MEGABUCKS FOR MEGA-GIGS
The Let’s Celebrate 2017, published in February, estimated that live entertainment contributed €1.7bn to the Irish economy in the previous 12 months. Music events are responsible for the largest portion of that income. The figure for 2017 will surely top that by a considerable margin. It is not difficult to see that the boom times are back given the sheer volume of megagigs that have been announced. Many of those are either sold out or well on the way there. It will be a bumper year for promoters and megastars alike. The ticket sales for Ed Sheeran’s shows in the Republic alone will top the €27m mark, with tickets still available for Páirc Uí Chaoimh on May 6 and the Phoenix Park on May 19. See edsheeran.com/
The year’s three designated concert nights in Croke Park have been given over to Taylor Swift on June 15 and June 16, and Michael Bublé on July 7. So we can forget about the Stones or the return of U2. Mind you, Pope Francis’s Mass there might feel like a gig.
There’s no shortage of names being linked to a Slane Castle show. The aforementioned Rolling Stones seem to be the most frequent tip. I wouldn’t discount Fleetwood Mac as a possibility. Tickets for their shows in 2015 in the 3Arena sold out in minutes. And the 2018 tour is purported to be their last. Other possibilities include The Cure, The Killers and Arctic Monkeys.
The Aviva Stadium will host Billy Joel on June 23. He’s popular, yes, but I was a little surprised that the promoters feel he is capable of filling a stadium with a 50,000 capacity for concerts. There are plenty of ads on the radio currently pushing that one.
No news or credible rumours about the Electric Picnic yet but if I was announced as headliner playing the hits of Brendan Shine on a noseflute, it would probably sell out. I’m not… but the promoters have my number.