lazyboy
War Child
Well, Slane2! Now, I can't at all, by any means, do this day justice from writing about it. You'd have to see the video, and even still, you miss the magic of the build-up, IRELAND 1-HOLLAND 0!!!!!!!!!!!! Aww, sorry Dutch people, no disrespect to ye, sorry ye are gone, and we aren't even through yet, far from it! But it was fucking scary on Saturday, the overflowing joy!!!!!! You gotta give us this moment. It was a pure Irish thing, Bono revelling in the fact. "THIS IS OUR TRIBE!!!!"
Well, it started off all so better than Slane1 for me. This time we weren't staying up in Dublin the night before, we travelled up from Limerick on the day, at 6am. We had all but given up hope of getting into the heart. Last week we left Dublin with ETS at 9:20am, and got to the drop off point at 10:30, getting to the venue at 11:20, and all the heart and pit were full a while before that. But this week we got up there just after 10, and there was alot less people going in to Slane than the previous week. There was me and 1 of my friends who was at Slane1 also, so we knew the story, and 2 friends who were very much U2 virgins, not even owning a CD! They went for the occasion, like many Irish. But the minute we got into the Slane Castle grounds, onto the dirt track, we LEGGED IT!! Hehe, it was surreal, you could see all the people who knew, not giving a shit about looking like fools, or getting covered in mud. We just ran as fast as we could. After my crush filled experience last week, there was NO WAY I was missing out on the front sections! Many a security guard screamed at me "SLOW DOWN!!" but no feckin way was I stopping for anyone! Got to the field, about 10:30 I think, and the heart was full, there seemed to be people still going into the 2nd heart. THANK GOD! We got in! The 4 of us! We were jumping around, taking photos of our precious armbands!!! I think they closed the pit 5or 10 minutes after we got in! Already, the day was set up to be better than the week before. The weather was brutal, but besides some showers before we got there, it stayed dry, just grey, who cares?! I wouldn't have noticed if it had snowed!
So we could just stroll around, actually got to use the facilities, to get T-shirts, rather than stand in the one spot like last week, holding onto a good place. Well, the gig itself didn't start til 1pm. Dara. Yep he is Irish, but apart from 2 girls(maybe his sisters?) nobody was familiar with his stuff. He was decent though, put in a good, if very short, performance.
Another Irish band, the Walls, formerly known as The Stunning, were next. They were very good! Well, it musta been hard for them, the crowd was very not into it. I dunno if it was the dull weather reflecting in people's moods, but it was downbeat, more so than last week. Took longer to fill up too, but the weather, and the fact that people knew what the story was from Slane1, was the reason for that. Musically they were brilliant though, and they did get the crowd pumping with their old Stunning hit, "Brewing Up A Storm".
Then, a big surprise, WHOAAA NELLY! Nelly Furtado kicked ass!!! She was great! Got the crowd going, and the girl is a great performer, full of energy. She even took our minds off the Ireland game, which was under way at this stage, but not on the big screen yet. Hehe, she even gave me a big wave, funny moment, as all the guys around me gave me the evil eye! Ah, you know, me and Nelly, we go way back
It kinda helps being 1 foot above everyone else
I know many have said her voice is crap, and she is annoying, but all of us at Slane2 had a blast listening to her.
Then.......in Bono's own words......"THE BEST SUPPORT ACT EVER!" The match!! 2nd half! Aww, thanks to those beautiful beautiful beautiful feckin armbands, we strolled out of the pit, right in front of the big screen. At this stage Slane was full, packed, and everyone had their eyes on the screens. This was just awesome! The atmosphere......WOOOOOW! I'd say better than Lansdowne Road itself! I mean 85000, or so. All hyped up, all standing. It was heart wrenching stuff. Much singing, screaming, praying. I've been to some major soccer matches, but nah, this was far better! Then Kelly was sent off
o We thought,"that's it! We fucked!" And the Dutch threw on like 15 strikers, how on earth were we gonna survive?!? Then.......68th minute.....Mattie Holland(nice name) crossed in, McAteer.....GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oooooo I swear, it was the single sweetest moment ever! Masses of bodies just landed on me, hehe, screams of delight!! We just jumped on each other, grabbing each other, shaking ourselves in disbelief! 85000 of us!! Whoaaaaaaaa!!!!!!! OLEEEEEEEE OLEEEE OLEE OLEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! Complete strangers hugging, utter delight! It was fecking fabulous! Scenes were the same all over the country. My mom and sis were in the local shopping centre, and they heard this roar from the pub, thought there was an accident, opened the door, and hehehe, everyone was on the tables going mental!!
Well, next 25 minutes were just torture, but not so bad, they needed 2, and, well, we held out. The whistle went, and it was the same as when the goal went in, pure bliss!!!!!!! Then, tore back into the pit, feckers!LOL, all the bloody foreigners had taken the good spots, hehe. The silly Irish too bothered with the "petty" game of football. Heehee.
Well, it started off all so better than Slane1 for me. This time we weren't staying up in Dublin the night before, we travelled up from Limerick on the day, at 6am. We had all but given up hope of getting into the heart. Last week we left Dublin with ETS at 9:20am, and got to the drop off point at 10:30, getting to the venue at 11:20, and all the heart and pit were full a while before that. But this week we got up there just after 10, and there was alot less people going in to Slane than the previous week. There was me and 1 of my friends who was at Slane1 also, so we knew the story, and 2 friends who were very much U2 virgins, not even owning a CD! They went for the occasion, like many Irish. But the minute we got into the Slane Castle grounds, onto the dirt track, we LEGGED IT!! Hehe, it was surreal, you could see all the people who knew, not giving a shit about looking like fools, or getting covered in mud. We just ran as fast as we could. After my crush filled experience last week, there was NO WAY I was missing out on the front sections! Many a security guard screamed at me "SLOW DOWN!!" but no feckin way was I stopping for anyone! Got to the field, about 10:30 I think, and the heart was full, there seemed to be people still going into the 2nd heart. THANK GOD! We got in! The 4 of us! We were jumping around, taking photos of our precious armbands!!! I think they closed the pit 5or 10 minutes after we got in! Already, the day was set up to be better than the week before. The weather was brutal, but besides some showers before we got there, it stayed dry, just grey, who cares?! I wouldn't have noticed if it had snowed!
So we could just stroll around, actually got to use the facilities, to get T-shirts, rather than stand in the one spot like last week, holding onto a good place. Well, the gig itself didn't start til 1pm. Dara. Yep he is Irish, but apart from 2 girls(maybe his sisters?) nobody was familiar with his stuff. He was decent though, put in a good, if very short, performance.
Another Irish band, the Walls, formerly known as The Stunning, were next. They were very good! Well, it musta been hard for them, the crowd was very not into it. I dunno if it was the dull weather reflecting in people's moods, but it was downbeat, more so than last week. Took longer to fill up too, but the weather, and the fact that people knew what the story was from Slane1, was the reason for that. Musically they were brilliant though, and they did get the crowd pumping with their old Stunning hit, "Brewing Up A Storm".
Then, a big surprise, WHOAAA NELLY! Nelly Furtado kicked ass!!! She was great! Got the crowd going, and the girl is a great performer, full of energy. She even took our minds off the Ireland game, which was under way at this stage, but not on the big screen yet. Hehe, she even gave me a big wave, funny moment, as all the guys around me gave me the evil eye! Ah, you know, me and Nelly, we go way back
Then.......in Bono's own words......"THE BEST SUPPORT ACT EVER!" The match!! 2nd half! Aww, thanks to those beautiful beautiful beautiful feckin armbands, we strolled out of the pit, right in front of the big screen. At this stage Slane was full, packed, and everyone had their eyes on the screens. This was just awesome! The atmosphere......WOOOOOW! I'd say better than Lansdowne Road itself! I mean 85000, or so. All hyped up, all standing. It was heart wrenching stuff. Much singing, screaming, praying. I've been to some major soccer matches, but nah, this was far better! Then Kelly was sent off