Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A gig that Will Live Forever
STOLEN golf buggies, borrowed girlfriend’s jumpers, trainers flown in for A-list guests… it was all going on at Knebworth when Oasis took to the stage for their iconic 1996 gigs.
More than 250,000 fans attended the hedonistic two-nighter, which has gone down in history for breaking UK box office records.
But 25 years on from the epic Hertfordshire gigs, a new book says it’s surprising frontman Liam Gallagher can even remember them because he was on such a boozy bender.
Oasis: Knebworth by Daniel Rachel and rock photographer Jill Furmanovsky, goes behind the scenes of the gigs and gives an insight into the famously difficult relationship between the Gallagher brothers.
Talking to the Sunday Mirror, Jill – whose shots of the Mancunian band are used in the book – told how Liam didn’t realise he would have to perform two nights in a row... so was forced to borrow his then-fiancée Patsy Kensit’s clothes.
Jill recalled: “The first gig was amazing… it was wonderful, but rumour has it that Liam didn’t realise there was a second one which is why, for the second show, he didn’t have any proper clothes. “He had to borrow Patsy’s large
white chunky sweater on
that sweltering night. It’s become iconic and it was hilarious.”
In the book, promoter Coral Dodds tells how before the first gig: “Liam and Patsy nicked a golf buggy and went tearing out… into punter land. It was like, ‘Oh f***!’”
And Alex Vooght, who was working at a backstage bar, recalled seeing Liam “clock Ant and Dec”.
In 2006, he told NME: “He drove straight for them. They had to dive out the way like cartoon characters.”
The shows at Knebworth were a high point in the brothers’ relationship JILL FURMANOVSKY ON NOEL AND LIAM GALLAGHER
But the gigs almost never happened as Henry Lytton-Cobbold, who is the current custodian of Knebworth House and helped arrange the concerts, said there was “great concern” for Liam.
His wife Martha added: “Liam was not fully in control of his senses and needed assistance to calm down.
“It wasn’t looking good and there were concerns about the Saturday night performance.” Sonja Benavidez, who was on the guest list, also said Liam was “in his heyday and losing it on an hourly basis”. But in the book, Noel Gallagher plays down the drama.
He said: “That’s f ****** news to me. As a rule, we used to never go on stage high. The most we would have was a couple of drinks.”
After the band’s incredible Saturday gig – and an all-night boozing session – the Cobbolds invited them inside their stately home. Noel was treated to some serious pampering in the room where Mick Jagger once stayed.
He recalled: “I was in the four-poster bath with me soap and there was a knock on the door. And in comes a proper f ****** butler with a tray, a bottle of champagne and a glass.”
But it wasn’t just the band having a fine time. More than 3,000 celebs flocked to Knebworth, including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Mick Hucknall and
Gareth Southgate. Alex Vooght remembers serving Hucknall’s then-girlfriend Martine McCutcheon “pints of champagne” all night.
He also told how Liam’s fiancée Patsy had a pair of trainers helicoptered over for model Kate Moss, who was struggling to walk in her stilettos.
Oasis’ Knebworth shows came just 18 months after the band first found fame – and the Gallaghers stopped signing on.
Jill, who toured the world with the group and heads up Rock Archive, reckons Knebworth was “a high point in the brothers’ relationship”.
She told how Liam was “always the biggest Oasis fan” – and refused to rule out a potential reunion in the future.
Jill said: “I was at the Pink Floyd reunion, which nobody thought would ever happen.
“It was unbelievably awkward until they started playing and then the whole thing melted because the music is always bigger than the sum of the parts.
“Everybody knows that. They know that. So whether they will do it one day, let’s see…”