Oasis set to headline Slane next summer

Oasis will return to Slane Castle next year as headline act at a concert on 20th June, 14 years after their first performance at the Meath venue. Frontman Noel Gallagher - whose father, Tommy, hails from Duleek - and guitarist Gem Archer flew into Slane by helicopter last Wednesday for the formal announcement of the 2009 concert at Lord Henry Mountcharles"s ancestral pile on the banks of the Boyne. Gallagher said the band was looking forward to playing Slane next year in front of their many Irish fans and added that he expected to have plenty of relatives in the crowd! He recalled the band"s first performance in Slane, when they played support to REM in 1995 as 'magical'. Gallagher said: 'It was the biggest gig we"d done at that point in our career and it was the most amount of people we"d played to and it felt quite natural. I really got addicted to it that night. The sight of tens of thousands of people. I remember them all running down the hill. It was a magic event.' He recalled how the Manchester-domiciled Gallagher family used to spend six weeks of their school holidays in 1reland until he was 15 and his memories of Meath were mainly of country music and horse racing. He recalled going to the Bellewstown races and 'watching the old man putting himself through utter hell with the horses'. He added that he was looking forward to playing in Slane again as Irish audiences held a special place in his heart. 'About 90 per cent of stars going to any city will say it"s the best audience they"ve encountered, but there"s something about the Celtic crowd, places like Ireland and Scotland that seems to be different. I just think people get more drunk,' he said. 'We supported REM in 1995 and it will be nice to perform in Slane in front of our own fans. Last time we had about 80 relatives in the audience, but now they"ve grown up and have their own children, so we"ll have even more,' he predicted. He said the show will be about the music, rather than big special effects. 'Oasis concerts are all about the crowd. We"re not like U2 who put on the greatest show on earth. I wouldn"t waste my time with a load of scientists designing lighting rigs. We"ll have no fireworks or big inflatable things on stage - except maybe Liam!' There was a huge media presence waiting as the band"s helicopter touched down in front of Slane Castle, on the actual concert site last Wednesday morning. Lord Henry Mountcharles said it was 'very special to have Oasis' at Slane and he reckoned the concert would be a 'wedding of a great band and a great venue'. He described Noel Gallagher as 'a man from Duleek, right next door to me, whose mother is from Mayo'. Lord Mountcharles went on: 'I have been following Oasis avidly for years and first saw them live in 1994 with my good pal, Adam Claytown. They have sold 50 million albums worldwide. They are supernova, superstellar and I am overjoyed to have the great good fortune to have them here.' Oasis went straight to the top of the UK album charts and took the second spot in Ireland with their seventh album 'Dig Out Your Soul", which went on sale last week. Tickets for next year"s concert go on sale this Friday at 8am through www.ticketmaster.ie at €85.50 and will be limited to eight per person.