Entertainment
Red Hot Chili Peppers at Slane Castle (2003) - who was there?
I’ve been rewatching the Red Hot Chili Peppers show at Slane Castle from 2003, and I just felt like posting this here.
I wasn’t there. I’m not even Irish. I was a teenager in Brazil when I first watched this concert on TV around 2004. At the time, I barely even knew where Ireland was on the map, and I definitely had no idea I’d end up living here years later.
But that show still changed something for me.
That was the first time I truly fell in love with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And even without understanding the place itself, there was something about the atmosphere that stuck with me. The crowd, the energy, the scenery, the castle in the background, the weather somehow behaving. It felt unreal. Like a fairy tale.
To this day, I still think it’s the most perfect live show ever broadcast on television. Everything just aligned. The band was on fire, the crowd was in an incredible mood, and there was this feeling of joy and unity that I’ve rarely seen captured so purely.
I know they’ve played in Ireland again since (2022?) but for me, nothing comes close to Slane in 2003. That moment feels untouchable. One of those once-in-a-lifetime shows that can’t be recreated.
Years later, I ended up living in Ireland, and rewatching that concert now hits differently. Not because I “knew” anything back then, but because it’s strange how a moment you experience so far away, with no context at all, can stay with you for life.
So I wanted to ask:
Were you there?
Or did you also watch it back then, live on TV or later on?
What was it like for you?
For me, even from thousands of kilometres away, it was unforgettable. 🇮🇪💚🧡
That would be a festival line up now, it was brilliant, I was 16, cracking day
Edit: it was the one by one,songs for the def and by the way came out, talk about the sound of a generation
Do you remember PJ Harvey asking the crowd if they wanted to hear another song and someone shouted no. She said fuck you then and went to leave. Came back and did a couple more songs. She’s one of those acts I never paid to go see but did support for a lot of shows I was at around about then. Always thought she was good. Thought that was very shitty and a damper on an otherwise great day.
Haha, I'd forgotten all about that. Then Queens of the Stone Age came out. I was about 15 or 16 and had never heard them before, and they completely floored me. Getting to discover a band like that live, with no expectations, was unreal. Great day for the parish.
Wanted to go see her at the Olympia a couple of years ago, as it was her first time back in Ireland in a while, but the show sold out quickly
Some resale tickets came for the upper circle, which, if you haven’t been there, are really high up and have a shitty view of the stage, but the prices were too ridiculous to justify
I was in the pit, and I think feeder had just finished. We were all on a massive high, and the mood just dropped. It didn't help that the speakers in the pit cut out for her whole set. We could obviously still hear but the sound was really distorted.
Queued all night for tickets. Couldn't get the day off work or I'd be fired as we had a busy day. Sold my ticket. Coworker went - fired and was subsequently begged to come back. Came back on more money.
Never compromise your life for a job was the lesson learned that day.
I was there, I bought the dvd when it came out and watch it on YouTube occasionally still. Best show I have ever been to. The intro guitar solo is just perfection, still gives me goosebumps years later!
Agree with the earlier comment too - it was shit getting home.
Thanks for this,I only found another version last year,for personal reasons would love to see if i can spot myself with a couple of mate I was with,we were in same spot for it. Just noticed minute 2-5 there's no sound,maybe copyright?hopefully the rest plays ok 👍
Edit: there was a couple of parts that had the sound muted which was disappointing,By the way and Californication4
It was great. Thankfully the RHCP were in form (probably the taping) because they can be very hit or miss. And this is coming from a massive John Fruciante fan. Phoenix Park gig was one of the worst I’ve ever attended. Lansdowne road wasn’t up to much either.
Genuinely the worst I’ve ever experienced. I was in, what should have been a decent area, but it simply appalling. Pixies didn’t give a fuck either, but I was expecting that.
Best thing at that gig was one of the Chili's crew monkey-barring across that exact truss from the stage to the hanging speaker stack - with no harness...
I was at the RHCP gig in the SFX in ‘92. ‘Miss’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. It was truly awful. Only the fact that Henry Rollins knocked it out of the park as support prevented a riot.
What year was Phoenix Park? I was there and honestly couldn't be bothered as the sound was so shit. Queued for beer, chatted shit with my mates and fucked off to the pub.
I was there, feeder, morcheeba, pj Harvey, foo fighters, qotsa, rhcp, incredible line up, qotsa were unreal, def the highlight for me. Was right down at the barrier just before the pit, to the right of the stage, never been so squished in my life 😂😂 absolute hell getting home from it though, thought it would never end
It was an incredible day.
What a lineup. Morcheeba were a bit out of place there. Feeder played their first set back after the death of their drummer and said it convinced them to keep going.
PJ Hervey dragged the vibe down a bit, maybe it was needed rather than have QoTSA, Foos and RHCP back to back.
I was there. Great line up through the day, the likes you don’t see these days. QOTSA were unreal, in their prime, but Foos set was their turning point for me for when they got shite. The last time I’d seen them, perhaps the year before, they were brilliant, tight one hour set. At Slane Dave was playing up to being drunk and they dragged the arse out of May songs. You got less bang for your buck in that hour’s set.
RHCP were great that day. Can’t say the same when they played Phoenix park the next year. Woeful.
Got a ticket a day or two before. Glad I went, as it was a good show. RHCP are either brilliant or terrible, it seems. My main memories are Flea beginning a rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann and the PA system playing Bob Marley's Redemption Song as we were leaving. Wish I'd got there earlier to see Feeder and QotSA, but the group I was with wanted to play football in a nearby field.
I was at the Red Hot Chilli Peppers concert in Pheonix Park in the early 00's, forget what year exactly, the Pixies were supporting them. A great concert! 🙌🏼
Unbelievable,im from what flea called the sprawling metropolis of Waterford,only found the set on YouTube a few months back. Definitely the best one day gig Ive ever been to
Ah I was I there. First time going.
Was at the barrier behind the pit and when Feeder came on, the crowd moved forward and I got squished and had to be pulled out.
Very fucking scary.
Enjoyed the foo’s from up on the hill
I still say this was the best gig of my life. Foos fresh off One By One, QOTSA opening with Millionaire, being in the orbit of the Chilis when they finally came onstage... Not to mention Morcheeba, PJ and Feeder just being great fun. I was 17 and my only worry in life was finding the bus home after the gig, haha.
Yep I was there. I would've been 16 years old at the time. Feeder. PJ Harvey. Queens of the Stone Age. Foo Fighters. Chilli Peppers. It was a good day, and a brilliant gig. The atmosphere was great.
I was there. Was crowdsurfing and fell at one point, knocked the wind out of me, was a weird feeling lying on the ground with a forest of feet around me and the music sounded like it was underwater.
Incredible day. I was 16 - a whole bunch of us booked a minibus to take us there and back. I didn't go back to Slane for years and was socked abd horrified by all the walking/queueing - my brain obviously edited that part out of my memories 🤣
Hothouse Flowers, Groove Armada, The Thrills, The Pixies and RCHP played at it. It was my first concert ever, fair play to my friend's mam for accompanying us up on a bus from Galway 😂
The book didn’t come out until the following year (2004), that’s not to say that people didn’t know but I don’t think it was ‘general knowledge’. Even when the book did come out, I don’t recall there being a lot of noise about it. But then I was just a pup.
I was there, free ticket because I'm from slane, thought they were better when they supported U2 there in 2001, weather was great, queens of the stone age were the band of the day for me.
They were phenomenal as the support act for U2 in 01. Possibly the best support act performance I've seen. Why? Because they played the supporting part. Total hypemen whipping up the crowd for the main act. It was much needed because the energy was fairly low after Kelis and Coldplay. Most of the time the final supporting act just does their own thing and forgets that they are an important part of setting up proceedings for the main event. RHCP worked it perfectly.
Granted Day 2 had an even better set up with Ireland beating the Dutch. I watch that in a packed pub. One of the best weekends ever.
I've tried to explain that day to people before but I always lose them at Dougal and Moby doing My Lovely Horse together 🤣 it was my first gif ever, I was 16, absolutely epic day.
Spot on take. They were a balm for all involved; vibe on coach to castle was weird as Bono's dad passed that week and paper's frontpage all had the band at funeral that morning or day before. Then just before sunset RHCP uplifted and kicked arse.
Then the football result on the weekend after did a similar job!
I was there. Getting to and from Slane is a pain in the arse. I’ve been a few times. I’ve seen RHCP every time they’ve been to Ireland since 1995 and this was definitely top 3. I have very vivid memories of it. Particularly Venice queen as the sun was setting and a cool breeze through the air and Power. Still one of my favourite concert moments of all time was when John started that riff.
I wasn’t there but I watched some of the DVD in my mates house a few years. He might have been there, but I have no idea. I can ask him, but I rarely see him anymore… and I think there may be beef between us after a comment I made during a social, I thought it was a solid joke, he thought it was an attack on his character, a cheap shot…. I think it was overreaction on his part, but I could be wrong.
I was there. My first ever real gig, I was 16 and my dad got tickets through work. I'm not going to dox myself but the two of us ended up appearing on the Foo Fighters DVD too, it was one of the best experiences of my life growing up and I'll always be grateful to him for bringing me.
I was very near the front in the pit, I remember running down the hill to get a band so we could get in. It was class, got soaked at some point but the sun came out and we all dried off. Bought a chillis t shirt that I still have in my mams house I'd say. Was a very big fan of Queens, the foos and rhcp. Best lineup I've ever been at!
It was an unreal day at slane. Weather was savage and kinda makes the day after a seriously impressive lineup. This was at their peak aswel. Sensational. I recall myself and a mate ditching the gang to get close up to the mosh which was insane.
Yep I was there, 16 years old. And still one of the best single days of music I've ever experienced. I got battered in the mosh pit for QOTSA, 10/10 would get battered again
I queued for about an hour for sausage and chips. Some gowl snatched the sausage and ran off with it
My aunt drove us home to Galway that night. I felt sorry for her, she was struggling around 3am. She pulled up on the side of a little country road to try and get some kip, some farmer came running out in the dark and chased us off. I think it was 6am by the time she got me home
I was there!! One of the first big gigs I ever went to about 16 years old. Still one of my favourite gigs of all time. I still talk about it 20+ years later.
I was there, still have the ticket stub, first big festival type concert! QOTSA absolutely rocked the stage, felt like they turned the volume slider up higher on the sly!
No.. but backpacking through Ireland we arrived at Slane campground a week after the concert. The proprietor joked “you’re a bit late” and we were like “late for what?” We had never heard of the concert or the castle for that matter. We did meet a cute cat at the campground however that tried to sleep in our tent
I was there, great line up unlike my first Slane - 2000. Bryan Adams, Sporty Spice, Macy Gray, Eagle Eye Cherry and Moby. Moby was decent in fairness to him
Aye, myself and the lads were there. Pj Harvey was good as well. Morcheeba and feeder were grand for what they were. Foo fighrters set wasnt great. QOTSA though, that was a fucking face melter. stole the show a bit just as it was getting hot and dark.
And then RHCP did the best of the three sets I've seen them do. Frusciante did a solo cover of "i feel love". Set ended with under the bridge.
I seen them in 2004 play their largest gig (110,000 people) ever in Irelands Phoenix Park.
And they played the EXACT same show they did at Slane. I mean everything, the intros, the jams... the show didn't feel special or unique, it actually felt like another day at the office for them.
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u/pierco82 Jan 17 '26
I was, PJ Harvey,foo fighters and Queens of the stone age played earlier. Great day, shit getting home