The Stones' Slane gig in 1982 was the biggest show Ireland had seen, but fans bemoaned rip-off prices and reviews were mixed, writes Ronan McGreevy.
Slane Castle owner Lord Henry Mount Charles called it the "pathfinder show" and Ireland had never seen anything like it before.
Though Thin Lizzy and U2 played the castle grounds in 1981, Ireland had never hosted an international act as big as the Rolling Stones playing in Slane in front of so many people.
Mount Charles recalls: "The weather was beautiful, the show was magic. Mick Jagger came down the Thursday before the show and had dinner in the castle and the production crew slept in the drawing room of the castle the night before the show. It had an almost gypsy-like quality about it."
Some 70,000 music fans played the princely sum of £12 each for a ticket. Thousands arrived the night before to camp out wherever they could find a pitch around the village.
The phrase "rip-off Ireland" was decades away, but fans complained bitterly of being charged £5 for a six-pack of beer and £1 for a can of coke, with one newspaper report at the time remarking that "every kind of huckster, three-card-trick man and itinerant salesman had a stall in Slane".
The day of the concert, July 24th, saw brilliant sunshine, with those who weren't sprayed by two massive water hoses taking advantage of the lack of security to swim in the River Boyne.
After the warm-up acts, which included the Chieftains, the Rolling Stones bounded on, with Mick Jagger proclaiming: "It's great to be back in Dublin. After 16 years, it's very nice of you to come, so let's spend the night together." Jagger showed a hazy knowledge of Irish geography and also of the band's own history. They had last played Ireland in 1965.
Though the band were, then as now, past their creative peak, they were still selling Top 10 albums and their set featured songs such as Start Me Up, Neighbours and Black Limousine from recent recordings.
They closed the set with staples which the crowd are certain to hear at Slane 25 years on: Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Jumpin' Jack Flash and Satisfaction. The concert ended as it started, in daylight, and it was followed by a fireworks display.
Reviews of the performance were mixed, with one reviewer positing a question on a topic still relevant today: "Can men of 40 still cut it as a rock band after 20 years on the road?" The review concluded: "Like our lost youth, they roll on, but largely in remembrance."
Irish Times reviewer Joe Breen said presciently that the Rolling Stones were "no longer the greatest rock and roll band in the world, but they do realise they are among the most popular".
"There is no doubt that they are not the band they were and to compensate for this change the showbusiness angle of their concerts has been accentuated," he wrote. Twenty-five years on, what has changed?
Heavy rain may pass before concert begins
Ronan McGreevy
The good news is that by the time the Rolling Stones take to the stage tomorrow evening at Slane Castle the sun is likely to have made an appearance.
The bad news is that persistent rain, which is expected to start this evening, is forecast to continue into tomorrow afternoon. It will be followed by heavy downpours which will persist into the early evening and make conditions difficult.
"It will not be a good day generally speaking," a Met Éireann spokeswoman said. "There's a low pressure area moving over us on Friday and Saturday which is likely to bring a lot of heavy rain, though it should pass over, and people could be luckier on Saturday evening with a gradually improving situation."
Temperatures are expected to be mild at about 20 degrees.
The 70,000 concertgoers have been advised to bring wellington boots and rain gear, but not umbrellas, as these are not allowed.
Extensive remedial work on the site has been carried out by promoters MCD in conjunction with the castle's owner, Lord Henry Mount Charles. It is hoped that the drainage and re-seeding will stop the ground churning up.
A number of new car parks will be in operation this year, including one on the Navan Road belonging to Lord Mount Charles, which will have space for 3,000 cars.
Supt Michael Devine, from Navan Garda station, said that the sites which had been chosen for car-parking were selected on the basis that they would stand up to harsh weather.
Gardaí are hoping that concertgoers fully utilise the M1 motorway, which now passes close to the Slane site.
Drivers coming from Dublin and the south of Ireland are being urged to travel northbound on the M1, exiting at the Slane exit, instead of using the N2, which gets severely congested on concert days.
People driving from the North are being asked to use the M1 and to exit at the Dunleer/Collon exit.
Traffic will be diverted away from the N2 to car parks in the vicinity and only buses will be allowed on the road after the concert.
"We have had extremely serious concern in the old system with buses, cars and pedestrians all using the same road in the dark," Supt Devine said.
Irish Water Safety has reiterated warnings by the castle owner not to swim in the river Boyne, which is at its highest level in 137 years. Two fans tragically drowned during the REM concert at Slane in 1995.