Dig Out Your Soul

More than six months ago I managed to get four tickets for myself and some friends to see Oasis in Heaton Park. We went on Thursday night and, despite a few problems, had a great time!

Firstly, the music was fantastic. Oasis are very much on form. They played some of their best hits and sounded better than any recording. They were funny and really connected with the crowd to create a really good atmosphere. Their warm-ups were good too. On Thursday we missed out on The Enemy due to illness in the band, but we had the Reverand and the Makers instead, which was an excellent treat. Anyone who isn't familiar with their music should check out 'Heavyweight Champion of the World' or 'He Said He Loved Me' which are both excellent examples of their unique music and witty lyrical style. Kasabian were also excellent. I'm not a fan so hardly knew any of their tracks but I enjoyed their performance very much and will certainly check out their music.

Couple of problems though. The first, a few people will already be aware of, which was a series of power outtages that interrupted the performance twice. The concert had an 11pm curfew which they breached by over 30 minutes. It wasn't too much of a problem for those of us there that didn't have a bus to catch, but for the residents - most of whom are elderly - it must have been a hell. It surely didn't help that the general behaviour of some of the attendees of the concert was pretty poor. Despite police notices that searches for drugs and weapons would be carried out, there was a lot of 'soft' drugs being used and my group also saw two people snorting coke. There were a lot of people at the concert that also managed to get blind drunk. All this means more noise and disruption for residents as people were leaving the gig. It's a real shame because this can only jeopardise any future similar events at the park, which bring millions into the local economy of Manchester and Bury.

There was also a second problem, for which only the event organisers can be held accountable. The way that a municipal park works as a concert venue is as follows: the stage is erected and an area around it is then fenced off. The park remains open to the public but the concert 'arena' can only be accessed by ticket holders. For these concerts the event organisers have sold 70,000 tickets for each of the the three nights. However, the area that's been fenced off is far too small to comfortably accomodate this volume of people. The Milton Keynes Bowl has recently had its capacity increased from 65,000 to 75,000 and is much larger than the area designated for this concert. Take That at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground has sold 50,000 per night. Although the area in Heaton Park is larger than the cricket ground, it's not that much bigger. In the Heaton Park arena there are no designated walkways around the food or drink stands which inevitably means that people resulting in a lot of pushing and shoving and an almost constant crush. I'd be interested to know how decisions were made about the number of available tickets!

So overall, great music, but some disappointing aspects to this concert. I can't wait to find out what my sister in law makes of it - it's her birthday today and she is attending the concert tonight with her partner and my nephew!