[Click to enlarge]
“It was one of many engagements that made R.E.M. consider Ireland a true home away from home time and again…” @BertisDowns4th
25 years ago today: R.E.M. & 80,000+ gather at #SlaneCastle for an epic concert during the Monster Tour. More here: https://t.co/SNZWsXkIAc pic.twitter.com/1IFglXwml7
— R.E.M. HQ (@remhq) July 22, 2020
Monster, in fairness.
Meanwhile….
Don’t mean to be arsey about this @broadsheet_ie, but the gig was 25 years ago yesterday! pic.twitter.com/nZkK6ff0yD
— Con Kennedy (@ConKennedy) July 23, 2020
I mean some of us were actually there. But today is the 25th anniversary of me fainting in Grafton Street upon seeing Helena Christensen walking towards me. Out like a 16year old girl at a Beatles concert I was. I have no shame. She was at the gig too!
— Con Kennedy (@ConKennedy) July 23, 2020
Main memories are (1) massive slightly scary crowd surges during Oasis, everyone reeling after their set, then (2) REM strolling on almost incognito and starting into ‘What’s the frequency..’ before anyone really realised they were on stage before (3) everyone started flinging crushed paper cups into the air creating a giant blizzard effect which was better than it sounds!
Ah yeah the cups in the air was awesome! Does anyone remember being there for Luka Bloom early in the day?
no Luka, we don’t.
If I remember rightly a lot of them cups were on fire too.
Waxed cups were lit up for Everybody Hurts. Looked amazing.
Ardgillan was better
The Olympia was even better again. I got to go to the night when Simple Kid was supporting, it was class seeing them in such a small venue.
It all started on Dec 4, 1984, with the opening bars of Radio Free Europe at the SFX*.
Surely the most accidentally cool name for a rock venue!
* Saint Francis Xavier hall.
I saw them support U2 (don’t judge me, I was 13) in 1985 and I knew there and then they were the better band :)
they’re both overrated if you ask me
And wasn’t that a good day out?
sorry the singer wreaks my head
Bodger, please tell me you updated the title (from ‘Me’ to ‘Meath’) and I’m not losing my mind (lost my religion a long time ago!)?
Great day, the best gig I was brought to as a kid though was U2, Simple Minds & Eurythmics in the Phoenix Park in 83.
My uncle used to sell knock off posters and tshirts so we went to stacks of gigs as kids, they were brilliant days
Ha, was there too. Had tickets but won a couple more on a phone competition with Jimmy Greeley on Radio 2.
Less happily, I remember seeing a fella shinning his way up the back of the stand to get on the roof. He fell some way to the ground clutching about 6ft of drainpipe. Doubt it worked out to well for him.
Eamon Coughlan won a gold medal in the 5000m in the World Championships on same day to the great delight of the crowd.
Good call Nick
I was there with some BIFFOS
aka
Beautiful Interesting Folk From Offaly.
Liam Gallagher was giving it all that during Oasis set. Some scum did throw coins up at him, to get him going though. Shocking behaviour.
Aparently he was wound up before the gig. He only got word that mornin’ that they were actually supporting REM. Lifting his coke infested head up out of his drunken slumber, he revealed some rapid eye movement, i tell thee.
The best gimmic i ever saw was 2 lads selling ‘Gallagher Eyebrows’ for a mere sum of 2 stags heads. They didn’t stick for long, neither did the boys. He who dares.
It was a tough task but i made it to the front. When the best band in the world (at the time) came on the place went absolutely hysterical.
I was right in front of Peter Buck. We shared a moment. He even beckoned me to hop the barrier. I now realise it was just a wave.
I july obliged. The security were haven none of it. I was thrown out and directed back into the pit. Everybody Hurts!
Met the lads at some stage in the car park where everyone was roaring IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT, AND I FEEL FINE
great band, great crowd (apart from the few tossers) great gig, great memories.
I remember those Gallagher Eyebrows.
I was never a huge fan of R.E.M., but my then girlfriend was, and so we went. Oasis gave a storming set, IIRC, and the whole day was full of so many memories. In fact, I loved it so much, dear reader, that I married my then girlfriend, 18 months later
(It may not have been because of the concert!)
my first concert. remember it so well. My ex girlfriend gave me her pocket money to help pay for the ticket. Jaysus I was only 17
She married Mick afterwards apparently.
Didn’t a couple of fellas drown trying to get into that gig?
Was Lord Mountcharles being tipped for nomination as a candidate for an important political party in an upcoming general election?
Oasis and R.E.M. About as much fun as an amputation.