IT'S BRUCE time again. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will be setting up shop in Dublin 4 this weekend with more than 120,000 people expected at the RDS to check out their wares at shows tonight, tomorrow and Sunday.
Tickets for all three shows sold out in a matter of hours when they went on sale last November.
While a small number of tickets went back on sale last week, a spokesperson for Aiken Promotions, the concert promoters, confirmed that there will be no tickets for sale at the venue this weekend.
Ireland and Springsteen have long been on kissing terms, beginning with a fabled show at Slane Castle in 1985. That was the Springsteen of Born in the USA, the multimillion selling album which turned the New Jersey native into one of rock music's biggest icons.
Since then, Irish dates have become a pretty permanent feature on Springsteen's tours. He's played six shows here since his last appearance at RDS in 2003, including a solo performance in 2005, two swathes of dates with the Seeger SessionsBand in 2006 and a show at in Belfast with the The E Street Band last December.
The appeal is mutual: the Irish leg of the Seeger Sessionstour, Springsteen's raucous tribute to the folk and traditional songs made popular by Pete Seeger, was documented on the Live in DublinCD and DVD release last year.
This tour, though, is all about Magic, the current album from Springsteen. Released last October, the album features his strongest set of songs in years, with many critics drawing comparisons to such seminal earlier releases as Darkness On The Edge Of Townand The River.
In the last few years, Springsteen has begun to attract younger fans.
Many of these have begun to explore his back catalogue because such new acts as Arcade Fire, The National, The Hold Steady and Josh Ritter have been raving about his music.
Gardaí yesterday advised people planning to attend the concerts to use public transport.
Iarnóid Éireann is providing special Dart services northbound and southbound for fans travelling to and from the event. Anglesea Road and Simmonscourt Road will be closed to vehicles for short periods before and after the concerts.