SOME were wrapped in bin liners while others peered wearily from sodden pop-up tents but there was no getting away from the relentless wind and rain battering die-hard Garth Brooks fans.
Camped outside the DV8 store in Belfast's Castle Place yesterday was a long and lively line of them - mothers, daughters, fathers and sons - all primed for today's 9am ticket-grab.
First in the queue and hoping to get to July's Croke Park gigs were sisters Margaret O'Hara and Nikki Sewell who had been huddling under their umbrellas since Monday.
Facing a third night in the rain with only hot chocolate and sleeping bags for company, they insisted that the country music legend was more than worth the wait.
"This will be a very special concert for us as our dad, who passed away last September, was a huge fan," Margaret said.
"If he were still here he would be sitting in the rain with us now, probably singing Garth Brooks songs and keeping everyone's spirits up."
The sisters are part of an 18-strong group hoping to bus it to Dublin for the Irish leg of the comeback tour by Brooks, pictured.
Among the party will be Belfast bride-to-be Clare Callaghan and her fiance Simon Robinson who intend to fit in a concert on the day between their wedding and their honeymoon to Portugal.
Elsewhere in the line, John Rafferty from Belfast said that despite the weather he had enjoyed the "craic" of the sit-out - and had been particularly amused by the "mad questions" inquisitive passers-by posed.
"I have been a Garth Brooks fan for 20 years but some people just don't get it," he said.
"Some thought the singer was a footballer, while others thought we were queueing for cheap clothes from DV8.
"Some even asked if we were homeless."
The queue was typical of makeshift camps which have sprung up across Ireland ahead of today's release of tickets for the July 25 and 26 gigs.
Brooks (51) thrilled more than 130,000 Irish fans over two memorable nights in Croke Park in 1997.
A spokesman for Aiken Promotions said demand had been "unprecedented" and that all five Ticketmaster outlets in the Belfast area, as well 13 other outlets throughout Northern Ireland, were expecting a hectic morning.
Tickets, limited to six per person, can also be purchased at www.ticketmaster.ie or by calling 084 4277 4455 - but you'd better be quick.