IN RECENT weeks Ireland has had a visit from a prince, a queen and a president.
On Saturday it will be the turn of the Kings of Leon, who will headline the 30th anniversary concert at Slane Castle.
This year’s concert is the first in two years following Oasis in 2009, which resulted in several major organisational problems.
Fans complained about overcrowding at the Dublin gate end of the venue, with ticket scanning suspended as a result of queues.
There were also problems after the concert, with many fans complaining that they had to wait for hours to get Dublin Bus transport home.
Slane Castle owner Lord Henry Mountcharles acknowledged there had been problems in 2009, but he said changes to the site would “significantly enhance” its safety and the experience of those who were going on Saturday.
The Dublin-side entrance area has been widened to allow for ticket scanning and a new emergency access route has been opened. There will be no toilets beside one of the main bar areas which caused severe congestion in 2009. A new system has also been introduced for those who will be leaving the site by public transport.
A loop system has been introduced with buses arriving via the N2 and returning via Donore and the M1 motorway. Private coaches will leave via the N2.
Supt Michael Devine of Navan Garda station said the problems two years ago had arisen because fans were walking towards public transport.
“This year the public transport will be coming to the fans and will be driving away from the venue rather than through the crowds. We anticipate that this will deal with the problem.”
The concert is heading for an 80,000 sell-out. The band has succeeded where older, more established luminaries have failed in selling out the original allocation of tickets for the event when they went on sale in October last year. Extra production tickets were released and were still on sale on Ticketmaster last night.
The Kings of Leon are arguably bigger in Ireland than they are in any other country, including their home country of the US. MCD promoter Denis Desmond said there were certain bands that Irish audiences take to and the Kings of Leon “are one of them”.
