Metallica’s Slane Castle gig is opening its arms to the world next week - with one diehard fan flying in from CHILE!
Lord Henry Mountcharles on Thursday revealed that a record one in ten of the 75,000 tickets sold for the June 8 gig have been snapped up overseas.
And one monster follower of the American rockers is jetting nearly 12,000km from South America to be there - along with other dedicated fans from around the globe.
The Co Meath rock mecca, which previously hosted Oasis, U2, the Rolling Stones and David Bowie, ordinarily sells 5% of tickets to international fans - with the 10% this year proof of the worldwide appeal of the Enter Sandman hitmakers.
As a huge security plan was unveiled on Thursday, Gardai warned revellers booze will be taken off them once they arrive in the village - the population of which will swell 40 fold next weekend.
Superintendent Sean Farrell said: “People travelling on buses bringing alcohol, you won’t be let into the village with alcohol.
There are barriers on the perimeter of the village and all alcohol will be taken if it’s not used at that stage.
“So be clever, don’t bring loads of alcohol on buses to the event.”
Senior officers also revealed Gardai have tweaked the traffic management plan for the 2019 event, following massive delays ahead of the Guns n’ Roses concert in 2017.
A new Green car park will be located on the N2
Chief Superintendent Fergus Healy said: “We had issues with people travelling through Navan town and we reviewed the plan and we’ve introduced the Green car park again on the N2 which we believe will take the volume of traffic away from the Red car park.
“People from Dublin should use the M1 or the N2.”
Promoters MCD say the one-day concert will be worth a staggering E41million to the economy, with hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, bars and transport operators all sharing the windfall.
Irish Daily Mirror columnist, Lord Mountcharles, said: “There is a huge attendance from overseas, it’s in fact, the highest attendance from overseas with the widest geographical spread. We have someone from Chile coming.
“Metallica have a very, very loyal following and I imagine that some of their fans think this is a pretty colourful venue to come to.”
A huge security plan will swing into action from next Friday, continuing until the village is re-opened the following Sunday.
More than 400 Gardai will police the event, implementing airport-style checks on fans, and backed up by 1,200 security personnel.
Asking fans to respect Slane and its locals, Lord Mountcharles also begged them to stay away from the River Boyne, following several drownings in previous years.
“Please, please keep away from the river. It looks very attractive, it’s a wonderful river, but don’t swim in it. It is a hungry river and it is dangerous.”
• Tickets for the gig are still on sale at Ticketmaster.ie. Gates open at 2pm, Metallica hit the stage at 8pm.
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