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Oasis Were Unknowns ... Then They Played At T And Went Supersonic














It's the 20th anniversary of T In The Park this year — and to celebrate, festival boss Geoff Ellis is lifting the lid on what happens behind the scenes at Scotland’s biggest music festival.

I’ve been on 19 emotional rollercoasters with T In The Park and I suspect this year will be no different.

There have been so many stand-out moments that I will remember forever.

A couple of those were provided by one of our greatest supporters — Noel Gallagher.

Along with Liam, he played the first year in ’94 when we booked a not-so-well known OASIS.

After finalising the bill, I got an angry fax from the agent for S*M*A*S*H, an NME buzz band.

I’d put Oasis above them in the running order as well as the Glasgow band ONE DOVE.
The fax said: “I know One Dove mean something up there but Oasis? Come on, who are they?”

If only he’d known.

Oasis actually broke down on the way to Strathclyde Park. But there was no stopping them after that.

T In The Park was the only festival they played as non- headliners because Oasis went mega almost immediately, topping bills and filling stadia.

I see Noel at Manchester City games — we’re both diehards — and I know his wife Sara MacDonald. She used to work for one of the sponsors at T.

One year I saw the two of them walking down towards the NME Stage when it used to be in the tent.

I pulled up in the car and asked if they wanted a lift as it was pelting.

They were heading down to see Paul Weller. So I’m standing there at the side of the stage watching the Modfather and out of the blue, Weller introduces Noel.

I turned down my radio so there were no distractions and listened to the two of them play Jam numbers acoustically.

I had absolutely no idea they were going to do that and it was one of the best ever T moments.

Obviously Noel and Weller had arranged it but if I hadn’t given him that lift, it might not have happened.

You’re welcome lads.

It was great to have Noel back at T last year. I decorated his dressing room with inflatable palm trees.

He arrived, turned to me and said: “What the f*** are these for?” By now they’d all partly deflated and looked a sorry sight.

The last time I’d seen him was at the Coachella festival in the States. I told him that if he did T we’d have a better atmosphere than Palm Springs — but without the palm trees. I explained and he just kind of looked at the blow-ups and nodded at me. Clang.

It had seemed an hilarious idea at the time but it wasn’t my coolest moment.

I try to look after the stars at T and I made sure Noel got anything he asked for that year. I wanted a crack at booking Oasis to headline.

So I wouldn’t say my help isn’t honest but there’s always an angle.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

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