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26/08/00 - SLANE CASTLE, DUBLIN Review
by Sarah Rudd, Darren Sandy and Karl Watson: On the weekend of the 26th August, we finally realised the Irish know how to party. Driving through the village of Slane at 1am en route to our accommodation, we witnessed several hundred loyal fans of Bryan Adams and Guinness starting their Slane adventure early. We believed we were eager, but these people must have started early on Friday morning. However, as all members of GAS (Guinness Appreciation Society) know, there is always a down side to their worship. On return to Slane at 7am, the only evidence of the excesses of the night before’s enjoyment were several abandoned cars, with various limbs dangling from windows. The Irish Garda (police) was out in force, setting up road blocks to isolate the village of Slane. We were instructed to abandon our car in any field, make sure we didn’t destroy any tents. At all large concerts of this type there are people who know what’s going on. In the next few hours, it became apparent that these people could have been the ones comatose in cars. Using our initiative, we started our own queue in front of what was marked ‘Entrance (from the Latin ‘to enter’) B’. This was obviously a premature assumption of ours because after almost an hour of waiting, the first official concert workers we had seen proceeded to erect extra fences and call it an ‘Exit’ (from the Latin ‘to leave’). Imagine our dismay when we learned of the geographical challenges we now faced. Slane maybe a small village in the middle of Ireland, but Slane Castle is a huge estate. Our remaining choices featured the dubious options of either running through a forest or a farm yard – just to get to the stage! After much discussion (i.e. coin toss) we chose option 2 – the farm yard. On arriving at the gate, the only living sole was an official looking man in a Land Rover. He would obviously know more about the organisation than us. However, to reach this man we would have to be on the other side of the gate. Unfortunately, none of us have any criminal experience, so breaking into places was not something we were highly skilled at. This was not going to be easy. After long and careful planning we came up with a solution. Sarah would stay put whilst Darren and I (Karl) would proceed to open the gate. This involved us taking a firm grasp of the gate and pushing it forward slightly. Then, without looking too suspicious we walked through the gap and went to chat to the official looking man. We asked him how much he knew about the gates to which he replied “I don’t know really, I’m just in charge of catering, you can go in for all I care!” Hmmm, interesting. Darren and I decided to go and check it out, but first I needed something to cover my BA t-shirt. The only option was Sarah’s tight fitting denim jacket. Great. We started to stroll in, keeping our head’s high, trying to look normal. The place was huge, and was crawling with security guards and people who worked at the merchandise and food stalls. We had a quick look round to see how far away the stage was and to see what else was going on. Even though no one took any notice of us at all, we decided to return to Sarah who was eagerly awaiting us outside. Besides, we were a bit nervous about sneaking into the arena, two hours before the gates opened, and after all, I was wearing a woman’s jacket. After returning to the gate, Darren reported the situation to Sarah whilst I ran to the car to get my own jacket. Good news, the car had not sunk into the mud – yet. Back at the gate we had decided to take our chances and sneak in. Some Mel C fans that had been following us from gate to gate, weren’t so ambitious and decided to stay outside. So this was it, we were going in. We were feeling mixed emotions, nervous of getting caught but excited about the fact that we might get away with it. Personally, I was just relieved to be wearing a decent jacket. As we approached the main arena, it then struck us – what the hell were we actually going to do. Wander around? Hide somewhere? Soil ourselves? Or as Darren said, “just wing it!” Darren being the most cool, calm and collected of the three of us, decided that we should wander up to the merchandise stall. The plan was to keep up the image that we worked there, and the more people who believed that the better. So there we were inside the main arena, chatting to the merchandise people and trying to make a deal. Darren said we’d exchange 10 hot dogs for one t-shirt, but they declined as they were not hungry, so we said we’d come back later in the day. However, nothing could prepare us for the mental challenge that lay ahead of us now, as some of the workers started taking the mick out of Bryan. It was a very tough choice to make:- stick up for Bryan but get chucked out; or pretend to laugh and stay inside. We decided to go for the latter, good job we were good at fake laughs. We then said our goodbyes and made our way down to the food stalls. Due to our extreme fatigue and nervousness we really didn’t have time to be imaginative. So we went up to a hot dog stand and said we were from the merchandise stalls, and offered them a free t-shirt for 10 hot dogs. They declined. Instead we traded money for their goods. It was 9:30am and we had our breakfast, lunch and supper all in one. At least eating would take up some time. As we wandered past the other food stalls we saw the guy from the Land Rover who told us to come in. He saw us and started saying to his friends, “Hey! These lot sneaked in!” Ah. “These lot sneaked in and they’re eating food from my rival company!” Trying to stay calm we asked him which stands were his. Turns out he owns nearly all of them except the one we bought our food from – D’OH! Realising we were walking on thin ice here, we decided to leave this area, but we promised to come back and buy some of his food later in the day! We lied. After the proceeding events it was time to use the toilets. To burn some time, we decided it was a good idea to spend a long time in the toilets. And before we knew it, there was only an hour left until the gates open. Suddenly, a lot more security showed up at the top of the hill. They all separated and went to their allocated spots, completely ignoring us. We had a good look round and there were some other small groups of people sitting down on the hill. Now why didn’t we think of that? So we wandered over to the barrier in front of the reserved seats, and leaning against it, we sat down. Then came the moment when we thought it was all over. We’d been caught, we would get chucked out and sent to the back of the queue. A security guard, talking into his radio came walking straight towards us. Trying to remain calm and look normal, we sat there thinking of hundreds of excuses as he came closer and closer. Oh God, please get us out of this. The man was just a few steps away from us, and then he changed his direction slightly and walked right past us. Phew! Time to visit the toilets again. After what seemed like decades of waiting, the gates opened. At the top of the hill we could see fans running straight towards the front. So we got up, brushed ourselves off and casually walked straight to the front of the arena – right in front of where Bryan will be. Leaving many other fans in complete confusion in how we beat them, we just sat down and relaxed as we knew that we were safe now. Mission accomplished. The Mel C fans from earlier (who were in fact the second party to arrive this morning) ended up at 3rd row to the left of us. Darren was also relieved that his friends Neil and Gillian found him. Due to our unlawful acts, they had spent hours wondering from gate to gate trying to find us – when of course, they couldn’t. Nevermind, at least they brought some drink. At 11:45am, the show actually started. First up were the Screaming Orphans – not bad. Dara followed – he was better. Muse satisfied the punk rockers that came for the day, I (being a guitarist myself) wasn’t satisfied with the singers guitar playing. Eagle Eye Cherry was up next, he was great. However, the moshing pit was getting a lot more crowded and uncomfortable. The punk rockers from before were replaced with screaming girls as Melanie C took to the stage. She was on top form even though she was almost stung by a wasp. Throughout the day a plane circled the area, dragging huge banners for advertisement. During Macy Gray’s appaulling set, Darren pointed out that the banner read “Samaritans – we can help you!” How ironic! “Who’s up next then?” Darren asked me. “Moby,” I replied, “don’t worry – he’s excellent live! Oh and by the way, he’s f***ing nuts!” My point was proven as Moby ran around the stage, screaming at the crowd. However, he put on an excellent show and the crowd loved it!
Here’s an interesting fact, Moby was the last act before Bryan, and as he finished his set, 20,000 more people showed up! Not bad Bryan! Around 9pm, just under 12 hours since we sneaked in, the audience erupted as Bryan came on stage. The whole band and crew came out with giant white balloons and through them into the crowd. By underestimating their weight I almost broke my wrist volleying one over my head. The band then kicked into Back To You, 18 Til I Die, Can’t Stop, and Summer of ’69. Everyone was singing along (even the security guards), the roar from the crowd between songs was phenomenal, it was gonna be a good show! Bryan took a momentary pause to introduce “Irish Mickey” and Keith, who took his opportunity to show off during It’s Only Love. Bryan and Mickey stopped playing every now and again to try put him off, but didn’t succeed. The only appropriate thing for me to do during his endless guitar solo was “we’re not worthy” bows. That better be on the DVD!!! Bryan kept the audience singing and dancing during Everything I Do, She’s Only Happy When She’s Dancing, Cuts Like A Knife and Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman. The security guards were being really annoying by throwing water constantly at the crowd as people were sitting on each other’s shoulders. I’m sure security guards are at concerts to make sure people don’t have too much fun! Anyway, Bryan told them to “cut that shit out”, and they did. Time to get on with the show.
The first “surprise” of the evening came now (note the quote marks as everyone knew it was going to happen). Bryan got an Irish girl called Lisa out of the crowd to sing When You’re Gone. He asked her if she wanted the words, she said yes. Bryan then said “Mel, bring the words out will ya!” Out came Melanie C and the whole place went nuts as they performed an electrifying version of the song. Next up was a real treat – Into The Fire. It sounds so good live, and it’s great to see it back in the set after a 13 year rest. This was probably the first time in the show that not everyone knew the words, but it’s great to hear some different stuff live.
I’m Ready and Heaven were next, along with another surprise which came to my attention just before I’m Ready, as Darren yelled “It’s Davy!” That’s right, Davy Spillane turned up to add his Irish whistles to the two ballads. Quite fitting for Ireland’s biggest music event of the year, and it sounded beautiful. Bryan kept the show rocking with Before The Night Is Over, Blues Jam and The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You. During the latter song, a shower of fireworks came down the front of the stage, nearly burning Bryan. Keith saw this (and being the caring friend of Bryan that he is) he just laughed at him. After that song the band left for an encore break. This was a pause to prepare the crowd for the biggest surprise of the night, as Toe pushed out a large set of keyboards on the stage. The band returned to the stage with a friend – Chicane (trance God to me, Nick Bracepants to others). They performed an amazing version of Don’t Give Up, Keith improvised on the guitar and it sounded fantastic. Chicane stayed around for Cloud #9, adding his ambient sounds to Bryan’s rock version of the song. After he left, Bryan carried on with the hits, playing Somebody, Run To You, The Best Of Me and a final song which wasn’t on the set list – Please Forgive Me. A massive fireworks display filled the sky to finish off an excellent show. The band were on top form, the audience were really loud and the surprises made up for the lack of Kids Wanna Rock. Can’t wait to get it on DVD!
We (thought) we had come to an end of one crazy day. We hoped to get Bryan to sign our unused tickets after the show but there was no way that he’d be driving out of there. However, to our dismay, our night was long from over, as we had many more misadventures to follow. But that’s another story. One last thing, if you ever see the official figure for how many were at Slane 2000, just remember to add 3! Setlist: | |||
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® 2003 18 Til I Die.co.uk. All
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Photos by Karl Watson
BA on bass
Nick Bracegirdle (aka Chicane)
BA rockin' out
Karl's 'unused' ticket for the show :) |
