Oasis are back and the Daily Star is Looking Back In Anger at its favourite Oasis gigs, as we survived flying bottles of p***, brawling fans and questionable hairdos
Oasis are back, so pick up your parka and let’s Slide Away down memory lane.
Liam and Noel Gallagher kicked off the band’s highly anticipated comeback tour with two epic gigs at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium last weekend. It saw the once-warring brothers grace the stage together for the first time in over 15 years.
Next stop? Manchester…where it all began. Oasis are set for a string of sold-out homecoming shows at Heaton Park – five dates in total. The first is on Friday (July 11) before they play on July 12, 16, 19 and 20 – with around 80,000 fans expected to attend each night.
So just what can you expect from an Oasis gig? Fear not, your Supersonic Daily Star comrades have got you covered. From Knebworth to Wembley, we’ve survived just about all of the band’s most iconic concerts in the nineties and noughties.
As it turns out, it’s a whole lot of carnage (and even more urine), but if you can survive the Britpop brawlers and the flying bottles, you’re in for a treat. The Gallagher brothers are true Rock ‘N’ Roll stars and they Definitely Maybe know how to put on a show.
Andy Gilpin – Blonde-rwall
Manchester City Stadium – 2005 “Firstly, let’s get it out of the way. The hair. It was a simpler time, Kevin Pietersen had just coined the ‘skunk’ look and I was experimenting with a local hairdresser who was an enabler. I’m not sure about the shirt either, but hey ho.
“It also looks, by the look of my eyes, that I don’t remember much about the gig. But I do. Sort of. I can remember, Super Furry Animals aside, the support acts not being great, so we played a game of cards on the pitch.
“I remember massive queues for beer, which is strange due to the amount of p*** that was being thrown about. I mean, there was loads of it. Everywhere. Especially over me, that beautiful hair do/shirt combo and the back of my leg.
“The set list was not a classic. It started on Turned Up the Sun, had Mucky Fingers, a Bell Will Ring and the encore had The Meaning of Soul. I know they were promoting an album, but when I go to Heaton Park on Saturday, if it’s a toss-up between listening to those ‘hits’ again or being covered in p***, I’ll take the latter.”
FOOTNOTE: “The same group of pals and I had tickets to Knebworth. It was our first year of uni and Nathan had stayed all morning on the phone to get them. With my mum and dad away on holiday, the plan looked set.
“Then my Aunty Doreen found out the plan and hid the keys to my dad’s E-reg Cavalier. We didn’t make it, and Nathan has NEVER forgiven me.”
Vince Soodin –Sleep Here Now
Knebworth – 1996
“I was lucky enough (and old enough) to see Oasis at Knebworth in August 1996. I was absolutely f***ed as I’d just come off a two-week holiday to Kavos with mates. The flight landed in the UK in the early hours of Sunday morning. I had a few hours’ skip, then had to get to King’s Cross for a train to Knebworth.
“Dressed in the Oasis summer uniform of sunhat, Kappa t-shirt and Adidas, me and my pal Harv agreed to meet chums Paul and Toby at the beer tent. Obviously, that didn’t happen as there were around 120,000 people in the queue.
“We had got our tickets a few months earlier after making actual phone calls to people – rather than sitting on Ticketmaster’s website all day. It cost £22.50! Thankfully, that was in the days before money-grabbing Liam and Noel chose to rip off their own fans with dynamic pricing.
“What can I remember about the gig? Sweet FA. It was 29 flipping years ago. I was tired and drunk. I remember the Manic Street Preachers were on at about 5pm and I finally succumbed to Kavos exhaustion and fell asleep standing up. But as we were packed in like sardines, I remained on my feet.
“When I woke up later, the priority was dodging what we assumed were bodily fluids in plastic cups and bags flying above our heads. From what I’ve seen on YouTube, Liam, Noel and the boys were brilliant. And Stone Roses’ John Squire too. The best bit – just to say I was there. It was a special time before the world went to absolute sh**.”
Andrew Jameson –Some Might Pay
Heaton Park – 2009
“I went to one of their Heaton Park gigs in 2009 with some mates. The gig was great but particularly memorable as we also got a refund.
“There were some technical issues that day, just after the lads came on, which meant we had to wait while they left the stage for a while. Noel hastily offered us all a refund for the inconvenience, despite coming back to play an amazing full-length set.
“I was a student, so I had no qualms taking him up on his money-back guarantee and gratefully received it a few months later. Noel, a bit miffed that his premature promise cost the band £3million, later called us all “cheeky c***s”. No regrets!”
Kelly Williams –Monobrow Glory
G-MEX Arena, Manchester – 1997
“In the days when Oasis posters smothered my bedroom walls, I was taken to my very first gig in Manchester by my dad and step mum in 1997. Dressed in my Adidas trakkie, I watched in awe as a giant globe spun behind my idols on the stage as they sang ‘All Around The World’.
“That’s when my dad announced we needed to rush out during the encore otherwise we’ll ‘never get out of the car park’. I’ve never forgiven him for that, or for cringing me out with his dad dancing in the crowd.
“But Oasis songs were the soundtrack of my youth. I fancied both brothers in turn and definitely had a thing for the monobrow. This time at Wembley, I’m staying until the end.”
Neil Docking – Stop Puking Your Heart Out
Reading Festival – 2000
“I first saw Oasis at Reading Festival in 2000, just weeks after my 18th birthday. Shock horror, the build-up was plagued by rumours they were about to split up. The rain poured down, Liam was hit by a bottle, and Noel barely said a word.
“But they were brilliant, with a stellar version of Gas Panic living long in the memory. What little of it I was able to piece back together the following morning, that is, having seemingly left an important part of my brain somewhere in a field in Berkshire.
“Finsbury Park in 2002 was just as good, but absolute bedlam. I remember casting envious looks at the lads who had bravely climbed trees to get a better view, as a fella next to me was sick in a cup, then hurled it towards the stage. Lovely. Force of Nature never sounded better – check out the bootleg.
“That September, I was at ‘Lancashire County Cricket Club’ for another barnstorming set. The Gallaghers insisted the promo material didn’t refer to the venue as Old Trafford – no Manchester United references allowed!
“But the less said about Glastonbury in 2004, the better. Liam’s incongruous white parka was the only thing that stood out in a muddy sonic sludgefest.
“The famous Manchester City fans got to play the Etihad in 2005 – I was there the night the show had to be halted because a crowd surge caused the front barriers to break. You’ll have gathered by now that Oasis gigs were often chaotic. And Heaton Park in 2009 was exactly that.
“My memories of the last time I saw the band (until their triumphant Cardiff comeback last weekend) aren’t great. A drunk Manc with sideburns so long they should have been illegal p***** up my mate’s leg, there were fights everywhere you looked, and the swirling sound was atrocious. So good luck to everyone going this weekend!”
Sam Huntley – Angel Child
Wembley Stadium, London – 2009
“My teenage Britpop dreams came true when we secured tickets to one of Oasis’ Wembley gigs back in 2009. Little did we know it would be just weeks before Oasis broke up backstage at the Rock En Seine festival in Paris.
“No fist-throwing, stage diving or debauchery on my end – I was only 14 and went with my mum and a mate. The prospect of girls and GCSEs was scary enough at that point.
“I tried my best to channel Liam by sneaking sips of my mum’s pint and belting out Rock ‘N’ Roll Star – praying that my voice had broken enough for it not to squeak.
“Reverend and The Makers supported – great. The Enemy pulled out due to food poisoning, or maybe they sensed a Noel and Liam storm was brewing… Biblical.”
Steve Hughes –(Please) Stand By Me
Wembley Stadium, London – 2008
“I saw them in 2008 at Wembley with my then-girlfriend (now wife). I needed a pee about 10 mins before they were due to come on stage, and assured her I’d have ‘loads of time’. A rock n roll band like Oasis were never going to be on time, let alone early. I was wrong.
“Standing at the urinal I heard a booming cheer as they walked out on stage, followed by the first chords of the opening song (in my panic, I forget which one it was). I then spent the next hour trying to find my girlfriend while simultaneously trying to avoid being covered in pints of urine (and failing both!).
“In between each song we were phoning each other to no avail. We couldn’t hear each other at all. In a very weird coincidence, I bumped into an old mate who I’d not seen or spoken to in more than years, and ended up on his shoulders looking for her, and I eventually did.
“However she wasn’t really in the mood for speaking to me. I daren’t tell her that I needed another wee!”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
