On Saturday I got to go to one of those extra-special, once in a lifetime type gigs to see my favourite band Oasis for the first time. The support bands were pretty interesting too – Kasabian, The Enemy and Reverend and the Makers. Now some of you might think I’m quite a few years too late to go see Oasis, but better late than never I say. I’ve wanted to see them for ages and back last October I finally said what the hell, and found myself the excited owner of an Oasis ticket and a bit of a credit card debt.
So, positivity cloak (like an invisibility cloak but more spangly), firmly fastened, off I went to my very first Oasis gig, at Wembley Stadium no less. I made it to the stadium, tackled the robot-like automated turnstiles, passed the ferociously carried out bag check and headed for the myriad of escalators in good time to see the first support band. As it was an outdoor gig, it rained of course, so I was glad I had a seat as despite spending over £750 million pounds on the stadium, they still couldn’t afford a whole roof, (or a decent bit of turf for that matter). If you aren’t in the stands you’re in the rain for six hours – how completely rubbish is that?!
Now I knew the stadium is high and the seating is steep and I would have been alright but was immediately pounced on by a ticket checker who took one look at my seat number, smirked loudly and asked “you’re not afraid of heights are you?” in the sort of tone that said ‘you will be’. It was ok though as long as I definitely didn’t look down as I mountaineered up even more steps than at the Cobden Club. I was right at the stage end of the stadium almost at the top, very high and far, far above the stage.
Unfortunately, I’d left my bionic eyes at home, but apparently there were actually people on the stage somewhere. Brilliant view though of the very drunken Oasis fans chucking god knows what over everyone in the crowd below. It looked like beer but I’m told it was something else the same colour. I so hope that’s not actually true!! But I fear the worst.
Way up in the gods at Wembley Stadium
The staging people had surpassed themselves and had scoured the far corners of the earth for the smallest ‘big’ screen money can’t buy. They were so lucky to get it, it might’ve been taken already. And we needed it because our view of the stage was mostly blocked by the side wall. Seriously though, the one pointing sideways up at the end blocks was quite small as you can see in the photo above, or maybe it was because they thought fixing it at ground level was smart when we were so very high up.
Wembley’s own actually big-screen announced that most frequent of gig letdowns – a band you want to see is sure to have not turned up. This time it was support band The Enemy, who had pulled out due to ‘illness’, not for the first time on the tour either. And yeah, to semi-quote Noel Gallagher, I hope they have a sick note too. As they’d been clocked at an after-gig party the night before and got better quick enough to play the day after my gig, you can draw your own conclusions! Noel obviously had and dedicated The Importance of Being Idle to Tom from the Enemy later on. I’d been looking forward to hearing them live and just my luck to pick the wrong day!
That failure wasn’t the biggest downer of the gig though. I’ll get this out of the way here so I don’t have to mention it again! The sound and acoustics at the new Wembley Stadium are possibly fine at ground level, but up in the gods they are sh**e. That’s SH**E in case you didn’t hear, like you won’t do in the stadium in the 4th row from the top. The sound was loud, but extremely muffled and echoey and you couldn’t really hear much of the singing at all, with some songs ending up as just a load of reverberating noise with a smidgeon of guitar thrown in. This is a little bit of a problem if you happen to be at a music gig, although fine probably for watching the football.
First out on stage were Reverend and the Makers, who played an extra 10 minutes on top of their 40-minute set due to the gaping hole left by the ‘sickly’ Enemy. I don’t know their music at all, they seemed ok but not great, but I can’t really judge fairly due to the very rubbish sound that I’m not mentioning again. They did well to rock it out to a half filled-up stadium and were a lot better than the Abba music we’d been greeted with on entering the place. Abba for an Oasis gig? Or am I the only person who doesn’t get that?
After an enforced lengthier than planned gap of nothingness caused by the non-turning up of the Enemy, we got Kasabian, who seemed very good, sound system permitting, (that’s the sh**e one, in case you forgot). I don’t exactly know what they sang though, as not being very up on their repertoire I couldn’t quite distinguish which songs they were due to aforementioned problem. They were energetic and sounded like they were good though and the crowd seemed to like them, a couple of songs in particular getting them going during their hour-long set. Good band, I’d like to see them again at a better venue.
Hitching aforementioned virtual cloak a little tighter, on to the gig’s reason d’etre, my favourite band Oasis. On came Liam in his trademark – and presumably pretty – green parka and he really does sing with his head forward, chin up and hands behind his back like on the telly! I couldn’t see Noel as he was obscured by the side of the stage roof and rigging, as was the drummer who I could hear was in there somewhere! The two other guitarists on the far side provided a little bit of movement to the proceedings.
I couldn’t see much as the larger screens pointing forward weren’t really watchable from my angle, but the little-screen at the side was better than nothing. I found out from YouTube that there were screens behind the band at the back of the stage showing video, so the performance probably looked a lot better from out front.
Oasis at Wembley Stadium. I zoomed in so if you squint really hard you can see Liam in his green parka!
The great thing about this gig was that their set was two hours long, with a mix of old and new songs starting with Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, then Lyla and Shock of the Lightning I think. Roll With It, Waiting for the Rapture, the wonderful Masterplan sung by Noel, Slide Away and Wonderwall were in there somewhere, as was I’m Outta Time which I quite like but which didn’t come off well in its battle with the awful acoustics and sound system.
I’d hoped they’d play Live Forever, as it’s a particular favourite of mine, and was happy they did even though sadly I couldn’t really hear it. Another big favourite is Don’t Look Back in Anger and although I was glad that at least Noel came on to play it, he announced “I can’t be arsed to sing this song anymore” and just played guitar and left it to us. Entirely. Lazy Beggar!
The set ended with Champagne Supernova and their loudly interpreted cover of the Beatles’ I am the Walrus although a lot of people had already left by then, the stand around me was half empty and from my vantage point I’d watched people streaming out of the ground during the last couple of songs. It wasn’t as though it was late as the gig ended at 10.30, but anyone standing must have been soaked through by then with rain, beer, piss and what have you so I can’t really blame them for wanting to beat the queues.
Although I couldn’t see much or hear much, I still had a good time, but I hadn’t drunk anywhere near enough to be able to say hand on heart it was brilliant (although others who had, will). It might have been somewhere nearer if I could have actually heard them better. You don’t get anything fancy with Oasis, just a bit of good music and some musicians standing around on stage, no light show, second stage, pyrotechnics or dancing, but that’s fine by me, particularly if I can hear.
Even with the poor sound and the absent Enemy, this was one of those special gigs I’ll always remember. I enjoyed getting a taster of Oasis live, and my imagination filled in the gaps a bit in the songs I knew. I’ll never pay so much to see a band at Wembley and sit at the top of the stand again, but as it was the first time I’d seen Oasis live, it was still a great experience.
Finally, for all those thousands of you that have been on tenterhooks waiting to hear if it is true or not, it’s not a myth, the legendary hand dryers in the surprisingly good Wembley toilets really are hysterically funny. Hold on tight and DO NOT under any circumstances risk it if you’ve not had a chance to work on your wrist strengthening exercises!
I heard a ghost 