Busy weekend for festivals, fireworks and football

AN UNLUCKY break for Thin Lizzy has turned out to be a lucky one for a Co Wicklow band who will play in front of their biggest audience today.

Glyder, whose members work part-time, will open for heavy metal legends Metallica at Marlay Park in Rathfarnham, south Dublin.

The slot was originally reserved for Thin Lizzy, but they had to cancel when drummer Tommy Aldridge broke his collar bone. Shortly afterwards, guitarist and vocalist John Sykes left the band. Glyder guitarist Bat Kinane said: “When I was a teenager, Metallica were the hottest band. They were gods to the likes of me. To go to a gig like that and hear the volume and the excitement lives with you for the rest of your life. It is a dream come true for us to be opening for them.”

A crowd of about 30,000 is expected for today’s concert in Marlay Park which also includes Avenged Sevenfold, Alice in Chains and Mastodon, a band described by Kerrang magazine as the “future of metal”.

An altogether different crowd will gather tomorrow to see an electronic dance-orientated line-up which will be headlined by legendary DJ and producer Fatboy Slim.

He will be supported by David Guetta, Dizzee Rascal and Calvin Harris.

It will be a busy bank holiday festival for music festivals across the country. The two day Castlepalooza festival at Charleville Castle in Tullamore gets under way today.

Thousands are expected at the World Fleadh in Castlebar which started last night with The Sawdoctors and will go on for a week. Among the stellar acts playing tonight include the Sharon Shannon Big Band, Shane MacGowan and Damien Dempsey.

In Waterford city, the Spraoí festival will reach its climax tomorrow with a pyrotechnic display called Firework

Fantasia at 10pm on the city’s quays.

Spraoí is one of the largest free annual events of its kind in Europe and expects to attract more than 100,000 people into the city over the weekend.

The sporting highlight of the weekend is likely to be Monday’s football clash at Croke Park between Dublin and Kerry, which is almost sold out. A huge crowd is expected tomorrow too for the double header football quarter- final billing involving Cork and Donegal and Kildare and Tyrone.

The weather for the weekend is likely to be more of the same with wind and rain, so it is advisable to bring rain-gear for any outdoor events.

Dublin airport expects more than 300,000 passengers to travel through its doors over the bank holiday weekend as holidaymakers flee the atrocious weather.