A 'Sign of the Times' as excitement reaches fever pitch for Harry Styles arrival
Some 80,000 fans will descend on the historic natural bowl beside Slane Castle on the banks of the Boyne from 2pm on Saturday to see 29-year-old former One Direction star Styles.
Anticipation is at fever pitch for the arrival of music idol Harry Styles at Slane on Saturday afternoon.
Some 80,000 fans will descend on the historic natural bowl beside Slane Castle on the banks of the Boyne from 2pm on Saturday to see the 29-year-old former One Direction star.
The gig, part of Styles’s Covid-delayed Love On Tour, is the fastest-selling concert in Slane’s more-than-40-year history. It is also the first to be held at the venue since rockers Metallica gave it their all in the pre-pandemic summer of 2019.
At a press conference at the castle ahead of the event on Thursday Alex Mountcharles — deputising for his ill father, castle-owner and Slane event guru Lord Henry Mountcharles — said he is “excited to see my own kids getting excited” for the coming event.
He wasn’t exaggerating — most of those who will be in attendance on Saturday have been following Styles since his One Direction days, and may have attended One Direction’s seminal series of gigs at Croke Park in 2014 as teens.
That makes the Saturday concert unique both in terms of the relative youth of both the performer and his audience.
Event controller Eamonn Fox described the Styles crowd as a “lovely, compliant and sober” one.
“All they want to do is come and see him. They do what they are told. They don’t drink. They are just coming for the music,” he said.
Styles will follow in a long list of eclectic superstars to play the classic venue, from U2 to Springsteen, The Verve to REM.
With three best-selling solo albums to his name, and a horde of the most dedicated fans imaginable, it’s unlikely to phase him.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
