Boy Bands, girl groups, made-for-TV bands, cheeky chappies, dadrockers, wrinkly rockers, poodle rockers, wise-guys, crooners, ex-Spice Girls, exhumed Elvises, Aussie sex-kittens, Irish heart-throbs, Scottish sirens and a portly Pixie from Boston. All this and more is what we can look forward to on the 2001 concert calendar, brought to you by the country's two top promoters, Aiken and MCD. It's a battle for the teenage buck next year, with most of the attractions catering for the under18s (and in some cases, even the undereights). Dublin's Point Theatre becomes a giant creche when The Vengaboys head a New Year's Day pop extravaganza (January 1st). Westlife are the biggest of the kiddypoppers right now, so it's no surprise that they're booked in for four nights at Dublin's Point Theatre (starting March 28th) and two nights in Belfast's Odyssey (March 16th/17th). Meanwhile, Westlife's manager, Ronan Keating, returns for two big May gigs in the Odyssey and the Point. Also coming back like bad pennies are Bon Jovi (RDS Arena, June), Ocean Colour Scene (Olympia, January 12th17th), and Melanie C (Olympia, January 29th). Coming back from the dead is the King himself, back from his long Kit-Kat break (Point, March 7th). Elvis - The Concert will feature giant footage of Elvis alongside a real-life 16-piece orchestra.
The Queen of Teenypop, Kylie Minogue, is at the RDS Main Hall in March, while the Prince of UK R'n'B, Craig David, comes to the Point. Scottish lass Sharleen Spiteri arrives at the Point with her band, Texas (February 16th), but the undisputed ruler of the 2001 concert calendar is Robbie Williams, who plays two big gigs at Lansdowne Road on July 6th and 7th). A smaller but far more interesting prospect is Dido at Vicar St (February 9th). Soon to be a household name, this lady can be heard on Eminem's current chart-topper, Stan; her own album, No Angel, is well worth a listen. Finally, rumours abound that U2 will be playing Slane in 2001, the 20th anniversary of the festival. The fab four performed at the first ever Slane festival in 1981, supporting headliners Thin Lizzy, and word is that they'll be returning to the banks of the Boyne next Summer. Lord Mount Charles and MCD are keeping mum about it, but I'm willing to bet that Slane 2001 turns out to be a beautiful day. Kevin Courtney