Robbie Williams, Aviva
Stadium. Bon Jovi, Slane Castle, Neil Young, RDS, Croke Park
Like three wise-men, they
come baring the gift of their talent, Robbie Williams, Bon Jovi and Neil Young.
The stadium arena tour
circuit begins tonight when Robbie Williams opens his Take the Crown UK and
Ireland arena tour with a show in the Aviva Stadium. It will be followed
tomorrow by old warhorses Bon Jovi and Neil Young.
It’s a major undertaking for
Williams who has only played six dates, all in-doors, in support of his studio
album Take the Crown.
It is his first solo arena
tour since 2006 which was troubled by a bout of stage fright and led to the
cancellation of a leg of the tour.
In an interview three years
ago, he traced his stage fright back to an uncharacteristically subdued
performance in front of 78,000 fans at Croke Park in June 2006.
“I felt shocking, and I
thought that, if I feel shocking, surely it is coming out to the audience. I
know what it is now, but it was terrifying at the time,” he said.
“I had something that made
me lethargic; the thought of getting up in front of 75,000 fans petrified me.
It was nothing life-threatening but enough to put me on my arse. I had stage fright.
It is sorted now.”
He made good his pledge to
make up for that ill-fated show by playing a concert at the O2 last year in aid
of UNICEF and Childline.
He is clearly in a better
place now judging by his pronouncements about his domestic bliss. He will be
supported by Olly Murs, one of the few singers who has managed to sustain a
credible career from reality television shows.
Tonight’s concert will have
a capacity of 50,000 and promoter Denis Desmond says it is sold out as is next
week’s Aviva Stadium concert featuring Rihanna.
Slane Castle owner Lord
Henry Mountcharles is expecting a crowd of “50,000+” for tomorrow’s Bon Jovi
concert which will have all-Irish supporting cast from The Coronas, Bressie and
Ham Sandwich.
“Let’s jus say Denis Desmond
and I are pretty relaxed about it at this stage,” he said.
The show will have a
capacity for 55,000 because there were will be seating capacity for thousands
of fans. “It’s a slightly older demographic,” said Lord Henry, “the last time
we did it was for The Rolling Stones.”
Another regular visitor to
Ireland’s shores, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, will play the RDS Simmonscourt
arena tomorrow night.
At the age of 67, Young
exhibits no signs of running out of ideas. His latest album Psychedelic Pill
clocks in at 87 minutes and includes one song “Drifting Back” which is 27
minutes long.
Peter Aiken of Aiken
Promotions said he is anticipating a crowd of between 22,000 and 26,000 for
Young.
“We’re very pleased. He
always does well for us,” he said. Aiken Promotions big concerts of the year
are Bruce Springsteen’s provincial Irish shows in Limerick, Cork, Kilkenny and
Belfast. Some 145,000 tickets have been sold for them while the Cork Marquee
gigs have sold 75,000 to date.
It looks like being dry for
tonight’s show at the Aviva Stadium. Tomorrow will be typical Irish summer
weather with sunshine and showers forecast and average temperatures in the
mid-teens.
