irish were born with one". We'd no sooner
> stepped off the bus at 2.30 pm and there were
> scores of people already off their tits. Never saw
> anyone arguing or fighting, though, everyone
> seemed in high spirits. That said we did see one
> pair of guys holding on to each other and
> staggering around in a way where you'd have
> thought they were siamese twins who had been
> joined at the shoulder. One of them was a complete
> bollocks. In the space of 500 yards, he had
> managed to almost get himself arrested twice by
> acting the maggot in front of a police car and
> then a policeman on a horse - in between those two
> he managed to fall on his arse into a puddle. We
> were just talking about how much of an idiot he
> was when we heard this shuffling of feet beside us
> and looked around just in time to see the silly
> twat staggering past us and then falling head
> first into what was probably the deepest and
> muddiest puddle in the whole of Ireland that
> afternoon.
>
> So, anyway, a historic day with a bit of an 'alpha
> omega' to it with the Stones playing what may be
> their last Irish show (and maybe even their last
> stadium sized show) back where I'd first saw them
> a quarter of a century earlier. At that time Mick
> bade us farewell with a promise "we'll see you
> again some day". How we laughed at the time of the
> absurdity of such a remark - then again, it
> wouldnt be the last time we underestimated how
> utterly unique this band is.


Fu** You! Gazza your fuc***! Talking about the Stones in this fashion!...lolJust kidding! I'm glad you enjoyed yourself,i'm obviously jeoulous! I WISH I WAS THERE!,anyway it's been to long i'm going through DT'S,it's been since Madrid,like Sarah has stated what's up with the Stones withdrawl's...you have'nt hit them yet since there in your country. Anyway how did Slane compare to Madrid since i know you held Madrid in very high ground? as well as i did,thought Madrid was fabulous! By the way i guess i will be pouring beer down your throat next week and hoping there's some mud puddles to throw you in or fall face first in so you come out lookin like Marilyn Manson,or your favorite chick Shirly Manson...hahahaha....lol....I'm sorry i missed you in Madrid Eric Snow tried to hook us up,i left my e-mail but i know you were very busy like everyone on tour,let's definatly try and do the mud puddle this time around....lol.........



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-08-20 08:56 by stonesfrk.

Young crowd? (Slane) From where I was standing about 50% were older than me!.(..and I am past 50). Also, best intro to Brown Sugar I've heard in a while.

Got back home yesterday from Dublin. I had a great time,I'm glad I have been there, but would I go again? I do't think so. This was a concert where I had a feeling I should leave earlier, so I did. After the songs at the b-stage I climbed up the slope, made my way to drunk, dancing and falling people. By the time I was near the exit they were playing paint it black. Watched a few minutes from up there but decided to leave. By the time they ended Brown sugar I was getting in the bus. Arrived in Dublin at 0.15 more or less.
Nice to have met Rockman, Gazza, Linda and Bv again. See you in London, 26th

stonesfrk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
>
> Fu** You! Gazza your fuc***! Talking about the
> Stones in this fashion!...lolJust kidding! I'm
> glad you enjoyed yourself,i'm obviously jeoulous!
> I WISH I WAS THERE!,anyway it's been to long i'm
> going through DT'S,it's been since Madrid,like
> Sarah has stated what's up with the Stones
> withdrawl's...you have'nt hit them yet since there
> in your country. Anyway how did Slane compare to
> Madrid since i know you held Madrid in very high
> ground? as well as i did,thought Madrid was
> fabulous! By the way i guess i will be pouring
> beer down your throat next week and hoping there's
> some mud puddles to throw you in or fall face
> first in so you come out lookin like Marilyn
> Manson,or your favorite chick Shirly
> Manson...hahahaha....lol....I'm sorry i missed you
> in Madrid Eric Snow tried to hook us up,i left my
> e-mail but i know you were very busy like everyone
> on tour,let's definatly try and do the mud puddle
> this time around....lol.........



hee hee. Hard to compare shows as they were all different experiences. Slane was more of an endurance test, but all 3 shows I've seen this summer (Lisbon being the other) were all of a similar standard.

hope to see you this week (Shirley manson? Ughh..)

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> never heard from Erik. Having problems getting in
> touch with him. Hopefully see him at the Pilot Inn
> (sorry to hear you're not coming, by the way)
>
> Here's one of me (right) with Barking Paul and
> Princess Margaret from Shidoobee
>
> [i8.photobucket.com]
> 073.jpg
>
> Bumped into Harm briefly as well...didnt know he
> was going!
>
> [i29.photobucket.com]
> g1216/Image016.jpg
>
> This is with Albert from Holland (from RocksOff)
> and Roadster32


LOL!!!! In the first pic I thought "Where the hell is the beer"? Then I saw the second one and thought: "Aaaah, there it is".


GREAT review by the way. Hard not to shed a tear when reading the segment about Jagger running to the b-stage.

JumpingKentFlash