Oasis To Play Slane Castle Next Summer

Oasis are to play Slane Castle next summer. The official announcement will be made today but thanks to leaks on online bulletin boards and blogs, the vast majority of Irish music fans already know.

Promoters MCD will make the announcement at a press conference at the Co Meath venue today, to be attended by the band's Noel Gallagher.

Slane was the country's most illustrious live music venue during the 1980s and early 1990s when it attracted sell-out crowds for such megastars as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Guns 'N' Roses.

But the rise in popularity of festivals like the Electric Picnic and Oxegen due to the changing tastes of music fans have meant that Lord Henry Mountcharles's big field has seen less and less rock'n'roll action this decade.

Recent visitors included the Rolling Stones, who appeared there in 2007, and Madonna who played on the banks of the Boyne three years before that.

However, quiet summers chez Mountcharles have not prevented an annual spate of speculation about just who might play there.

One of the acts long mooted to be Slane-bound were Australian metal veterans AC/DC, who have just announced a show at Dublin's 02 for April 18th next.

Oasis previously appeared at Slane in 1995 when they supported REM. That was when the band were relative newcomers plugging their second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory ? They've just released their seventh album Dig out your Soul which many critics have hailed as a return to form after a string of poorly received, patchy records.

The band have been ubiquitous in recent weeks, with the Gallagher brothers Noel and Liam speaking to seemingly every media outlet who will take their call.

Speaking to The Irish Times earlier this month, Noel Gallagher talked about his Irish background.

"I clearly remember my mam saying to me and my two brothers when we were growing up: 'You're only English because you were born here'. And with a mother from Mayo and a father from Co Meath, there's not a drop of English blood in me. I feel as Irish as the next person."

Source: www.irishtimes.com