Garth Brooks sells 240,000 Dublin tickets in 90 minutes

Gardaí called to Limerick shop after fans fail to secure tickets for sell-out Croke Park gigs

Denise Slattery, Donna Flemming, Caroline Halvey and Rachel Hannan pictured queuing for Garth Brooks t ickets in Limerick yesterday.Photograph: Brian Gavin Press 22
Denise Slattery, Donna Flemming, Caroline Halvey and Rachel Hannan pictured queuing for Garth Brooks t ickets in Limerick yesterday.Photograph: Brian Gavin Press 22

Almost a quarter of a million Garth Brooks fans are not going to "miss the dance" as tickets for his three concerts in Croke Park sold out in 90 minutes today.

Aiken promotions said it was the first time an artist sold out three dates at the Dublin venue in one day. Sales of the €65 each tickets would have reached over €15m .

Some 240,000 tickets for the country superstar’s ‘comeback special’ gigs were sold online and in shops.

Front of the queue for Garth Brooks tickets at Easons in Thurles Shopping Centre this morning.
Front of the queue for Garth Brooks tickets at Easons in Thurles Shopping Centre this morning.

Tickets went on sale at 9am for two concerts on Friday July 25th and Saturday July 26h. A third date went on sale at 9.30am due to demand.

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“In 52 years of business this is the fastest selling concert Aiken Promotions have ever been involved in,” Peter Aiken said in a statement.

Garth Brooks’ manager Bob Doyle said they were “thrilled” with the result.

Aiken promotions said that over 10,000 people queued at Ticketmaster outlets across the State .

In Limerick gardaí had to be called after most of the 200 fans who had camped for up to two nights outside Gleeson’s Sports Scene Upper William Street failed to secure tickets. Just 49 fans at the store received tickets.

A community garda called for back-up officers after an angry crowd converged on the shop this morning. No arrests were made.

Steve Gleeson, owner, said their system for accessing Ticketmaster’s online ticket agent system was “slow” which left them unable to access as many tickets as they would have wanted.

Earlier, Ticketmaster said its website was “extremely busy” as eager Brooks fans searched for tickets.

Tickets for the concerts have already been put up for sale on auction site eBay for four times their original price at €300 each. Done Deal said it is removing adverts on its site for Garth Brooks tickets over face value.

Brooks’ concert will be his first in Ireland since 1997.

He retired from the music industry in 2001 to rear his children, but has recently made a comeback with a series of shows in Las Vegas.

The Croke Park shows are not part of the world tour, but are one-off specials in advance of his world tour next autumn.

Brooks made a bestselling video/DVD of his 1997 Croke Park concerts and said the place was special for him.

Genevieve Carbery

Genevieve Carbery

Genevieve Carbery is Deputy Head of Audience at The Irish Times