Keep the faith, Bon Jovi is on his way to Croke Park
ROCKER Jon Bon Jovi is coming to Croke Park next summer as part of his This House Is Not For Sale tour.
The American superstar and his band will play one date at GAA headquarters, according to a stadium insider.
Boyband Westlife will play Croke Park on July 5 and it is understood that a second date has been reserved should demand for tickets be big enough.
‘Bon Jovi and Westlife are both booked in for dates in Croke Park,’ a GAA source said. ‘I would imagine an announcement regarding the Bon Jovi concert will be made over the coming weeks. They have a big touring show and Croke Park will be the perfect fit. Bands like the Stones and Bon Jovi love the size of Croke Park because it means they don’t have to scale down their shows.’ Bon Jovi have loyal following here: they sold out Slane Castle in June 2013. However the lead singer has a particular bond to Ireland, in particular with celebrated surgeon Ray Moran, who saved his tour in 2011 by operating on his ruptured knee.
At the time, Bon Jovi said: ‘A doctor in Helsinki told me: “That’s it. The tour is over.” I was devastated. I didn’t want to cancel all those dates so I rang my doctor in New York for a second opinion and he advised me the best surgeons for this sort of surgery were in Ireland, which was great as our next date was in Dublin.’
This has been a bumper autumn for concert announcements with Pink to play in the RDS next June, and Picture This booked in for five shows at the 3Arena in March.
Fleetwood Mac are also expected to announce several 3Arena dates in the coming weeks.