Lord Henry Mountcharles praises ‘one of the best Slanes ever’

Slane Castle owner Lord Henry Mountcharles confirmed that he was in 'the pit' in front of the stage to experience the Foo Fighters close up on Saturday – the band headlined theis year's Slane concert.

He said lead singer Dave Grohl lived up to his promise to Lord Henry that he would 'warm up' the music fans who were tolerating sometimes very heavy rain as they waited to hear them play.

“I was talking to Dave Grohl before they went on stage and he said ‘don’t worry, I will warm them up,’ or words to that effect. He went out there and he really turned it on and it is to his absolute credit.”

Speaking on Sunday, Lord Henry said, “I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say it was one of the best Slanes ever. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

He said that during his treatment last year for lung cancer, “The whole idea of having a show ahead of me helped me, knowing that if I could just get through it, it was going to happen and also by virtue of the fact that this bill was chosen to reflect what Slane as a venue is all about.”

“Slane is about entertainment but it is also about rock ‘n roll and I know we have done different things but this [year’s concert] was true to the first show and if I was going to have to leave this life, I wanted the show to reflect where it all started and I really think that the Foo Fighters in particular as a headline act, did that.”

“To me it was also rather wonderful that we had the really exciting young Irish band in the form of the Strypes. Opening up Slane is a slightly daunting thing but they were up for it and they have a great future ahead of them. The whole day was wonderful.”

Lord Henry smiled when asked about whether there would be Slane 2016 and would only reveal that, “very preliminary discussions have taken place and I am thinking on the matters”.