The Boss is back next month in Ireland, but it feels like he has never been away.
Bruce Springsteen’s concerts in Belfast, Kilkenny, Cork and Dublin will take place almost a year to the day since his three sold-out shows at the RDS, though it had been a six-year hiatus before that, partially caused by Covid-19.
Familiarity breeds not contempt but loyalty for his legions of Irish fans. By the time he finishes his last Irish show, which is at Croke Park on Sunday May 19th, he will have sold his millionth ticket in Ireland, according to promoter Peter Aiken.
His father, Jim, first took a punt on Springsteen almost 40 years ago when, off the back of the success of the Born in the USA album, he invited Springsteen to play his first concert in Ireland. That was in front of 80,000 fans at Slane Castle in 1985.
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That storied concert on the one sunny weekend of an atrocious summer was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Springsteen and his Irish fans.
He has played 28 shows in Ireland to date, never letting his Irish fans down. He still turns up on time and plays for three hours plus. He will have a 10.30pm curfew at Croke Park with a start time at 7pm. There might well be a lottery as to how long he goes over his allotted time.
He is doing all of this at the age of 74 when a little garden weeding is the height of strenuous activity for many of his contemporaries.
“He doesn’t need the money, but this is what he does. He is an insurance man’s dream, he never cancels,” said Aiken.
He begins his Irish tour on May 9th in Boucher Road, Belfast, followed by Kilkenny on May 12th, Páirc Uí Chaoimh on May 16th and Croke Park on May 19th. He will have sold 350,000 tickets in a calendar year in Ireland.
Aiken reckons there is a new audience for Springsteen in Ireland among the children and the grandchildren of those for whom he provided the soundtrack of their lives. “His youngest fan base in the world is in Ireland. If you went to other countries it would all be people like me,” he said.
Springsteen’s first concert at Croke Park was in 2016. According to Aiken, the musician was amazed at the size of the stadium and even more amazed that those who played in it were amateur sportspeople.
Croke Park stadium director Peter McKenna said concert revenue is a large part of its financial plan and 83 per cent of it goes back into the GAA.
Just 22,000 supporters turned up for the Leinster semi-finals in Croke Park on Sunday and there is a clamour for these games to be taken out of the venue and put into provincial locations.
McKenna said the crowds will increase in Croke Park when the “jeopardy games” start to kick in after the provincial championships are ended.
“I wouldn’t take a judgment on one weekend. It certainly isn’t troubling us,” he said.
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