Take That announce Croke Park concert

TAKE THAT are to play Croke Park next summer as part of a comeback tour

TAKE THAT are to play Croke Park next summer as part of a comeback tour. The former boy band will perform on Saturday, June 13th, as part of their summer stadium tour of venues in Ireland and Britain.

Take That enjoyed huge success back in the early 1990s before splitting in 1996 soon after Robbie Williams, who went on to have a successful solo career, left the band.

Few expected their comeback in 2005, minus Williams, to be such a success. The album Beautiful World went to number one and they embarked on a sell-out tour, which included two dates at The Point and the RDS. They also sold out five dates at Belfast's Odyssey Arena last year.

Take That will be supported by Irish band The Script who recently scored a number one with their eponymous debut album.

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Tickets for Oasis, another band that many had dismissed as 1990s has-beens, have sold much faster than many people had expected when they went on sale on Friday.

Ticketmaster say 71,000 tickets were sold by lunchtime, while promoter MCD says the concert is now sold out, although tickets are still available on the Ticketmaster website. Oasis will be supported by The Prodigy, Kasabian and The Enemy.

Meanwhile, there was good and bad news for long-suffering Led Zeppelin fans today.

Bassist John Paul Jones told the BBC that the band intends to release a new album and tour following the successful comeback concert at London's 02 Arena last year. The bad news is that singer Robert Plant has ruled himself out of the reunion.

Plant is currently touring with Alison Krauss and has repeatedly said he would not be taking part.

Jones said: "We are trying out a couple of singers. We want to do it. It's sounding great and we want to get on and get out there."

He said they would not be looking for a direct replacement for Plant. "You could get that out of a tribute band, but we don't want to be our own tribute band."

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy is a news reporter with The Irish Times