The Boss is back in town for Dubliners this weekend, as rock legend Bruce Springsteen returns to the city for three gigs as part of his 2023 world tour.
The New Jersey icon and his E Street Band are playing three dates at the RDS Arena, with the first show this Friday, followed by Sunday and next Tuesday.
Dublin is a regular European haunt for Springsteen, who has played the RDS no less than 11 times throughout his career, last appearing at the venue back in 2012 as part of his Wrecking Ball world tour.
In 2007, Dublin also hosted Bruce and the Seeger Sessions Band as they recorded their 'Live in Dublin' album at The Point.
2016 saw the star return to perform at the city's Croke Park, but it's the famous RDS that can lay claim to his favorite Irish venue, with the 18,500 capacity arena only one of two European venues where Springsteen will play three gigs this year - testament to the 73-year-old's die-hard Irish fanbase.
Tickets for all three gigs were snapped up within minutes of going on sale last May, making the shows the most anticipated gigs anywhere in Ireland this year.
Among fans waiting for the arrival of the Boss is former RTÉ broadcaster Charlie Bird, who recently revealed meeting the rocker was the "one thing left on his bucket list" following his 2021 diagnosis with motor neurone disease, and said he wanted Bruce's 1999 track Land of Hope and Dreams "to be played at my funeral".
On Monday, the journalist revealed he had suffered a fall while walking at the weekend, and tweeted an image of his injuries, with the caption: "Still hoping I will get to meet Brucie even with a bloody face!"
Meanwhile, in the style of visiting US presidents, Bruce has even been urged to trace his Irish roots while in the country, with a plea made last year by Co Kildare Fine Gael councillor Mark Stafford for the rocker to come to the county in homage to his great-great-great-grandfather Christy Garrity, who hailed from the town of Rathangan.
One of the hardest working acts in rock history, Bruce has been touring for almost half-a-century, with his new global jaunt showing that the Born to Run star has no plans to slow down just yet.
Following his Dublin dates, Springsteen and the E Street Band, including guitarist Steven Van Zandt, will head to Paris for two shows, while in June the tour will make its only other three-gig stop in Gothenburg, where they will play the city's Ullevi stadium - the largest in Sweden.
The current tour kicked off in the US back in February, before shifting to Europe last week for two gigs in Barcelona.
The Boss left staff and fellow diners at a restaurant in the city stunned when he appeared for a meal ahead of one of the shows, joined by director Steven Spielberg and former US president Barack Obama and wife Michelle.
