Joining Coldplay on stage in Croke Park was an “unbelievable” experience for Aslan.

The band was invited to join Coldplay during Sunday and Monday night’s concerts as a tribute to Christy Dignam, who passed away in June 2023 after a long battle with cancer.

Coldplay played four gigs in Ireland beginning last Thursday, their first in Ireland since 2017, with around 82,000 people attending each concert.

Aslan guitarist Billy McGuinness says he’s “still on cloud nine” after the experience.

“I’m still on cloud nine at the moment; it was an unbelievable two nights. I don’t know how we’re going to top that,” he told Lunchtime Live.

“We got the call about four or five weeks ago and were asked if we would like to get up with Chris Martin and perform ‘Crazy World.’

“You didn’t have to ask us twice; we just said, ‘Yeah, of course we will.’”

Secrecy

Mr McGuinness said Aslan were sworn to secrecy regarding their appearance.

“They wanted the surprise element,” he said.

“Chris Martin told us it cannot leak that you’re getting up with us, and if it leaks on social media, then it won’t be happening.

“I just couldn’t hold anything in and was dying to tell everyone, so it was fortunate that we were off to Australia and only came back last week.

“Thankfully, we had other things on our mind; we were gigging over there but couldn’t wait to get back for Croke Park.”

Christy Dignam speaks at Pendulum Summit in the Dublin Convention Centre in January 2020. Picture by: NurPhoto SRL / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr McGuinness said they realised Chris Martin was a big Aslan fan during the sound check.

“Lee, the singer, said to him: ‘Chris, the chords for “Crazy World” are D, E minor, G.’

“He went, ‘Lee, I know this song inside out; I’m a big fan and I know you have been going for over 40 years.

“[He said] I know you lost your singer last year and was well aware of what was going on in the band.’”

Chris Martin.

Mr McGuinness said it was a lovely way of remembering Christy Dignam.

“I’ve spent 40 years with Christy in a band, and he will never be forgotten when we perform that song at gigs,” he said.

“When Christy passed, we decided to move forward with Lee Tompkins and keep going with Aslan. We said that every gig would be a tribute to Christy.

“As long as we’re out there and people are singing the songs—we had over 160,000 people over two nights in Croke Park—he will never be forgotten.”

Aslan will be performing at The Academy in Dublin on September 13th.

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Main image: Coldplay in Croke Park last night. Image: X/Coldplay