TAKE THAT fans will take over Dublin this weekend for arguably the biggest music event of the year.
With the exception of U2, there is probably not another music act in the world who could expect to fill Croke Park for two nights.
As of yesterday evening there were still tickets available for both nights and the combined capacity is 165,000.
There may be tickets available, but there is hardly a hotel room left in Dublin tonight. Yesterday evening, the Irish Hotels Federation’s website had only a single hotel room available in the whole of Dublin – the penthouse in the Gresham Hotel, which is available for €2,000.
The band arrived in Dublin early yesterday afternoon and went straight to a soundcheck at Croke Park. They have booked the entire top floor of the Four Seasons Hotel for both nights.
They brought their Circus tour to the same venue in 2009, but the presence of Robbie Williams has created an even greater level of expectation this time around. The centrepiece of their Progress tour will be a robot called Om which will be as high as the stands at Croke Park. It malfunctioned in Manchester and singers Mark Owen and Harold Donald had to be taken onstage using ladders.
The set list includes a number of solo tracks from Williams, who has some making up to do with the crowd for his self-confessed below-par performance at Croke Park in 2006.
Take That will be the highlight of another busy summer weekend.
In Cork, actor Maureen O’Hara, who has just turned 90, will be the star at the classic film festival named after her in Glengariff.
In Dublin, crowds of Wallys are set to take over the city in a bid to break world records and take a title from Cork at the same time.
The popular character from the children’s Where’s Wally books was the focus of a successful world record attempt last week in Cork, where more than 2,500 people donned his trademark bobble cap and thick-rimmed glasses. Dubliners have the chance to break that record at 6pm today and tomorrow in Merrion Square.
The Street Performance World Championship culminates in Merrion Square this weekend. The attractions include the European debut of Australia’s Goliath: the world’s smallest strongman, the return of two-time world champion and 11-time world record holder The Space Cowboy, and a visit from Indian snake charmer Jardu.
The Dublin Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer Pride Festival got under way yesterday and organisers expect more than 100,000 people to attend events over the 10 days.
The highlight of the sporting weekend will be the Dublin vs Galway Leinster hurling championship semi-final tonight in Tullamore, while All-Ireland champions Tipperary take on Clare in the Munster semi-final tomorrow.