Whatever the weather, U2's Popmart concerts, which are set to bring 80,000 fans to Lansdowne Road this weekend, are unlikely to suffer the same fate as the Rose of Tralee.
Fortunately for the band and their audience, the 150 ft stage, which features a 40 ft lemon and an olive on a 100 ft stick, can withstand winds of up to 100 m.p.h. The golden arch - a parody of the McDonald's "M" - has been visible over the top of the stadium for the last two days but much of the stage building remained to be done yesterday afternoon.
The 300-strong crew hoped to have put in place a 120 ft video screen and laid 22 miles of cable by 6 a.m. today.
One hundred strobe lights will be used during the concert along with 18 high-density lights, which have a reach of two miles into the air.
When they were used in the Sam Boyd stadium in Las Vegas, local police were inundated with UFO reports.
To add to the air of surrealism, a 40 ft lemon will run along an aerial track from the corner to the centre of the stadium.
The band arrived yesterday morning from Leeds on their Boeing 727 "Popmart" plane and will leave Dublin on Tuesday for Edinburgh.
Popmart costs £1 million a week to keep on the road but the tour is expected to gross £250 million by the end of a 100-concert tour. Tour manager, Mr Jake Kennedy, said £10 million was an overly optimistic figure for revenue from the band's Irish concerts, but refused to comment on how much they might earn until he "counted the money".
Tickets for the concert were priced at £27.50, but some of U2's more affluent fans were willing to pay £140 for a package which will offer them a four-course meal before the concert, a pre and post-concert reception and a selection of wines during the show.
However, the ordinary punter won't go hungry or thirsty. Some 100,000 hamburgers and hot dogs will be consumed over the weekend, and beer and soft drinks will be available from an enormous bar.
Concert-goers will be able to avail of 140 portable toilets as well as Lansdowne Road's own facilities. Some 120 paramedics from St John's Ambulance will attend each concert and seven doctors will be on site.
Dublin Tourism said accommodation in the city centre is completely booked out, but there are some beds available in the Greater Dublin area.
Doors open at Lansdowne Road at 6 p.m., and support acts are Ash and Howie B, with U2 expected on stage at 8.45 p.m. They will play for two hours and one minute.
