Cork rocked all over the weekend when 15,000 music fans flocked to Aiken Promotions's Live in the Marquee concerts in the city's docklands to catch veteran rockers The Who, Duran Duran and Irish combo Bell X1.
On Saturday night 5,000 fans thronged the marquee to catch The Who, fresh from their success at headlining Glastonbury, deliver a blistering set of old favourites.
Guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend used the diverse ages of the fans to defuse any ironic comments about a band whose lead members are now in their 60s singing about teenage rebellion. "It's great to be back in Cork after 30 years or maybe even 40 years and it's great to see such a mix of ages in the audience because as you may have noticed, we're a bit older too," he said near the start of the two-hour set which featured footage of the band in their Mod heyday.
Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey may now be both in their 60s but they looked as if they could rock forever, with Daltrey belting out the numbers and Townshend launching into his trademark windmill strumming of his guitar.
Their songs from the 1960s and 1970s drew the most enthusiastic response from the audience with Baba O'Reilly, Won't Get Fooled Again, Talkin 'bout My Generation and their encores, The Kids are Alright and Pinball Wizard, all greeted with loud applause.
On Friday night, 1980s hearthrobs Duran Duran belted out their hits with aplomb to an adoring audience of mainly female fans. It was like 1984 all over again as Simon Le Bon and Co launched into Girls on Film, Hungry like the Wolf and Save a Prayer. Le Bon moved around the stage as if he was much younger than his 49 years to serve up a real nostalgia fest for those growing up in that rather dim and distant place, Ireland of the 1980s.
Bell X1 kept up the momentum last night for a younger audience. The series of concerts continues this week and next with Status Quo, rapper 50 Cent, folk troubadour Christy Moore, piano man Elton John and balladeer Lionel Richie.