How about Springsteen playing at Fitzgerald Stadium next time?

SIR,

The king of heartland rock was back in Ireland with his 18-piece E Street Band on the Irish leg of his 2024 World Tour and he had the entire country dancing in the dark during his fifteen-day sojourn.

Everybody wanted to rock with The Boss after darkness on the edge of town in Belfast, Kilkenny, Cork or Dublin, but unfortunately, tickets were snapped up like gold dust by those born to run.

Springsteen promised an energetic three hour gig each night and he delivered with aplomb.

The Boss, who was born in the USA, is one of the hardest-working performers in the music industry so the lucky ticket holders experienced a concert like no other, with the final mouth-watering gig in Croke Park on Sunday night attracting a capacity crowd of 80,000.

The many fascinating insights into Bruce’s public and private persona prior to his visit raised my family members’ anticipation of a trip to Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Thursday night to fever pitch. During his Irish visit, Bruce was the sole topic of song and conversation at home, but we failed to reach a consensus on the greatest song in his impressive repertoire. For me it’s the haunting “Streets of Philadelphia.”

Bruce loves performing in Ireland and we Irish love him in return. Since his Irish debut at Slane Castle in 1985, he has included a show in Ireland on every subsequent European tour.

During a concert in Kilkenny in 2013 he famously quipped that Ireland was his adopted home. Springsteen has ancestral routes in Westmeath and Kildare. No doubt, his many Irish cousins were amongst the sell-out crowd in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, as The Boss blasted out a succession of his greatest songs.

What about a Springsteen gig in Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney when The Boss next visits Ireland? Wouldn’t that be something very special?

Sincerely,

Billy Ryle,

Spa,

Tralee.