Bruce Springsteen is set to hit a major milestone after his Irish tour this month.
Springsteen will play a number of gigs across Ireland in May including Kilkenny when he is set to perform on May 12th in Nowlan Park.
When the music icon wraps up the Irish leg of his tour, he will have performed to one million fans across the island of Ireland throughout his long career, music promoter Peter Aiken said.
The concert promoter said that very few artists have sold one million tickets in Ireland, north and south of the Border.
The 74-year-old American rock star, who has been performing concerts in Ireland for 40 years, will perform in Belfast, Kilkenny, Cork and Dublin as part of his world tour.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will take to the stage at Boucher Road in Belfast on May 9th, Nowlan Park in Kilkenny on May 12th, Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork on May 16th and Croke Park in Dublin on May 19th.
“One million people in Ireland will have been to see him. It’s phenomenal,” Mr Aiken said.
The gig boss also said Springsteen’s Irish fans are among the youngest in the world.
“I think young people listen to him with their parents. They are in the car and then eventually they do like it,” he told the PA news agency.
“I said that to my kids when they were listening to Bob Dylan, that one day you will like it, and they do now.
“There’s people my age at the concerts but there’s a lot of young people who go too, it’s great. It’s just the way we are here.
“It will be amazing.”
Asked if he has sleepless nights over the financial risks of hosting major artists, Mr Aiken said: “Oh yeah.
“I get anxious, the world is anxious. It’s things like the weather, the weather is crazy.
“You are anxious about everything you want. You’ve sold that amount of tickets, you want people to have the best, you want them to come and enjoy it.
“You want the stewards to do a good job, you want the guards to do a good job, and the catering people. You want everyone to do a good job and most importantly you want Springsteen to love it.
“He also loved that he was playing in a stadium that is for amateur sport.
“He’s been doing this since he was 16. That’s tough – every night he’s on and he has to make that show so special.
“People love him.”
Around 80,000 fans will fill Croke Park on May 19th.
Concert fans were reminded that the stadium is in a residential area and have been urged to be respectful of residents’ property.
Fans have also been urged to use public transport to get to the concert, and to use buses, Dart and the Luas.
People have been advised to plan their route and how they will get to the venue and to check their tickets to establish where they are entering Croke Park.
Peter McKenna, Croke Park stadium director, said: “A big concert like this is great for the city but it’s very important to stress to fans when they come up to the [concert] that they are coming into a local area and to show respect to the local community.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing one of the greatest acts. He is starting at seven o’clock, there’s no back-up. The man, I don’t know where he gets his energy from, but he’ll give it everything, that’s for sure. So it will be a great night for all those who are here.”
Shane Mates, head of operations at Aiken Promotions, said Springsteen and his band will play for around three hours.
He said Croke Park will open at 5pm, with the concert starting at 7pm.
By Cate McCurry, PA
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