Saw Doctors pledge to cross continent for Park gig

The Saw Doctors have vowed that a gruelling trek across Europe will not prevent them from playing in front of 100,000 music lovers in Dublin’s Phoenix Park tomorrow.

The weary Galway band pledged that rapper Eminem’s cancellation of his tour due to exhaustion would be highlighted at Ireland’s largest free concert, O2 In The Park.

Band manager Ollie Jennings revealed the Tuam men’s hectic schedule would see them play the Tonder Festival in Denmark tonight before driving hundreds of miles to Hamburg to catch a last-minute flight to Dublin early on Saturday morning.

“In Dublin the police are going to help us get to the O2 In The Park gig, as we will arrive in at 1pm and we are going to be on stage at 4.30pm,” singer Davy Carton said.

“The football match between Tyrone is on, so police are going to give us a little help to get there on time.

“We then fly straight to Manchester for the Carlisle festival on Saturday night.

“It is a bit mad – it is not a typical week!”

After Eminem’s withdrawal from his sold-out Slane Castle concert, the Saw Doctors said the bad-boy rapper is certain to feature in their Phoenix Park set.

“We had a dream, we would invite Eminem to go up on stage in the park and he would rewrite the words of our song Hay Wrap. I believe it is going to happen,” Jennings joked, over their revamp of their song.

“Eminem is keen to tell Lord (Henry) Mount Charles that he doesn’t care if he never gets to appear at Slane as he is going to appear with the Saw Doctors at O2 In The Park.

“Eminem will be a guest and there could be a few swear words thrown in. It might upset our family image,” Jennings joked.

The band, whose new single Stars Over Cloughanover will be released in September, have also vowed to play a song to lift Galway to victory in the All Ireland hurling final for the thousands of fans attending the gig.

“We are also going to play To Win Just Once, as we want Galway to win the All Ireland hurling. This week everyone is confident after the last match,” Jennings said.

“We have never beaten Cork in an All Ireland final. We are hoping to win just once against Cork.”

The Saw Doctors are just one of 30 bands due to join international stars including Charlotte Church, Lee Ryan and Lemar.

Among the 25 Irish acts, the youngest performer will be 12-year-old Krisma - real name Kirstie McCarthy – a schoolgirl rapper from Dublin’s south city.

The youngster, who has been writing lyrics and rapping for more than two years, will be performing her debut single It Ain’t Right, which is due to be released by the Universal record company in mid-October.

The stage is set to be one of the biggest ever erected for a music gig in Phoenix Park, with 20,000ft of cable, 20 articulated lorries, more than 500 crew and three miles of fencing used to set up the event.

Organisers promised a non-stop music bonanza from 11am, when the gates of the concert open, until 7pm.

Dublin Chamber of Commerce has estimated that the free concert, which allocated tickets to fans through the phone company O2’s website and RTE 2fm, will be worth around 11.5 million euro (£7.8 million) to the city.

Concert organisers said all 100,000 tickets have been snapped up and no tickets will be available in Phoenix Park on the day.

Organisers said there will be no parking within the park and people should use the Dublin Bus shuttle service which will operate every 10 minutes from 11am from George’s Quay.