Description
Chris Floyd
Oasis at Maine Road Stadium, Manchester, 30th May 1994
Noel rifles through a pocket-sized address book, calling every number in it. Every time someone answers at the other end the conversation goes like this: “Alright… seen our kid?… [pause]… Alright, cheers, see ya later.”
Paul McGann, the actor who is one of four brothers, tells a story about the time someone approached him in Liverpool city centre and asked, ‘Alright mate. Are you you, or are you
our kid?’
I’m from suburban Surrey. I have no idea of the numerous ways that someone can be classified as “our kid”. It needs a flow chart.
Happily, in this case, Our Kid is finally located and Noel Gallagher explains that we’re going to meet him on a street corner nearby. As he puts his jacket on he looks at me and asks, “What do you think of Blur?”
“They’re alright. I quite like them.”
“Yeah. Second best band in Britain.”
When we arrive at the corner, I can see a group of four lads bowling towards us. The leader is clear from afar. Red bomber jacket, blue Adidas trackies, Adidas trainers.
“Alright mate, Liam, whassyername, Chris yeah? Who d’ya support?”
“Arsenal.”
“Gooner? I can’t talk to ya then. I don’t even wanna look at ya.”
And with that we’re off, carried along by the relentless energy of Liam Gallagher. We end up walking to Maine Road, the Manchester City stadium, and as we amble along Liam tells me a tale of an Arsenal fan he’d chased into a back garden after an Arsenal-City game.
“Got this geezer, Gooner geezer, right, into this garden, and I’m giving a kicking when this other geezer from the house comes out and stops me because he wants to have a go as well, so I said fair dos mate, it’s your gaff and I left him to it.”
Under his breath I quietly hear Noel: “Twat.”
Liam then recreates the moment for my camera. “You get down on the floor. I’ll run up and boot ya.” I lie down on my stomach and he promises me he’ll swing his leg just short. We do it three or four times and when I get the film back after processing the third one is the best.
As we walk back in the direction of the hotel, Liam promises to put me down on the guest list for the band’s next London gig, the Marquee Club on 8 June.
On the train home, I have the clearest memory of thinking to myself, “I’ve no idea if that guy can sing, but if he can then he’s going to be absolutely massive.” As for the guest-list ticket, he kept his word on that.
Available in Limited Editions of 10
Printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag ® 340gsm Metallic paper
