Edinburgh should get on its knees and thank Oasis for putting it back on the rock ‘n' roll map
There’s a real snobbery when it comes to the music other people love, but you don’t.
Social media encourages us all to punch down - to mock, sneer, and dismiss anything that isn’t on our own wee radar.
So, watching an angry, gobby Laim Gallagher let rip at Edinburgh Council over claims its officers had criticised and patronised fans of Oasis in an official report was an utter joy. He didn’t miss his target as he spoke out at each of the band’s three Murrayfield concerts, and clearly got under the skin of the city’s cooncillors.
The seeds of the row remain bewilderingly unclear. Back in June, the media was awash with a story that a safety briefing ahead of the giant gigs summarised Oasis fans as “middle-aged men who “take up more room” and “will drink to medium to high intoxication.”
Council leaders insist no such words were ever used in any report, and yet no-one has explained where they came from or how, if it was a non-story, it wasn’t killed there and then - so someone’s not done their PR job very well.
The condescending tone stuck, and it rankled.
Maybe it stuck because it was entirely believable in so much as it fitted the narrative of Edinburgh’s middle classes turning up their nose at something so vulgar as a hugely successful working class band giving it large in the heart of the city - and slap bang in the middle of that awfully nice festival too. Grief, the hoards of lairy, beery lads might frighten off the tourists.
As perceptions go, it couldn’t have been more wrong had it been produced by ChatGPT. This wasn’t just a gig on a massive scale - it was a once in a lifetime moment for fans who grew up with the band, and the way they embraced each other produced some remarkable scenes.
Without exception, every single person I know who got a ticket saw something very, very special. This was an experience many had waited to see for years, a once in a lifetime moment they shared with family and friends. That’s the power, and utter joy, of live music.
I’ve lost count of the gigs I’ve seen across five decades. I have few memories from many, but there are moments from the greatest ones that remain so special. The images and soundtrack burn bright in the memory
Those who were at Murrayfield to see Oasis will have that same buzz for a long time to come. Whether it is the greatest gig ever staged there is, of course, entirely subjective - Taylor Swift fans, another remarkable community in its own right, would argue for their heroine, while, for me, Springsteen’s 2023 gig there was peerless.
What links them to Oasis was the sense of being in the moment, underlining just how wrong that alleged council assessment was. The Gallaghers may swagger and gob off, but their music defined an era, and the chance to see them live - possibly for the last time ever - elevated these concerts to a whole new plain.
Edinburgh ought to have got on its knees and thanked Oasis for putting the city back on the rock’n’roll map. Seldom has it rocked in such a remarkable way - well, until AC/DC hit the stage this week. Now that’ll be another epic night - hope the neighbours have earplugs.