Westlife and Horslips added to Marquee line-up

POP sensations Westlife and Irish trad rock legends Horslips were added to the Live at the Marquee summer music festival last night.

A month after sell-out gigs in Croke Park, Westlife will headline the 5,000 capacity Cork docklands venue on July 6 for what will be one of the smallest gigs they have performed.

Shane Filan and Nicky Byrne were mobbed by fans as they arrived on the city’s boardwalk yesterday to announce the gig.

“The only gig that we’ve done in the past in Cork was in Millstreet and the crowds were great,” Nicky said. “We’ve heard a lot about the Marquee from different people. Ronan [Keating] has done it, and Bryan [McFadden] did it and they’ve all said how cool it is. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Dozens of screaming teenage girls, including twins Leona and Laura Dorney from Ballincollig, and their friends Emer Griffin and Elaine Murphy, stood outside the Boardwalk bar and grill for several hours to catch a glimpse of the Westlife duo.

“We love Westlife. We’ve been their fans for ages,” the twins said.

Tickets for the gig go on sale at 9am tomorrow, priced €54.80.

Horslips’ Jim Lockhart said he is really looking forward to their Marquee gig on Saturday June 26. Tickets priced €50 and €54.80 will go on sale at 9am on tomorrow.

“We’d always wanted to do a summer festival gig in Ireland... so when the Live at The Marquee gig came up, it ticked both those boxes for us,” he said. He has many fond memories of their gigs in City Hall in 1979 and 1980.

Horslips promised old favourites and music from the more recent Rollback unplugged session.

Promoter Peter Aiken also added soul legends Al Green and Michael McDonald, who performed with the Doobie Brothers, to the Marquee bill. Tickets for their fully seated June 19 concert, priced €60, €55, €45 and €40, will go on sale tomorrow.

- www.aikenpromotions.ie; tickets from tel: [phone] or www.ticketmaster.ie.