Face Of Cheam

Wasn’t too sure initially about Oasis at Wembley Arena, mainly because of venue and price (approaching £50). However, they did do one of my top five shows at Hammersmith a couple of years ago, and have not let me down outdoors before. In fact the only shoddy show was at the Albert Hall many moons ago, so in the end decided to go along, managing to get tickets through ticketmaster long after they supposedly sold out. Assume someone’s credit card failed!
Anyway, we got to the venue just after eight faced with a largish but not excessive queue that went from the entrance in the corner of the arena to halfway back looping round in a horse shoe fashion. And we waited, and waited, and waited. About half eight the queue had gone about twenty yards so we were about a third of the way there. Looking behind us, many many more had joined the queue making it twice as long as when we joined!. Another 10 yards made in a quarter of an hour and we were about another twenty from the entrance, when suddenly through the walls of the arena you could hear a thump thump to the beat of ‘RocknRoll Star’. Yikes they’re on! It took a further eight or nine minutes to get to the doors where obviously tempers are flaring. ‘Just do your f***ing job’ another punter was heard yelling at a steward. A quick look behind us saw people still joining the very long queue. Eventually we got in and in a half full standing area oasis were halfway through their new single ‘Shock Of Lightning’. This did enable us to get a semi decent view. However the mood was exacerbated when during a new song I decided to quickly go to the gents, leaving the arena bit the way we came in. Many a punter still filtering through crying ‘What a S***hole!’, i was greeted at the top of the stairs by a steward saying this was an entrance only and I would have to return down the stairs to find a proper exit! After a few choice words expressing my opinion of the organisation he decided to let me through. Returning with a couple of beers in hand, the rest of the show was excellent, with Noel singing ‘The Masterplan’ definitely a highlight. Surprisingly there was no Live Forever, though Definitely Maybe was represented by Slide Away, Cigarettes & Alcohol and a superb Supersonic bringing back memories of first hearing it in DeHems many years ago. The encore provided Champagne Supernova and I Am The Walrus, which made our mood happier. As it was over by half ten we made our way to the reception desk to register a formal complaint, followed by many more demanding appropriate recompense. To fair Wembley did reply quickly and have offered to make up for it, though not by way of tickets for the stadium show next year as bizarrely the stadium and the arena are owned by different companies! At least MTV showed the show on delay, meaning at least the songs I missed could be heard later!