When Oasis supported R.E.M. at Slane Castle back in 1995, they had a little trouble getting the crowd's attention. 'If you don't like it, go f**king hang yourself' were Liam's exact words, after an unenthused crowd member decided to chuck a rock at the stage. That was right before the band played the now Britpop classic, 'Roll With It.' At that time, Oasis were touring 'What's the Story (Morning Glory)?', their most enduring commercial success so far. It was around that time that the rowdy Manchester band suddenly became the biggest band in the world, 'bigger than the Beatles', even 'bigger than Jesus', or were they Noel's own words?
It's quite the understatement to say that things have changed since then. Back then, their line up still featured original members Paul 'Bonehead' McGuigan and Tony McCarroll, as well as a new drummer, Alan White. Having achieved the fastest selling debut album of all time the previous year with 'Definitely, Maybe', Oasis were always a massive band. Perhaps it's only the lull in their success after 1999's admittedly crap 'Be Here Now' that's taken them fourteen years to come back to headline our world class outdoor venue.
By all accounts, the Gallagher brothers are looking forward to returning to the Boyne Valley, Noel in particular, who admitted that it would be nice to 'do this in front of our fans after all these years'. In an interview with The Belfast Telegraph, Noel spoke of the experience, "The last time about 80 of our relatives turned up. Some of those kids have grown up and have kids of their own now, so there'll probably be about 97 of them here next year… It'll also be great for the guys who have joined the band since the last time we played here and hopefully we will get the weather right and everybody will have a good time, and we'll finally put the nail on the credit crunch."
These days Oasis are as massive as ever, winning the NME award for Best British Band of 2009, after bagging another UK number one with their seventh album 'Dig Out Your Soul' last year. Perhaps they're not the rock messiahs that the world once expected them to be, but they did have their moments, and playing at Slane Castle is bound to be one of them.
(The very beginning - Oasis' debut single 'Supersonic' from 1994)
As is happening with everything these days, extra tickets have been release for Oasis at Slane Castle tomorrow, Saturday June 20th. Oasis will be supported by The Prodigy, Kasabian, Glasvegas and the Blizzards. Tickets are priced €76.50 and VIP packages are available.
