from NME U2 look certain to play an unprecedented second show at SLANE CASTLE at the beginning of September a week after their first, NME.COM can exclusively reveal. Speculation has been mounting for weeks about whether or not the second show will go ahead, since the first event, on August 25, sold out in minutes. Such was the demand for one of the 80,000 tickets that there were fights on the streets of Dublin between desperate fans.

Now NME.COM has learned that staff are being hired to work at the second show, scheduled for September 1. It will mark the first time that the Slane event has been held twice in the same year. Local residents concerns and the Irish licensing laws have meant that the small County Meath village, just north of Dublin, could only welcome the deluge of visitors once a year. However, such was the demand to have the supergroup play again, that during March of this year the Irish government intervened to fast track changes in national planning laws that would allow the massive show to go ahead. While Red Hot Chili Peppers, Coldplay, Kelis and JJ72 are confirmed as support on the first date, it is unclear who will join U2 on the second. A formal announcement by organisers about the show is yet to come. A spokesperson for U2 said this morning (June 25) that a licence had yet to be granted.