They are arguably the biggest band in the UK since The Beatles. They are probably the best known pair of brothers since Bobby & Jack Charlton They are possibly the most honest public figures around right now They undeniably make the best, most powerful, angry rock n roll since the Sex Pistols exploded on the scene in 76 yet can also make the gentlest songs too.

Love them or loathe them you cannot ignore them. Noel and Liam Gallagher who, to the majority of the world are Oasis.

Being pretty close, age wise, to Noel I was overjoyed back in early 94 reading an interview in the NME predominately with him about the next ‘big thing’. It was what I had been looking for for years…… Here was a guy who namechecked all the bands I ever loved. Here was a guy who loved his football (even if it was Man City - but that is better than Moan Utd !!) Here was a guy who looked cool. Here finally was someone to take over Paul Weller’s mantle as the ‘spokesman for a generation’

I set about trying to keep tabs on their progress, buy releases and see them live. The former was not too hard as very shortly the infamous Dutch boat fiasco occurred. A second single release was imminent but live gigs could be the problem. Then in May 94 it was announced they were playing on my very doorstep. The Army & Navy Pub in Chelmsford was slowly getting onto ‘the circuit’ for up and coming bands. One of those shit holes you have to play to make the step up the ladder as it were. At this time Oasis were attempting to do just that. In my ignorance I figured no other idiot in town had even heard of them and anyway who wanted to check out some relatively unknown band from Manchester on a Tuesday night anyway ? How wrong I was and how many times have I kicked myself for my short sightedness ? I arrived at 9:30pm to be met by dozens of people already stuck in the carpark. No problem I thought sauntering up to the guy who I knew on the door. He was having none of it although he did offer to get me a beer from the bar so I could sit in the carpark and listen as the windows would be open. "No bloody way" I retorted . "I’m not listening to no group in a car park !" So with that I returned home, annoyed but it was not the end of the world. They were playing the Marquee in a few weeks, I would catch them there…..after trying every ticket agency in London and trying every trick in the book including going to the venue and rough trade records to blag a ticket I gave it up as a forlorn hope. This was exasperated by the fact I know had the first couple of tracks in my possession and I wanted more.

Finally in June 94 I got to see them live. Not quite what I planned but it would suffice. Glastonbury festival, second stage, 2pm ish on a sunny Sunday afternoon they casually sauntered on stage, did their thing, sauntered off and made a lasting impression on me. That was it for me. From that point I realised they would be ‘big’ but my definition at that time meant as big as perhaps The Jam. No-one could honestly envision, as they cranked out what is perhaps their most defining song to date "Rock n Roll Star", that four years later they would be mega popular across the world as they now are - well apart from Noel and Liam of course who knew all the time !! J

Only 2 months later I got to see them again on a small tour taking in The Town & Country Club in Kentish Town, London. A venue which with today’s attendance’s is made to look almost minute. 3000 odd folk rocked out to them that night supported by a then imo very inept OCS. Now I had the bug. The wife thought I was mad, getting all excited at my age by a band, but I knew this was my last chance to have one of "my bands" hit the big time and I did not want to miss out.

Next came the eagerly awaited debut long player "Definitely Maybe". I started rallying the troops. Bending like minded pals to listen to the album and the singles. Slowly they came round along with a lot of others around the country. Oasis fever was starting to move up a gear. Trying to get a ticket for the London show at Hammersmith Palais was like trying to get an invitation to 10 Downing St. (well Noel managed that too in a few years !) so instead we had to settle for a trip up the M11 to see them do their thing in the Cambridge Corn Exchange. In the pub before the gig happily checking back the beers was Mark E. Smith of The Fall and that proved to me that at least in Manchester circles the band were moving in the right circles. Of course this night has been documented since as the night Liam first met Patsy too so it sound like a bit of a celeb hang out was occurring

As the Oasis fandom grew out of all proportion and the hype machine got into the next gear it became tougher to get hold of tickets and the like. I had to wait nearly a year before my next outing which again was out of town. Originally billed as the ‘Clash of the bands’ when Oasis and their arch rivals and cockney frauds Blur were both set to play Bournemouth the same night until depending on who you believe Oasis changed the date and my plans to avoid, in the police’s words "a football style melee". This gig as well as being a fine day out was also a novelty as this was the period when Guigsy, suffering from nervous exhaustion, was being replaced by Scott McLeod who was shortly to walk out in the middle of a USA tour. An excellent show was only marginally blighted by some plum throwing a pint at Liam who promptly offered to jump off stage and give him a slap. The icing on the cake that night was the very rare rendition of a personal fave of mine "Rockin Chair". The long journey back to London though was a ball breaker !! Not to worry I thought, I would be seeing them play again the very next month at the enormo-dome known as Earls Court. Unfortunately although I amazingly got through on the mobbed telephone lines and got hold of 4 standing tickets I had to give them to friends as I had to, at short notice, travel to New York to attend a wedding !! Oh well…..

Missing Earls Court was a pain as now all my mates had finally woken up to the sound of Oasis with the release of the widely acclaimed and very accessible "What’s The Story ? Morning Glory". They had a grand old time at the gig although the beer queues apparently were a nightmare, though nothing compared to what was to come at Knebworth I’m sure ! My enforced absence was more than compensated in the new year. Due to bad weather at the time my 2 passions, supporting West Ham and seeing gigs clashed one night when a re-arranged game was the same night I had planned to see up and coming new wave ish band Northern Uproar. As a compromise I went to the game, left 5 minutes early, run like hell to the car and managed to escape the neighborhood prior to the game finishing and the traffic clogging up to head across to Highbury to go The Garage. Once inside the growing crowd were already a few pints ahead of me so I headed off to the bar with my pal Sean. As we were waiting I felt someone push into my back, also attempting to get a pint. Instinctively I turned round only to be mate by a polite ‘sorry mate’ from none other than Mr. Noel Gallagher ! Initially shocked I smiled and imply nodded implying it was OK. Once I had our beers I backed away gently not to spill them but in such a way he could slide into my spot and be served next. He grinned, I laughed and off we went. My mate waiting a few feet back said to me. "I just saw a bloke who really looks like that Gallagher geezer in Oasis" I laughed and said "Sean what do you mean ? It is him !" Next second as the band appeared on stage I moved two feet across to get a better view and suddenly realised I was standing next to Tim Burgess from The Charlatans. It was turning into a real Celeb Fest J Realising then they were together I decided after all my years of gig going I was not going to miss the opportunity so I calmly side stepped Burgess and offered my hand to Noel to shake calmly introducing myself in the process. He cupped his hand round his ear so he could hear me over the band and shook my hand warmly. We had a chat about the band, the last 6 months, Oasis new album and the fact I was going down to Cardiff, Wales to see them again six weeks later. He was as personable as is possible with the volume around us and I thanked him for his time and melted back into the background grinning like an inane chesire cat. 5 minutes of his time meant a lot to me, so thanks Noel.

The next gig was again a long ride away in Cardiff. Only problem was this time we could not use a coach or train due to the fact we would then have to stay all night so I drove with my pal Steve. Its a long way on a Tuesday night in the pouring rain I can you. And to be 100% honest this was the worst Oasis gig I had seen. Maybe it was because I was as sober as a judge, maybe it was because there were mobs of screaming girlies that at times were louder than the music or maybe they just had an off night. For the first time we both started to question wether they were moving too fast and that we were about to loose "our band". We both decided that Maine Road the following month would be our swansong. There were 10 of us travelling up from London together to meet some old footie friends who are about as Manc as you get. Born and bred in Moss Side (right next to Man City’s stadium) and as blue as is possible with an almost pathological hatred of the red part of manchester so we figured it would be a fine way to bow out …….

The day started at 5:30am when I jumped on the tube to head down to Paddington station where I was meeting up with our motely crew for some breakfast prior to catching a coach to Manchester. The coach was a ‘special’ for the event and such had attracted a mixed crowd. At the back end of the bus the younger half gathered while all us old gits were at the front. This was noticed by a couple of ladies sitting in the middle who purported to be from the NME. Now I have been an avid NME reader for more years than I care to remember so it was up to me to ensure they were who they said they were. I dont know who was more amazed us or them when they told me their names were Sylia and Hayley. "As in Patterson and Madden ?" I replied. Thats us they said. Just to back their story a little more true to their words a feature did indeed appear in the following weeks edition complete with numerous quotes from us and even a couple of picures ! Two doses of fame in as many months !! Once we arrived at Maine Road we immediately headed back into the city centre for our rendezvous with the Man City crowd. Once we caught up with them there was now nearly a twenty strong crowd all madferit. This is started just after 1pm. At 8pm after working our way back to the stadium visiting the majority of the pubs en-route we were ready for the main event. We chose to skip the support bands as most of us had seen all of them at various times in the past so with impeccable timing as we strolled onto the pitch within 5 minutes the strains of ‘swamp song’ could be heard and we were off and running. Maybe it was it the beer ? Possibly it was the day out ? Could have been the company but it was more like ALL of thise things but defintaly the music, music, music. Young or old. North or South. Drunk, high or sober they literally rocked the house. The whole place was going mad, everyone was dancing, jigging, singing. We were content to be at the back and do our thing but still all around us the place was hoppin. All too soon the night closed with, at the time, an unusual addition of an encore. "Cmon Feel The Noize" summed up the evening perfectly and for us older ones who’s first taste of music was from Slade it was great to hear that cranked out again. If it was possible I think the crowd excelled themselves and gave it everything they had to finish the night. Even though I think I walked into our appartment at around 5am the next day it was such a great day I would not have missed it for the world. Oasis had really hit the big time !!

As Knebworth appraoched so did the imminent birth of our son. England went Oasis crazy and we went baby crazy. So much to do and prepare for Oasis would have to take a back seat. Suddenly the day was upon us and every TV and radio station had Oasis specials running. There were 125,000 people (officially) at BOTH of the nights they played there. I had decided on the Sunday morning after reading the reviews in the papers I would content myself listening to the live braodcast on radio 1 that night when suddenly I had a call from one of the guys I was at Maine Road with. He had a spare ticket and pleaded with me to go as "you got me into them, it wont seem right going without you". My wife rolled her eyes and grinned. I was going after all. So off I set armed with only my jacket (whichlater prooved to have been worth carrying around all day when the heavens opened during the set) and a pack of beers for the journey north of London. The whole set up of Knebworth can only be described as BIG, well HUGE probably !! I had been to literally hundreds of gigs from sweaty clubs to Wembley stadium but never with 124,999 others. Even Glastonbury at that time was ‘only’ 100,000 ish. However there are logistic problems galore in dealing with those numbers. The lines for beer, food and the toilets were a nightmare. I arranged with another pal I amazingly met there that he would line up for beer while Cast, who I quite like, were on and I would swap so he could see The Charlatans. In fact we lined up through both of these sets and two thirds of The Manic Street Preachers too !! 3 hours to be exact. It was a nightmare. We managed to carry 4 pints each out of the tent intact. Later when we returned for some more it only took 20 minutes which was relative heaven. Anyway the chances are if you are reading this is that you were either at one of or have heard one of the shows from that weekend. Musically it possibly was Oasis zenith. They really put on a show for the world to see and performed perfectly. The addition of Jon Squire (from the Stone Roses) for the finale was a great touch and everyone went home wet but happy.

TO BE CONTINUED .........

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