St Patrick’s Day – 17th March 2007 – Irish Do It Better!
Late August 2004 saw Madonna‘s only ever trip to Ireland culminating in her historic stadium sized debut concert in the Emerald Isle on Sunday the 29th as part of her Re-Invention Tour. The location, fittingly for the Queen of pop, was County Meath’s Slane Castle.
This historic show is still the only Slane concert ever to have been headlined by a female artist and seemingly as to be expected from Madonna these days came together with the higest ticket price (€88.50) the site has ever seen!
The show went on to be the only show performed outdoors and despite being the only show on the tour not to be completely sold out, with 89% of the 70,000 tickets sold it was the largest single audience to see the amazing Re-Invention show.
The crowd were pleased to see her, and seeming, she was pleased to see them too:
“I can’t believe I’ve finally come to Ireland. Jesus Christ, what took me so f*cking long?”
…she announced to the excited crowd! She also went on to tell the crowd “Ireland, you’re the best!“, a fair compliment to a nation of people who had been promised live shows by Madonna so many times in the past but had had to settle for disappointment every single time.
Madonna and the band valiantly completed the show despite a few hitches! Typically unpredictable Irish weather meant heavy rain fell during parts of the show causing her to have to wear extra legwarmers and an extra long coat during parts of the show, and for her stage hand ‘Hydro’ having to hold an umbrella over her for the duration of her performance Nothing Fails! Also, the Slane show was the only show of the tour to feature support acts and the Slane crowd were treated to a set by DJ Paul Oakenfold and then a loud, shouty and sweary set by rather surprising choice Iggy Pop! Iggy caused the show to be delayed by an unplanned 45 minutes whilst his kit was cleared out of the way by the roadies!
Still, despite that, anyone who was there and who saw more than that one show will tell you – it was not only the one truly unique show of the tour, but that the hours of trekking to and from the site, battling through the elements to be there and the high ticket prices were definitely worth it!
For a taste of the show – check out Tribe Moderator Jamesy‘s excellent video diary of the day HERE
At the show Madonna thanked the fans with a typically Irish invitation that even St Patrick himself would be proud of…
“Cheers, and I’ll see all of you in the pub later!”
Fact of The Day is brought to you by Tony from London