Like many younger Oasis fans in Ireland, Eve Daly-Brennan and Alex O’Neill have their dads to thank for introducing them to the band’s music.
The pair travelled to Dublin from Cork for Saturday night’s sold-out Croke Park show, having managed to nab tickets in the presale.
“I grew up with them,” Daly-Brennan says. “My dad got me into the good stuff straight away, Rock ‘n’ Roll Star. This means the world. I’ve seen Liam Gallagher twice now.”
“I’ve listened to them forever,” O’Neill adds. “I went to see Liam last year because I never thought I’d get to see Oasis live. When she told me she got the tickets, I was dying. I was so excited.”
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Standing on Grafton Street, O’Neill and Daly-Brennan had committed to the uniform of the day. Droves of concertgoers are easily identifiable in Oasis jerseys, T-shirts, jackets and bucket hats. Those in need of more gear queued for a pop-up Oasis merchandise shop at St Stephen’s Green.
“What they can do when they come together is incredible,” O’Neill says. “My dad would always talk about when he saw them in Cork. I was always so jealous and now I get to be the one up here.”
“My dad is going so it’ll be an emotional one for the two of us,” Daly-Brennan adds. “Live Forever has always been my number one. Some Might Say, Cast No Shadow, Talk Tonight – I’m going to be crying I’d say.”
It will be an emotional occasion for many, and a particularly nostalgic one for long-time friends Jason Watson and Jimmy White. The former, sporting a Shelbourne shirt, lives in Dublin but grew up in London, where Watson remains.
“In the 90s, I was big on the chart music and Britpop and the whole thing,” Watson says.
“It’s just a throwback to them days really. Not just Oasis, but it reminds me of the bands that were out like Pulp and Blur. We used to have the battle of the bands in the charts and everything. It’s just throwing it back to them days.”
He added: “Music is different now. Back then, we used to go to record stores and buy records. It meant a lot more. The charts were out every week ... It’s being able to step back in time a little bit and feel like that again.”
“When I was at school I had the hair and I was in a band,” says White. “It was everything growing up. It’s sort of the soundtrack to my teenage years, so it’ll be a bit of nostalgia today. The first gig I went to was in ’97 and they were supported by The Verve, so it’ll be repeated today.”
Much has been made of the ticket prices for the tour, jokingly addressed by Liam Gallagher on the opening night in Cardiff when he asked fans if it was worth paying £40,000 for a ticket.
There is a sentimental attachment to Oasis, however, that relegates any thoughts of overspending.
“It was a lot of money but it’s also a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing,” White says. “You can make back money later on when you’re older, but you can’t buy these times, can you? It’ll be a shared moment.”
“I’ve got a mate who passed away unfortunately,” Watson says. “He used to do a bit of singing and that in his local pub, and he liked Champagne Supernova. I think when that comes on it’ll be a bit emotional.”
For Kevin and Becky O’Brien, who live in Leicestershire, Oasis hold a special place in their personal history.
“We walked down the aisle after we got married to Wonderwall,” she says. “My son sang it at the wedding.”
Originally from west Cork, Kevin has been in the UK for the last 30 years or so. Wonderwall will be an obvious highlight of the show, but he is also hoping to hear Half the World Away, the theme song from sitcom The Royle Family.
“I remember Oasis back in the ’90s when they first became big,” he says. “I was there when they played support for R.E.M. in Slane back in ’95 or ’96. Even before they were the main headliner.”
Matt Miller travelled farther than most to get to Croke Park. Hailing from San Francisco, it took an 11-hour flight for him to reach Dublin.
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“I figured the best crowd would be the Irish crowd,” he says. “It’s kind of a homecoming for the Gallaghers.
“I’ve been a fan since I was a kid. I never got to see them when they were together. Being in the US, we didn’t get as many opportunities, I guess. I’ve seen Liam and I’ve seen Noel separately, but I’ve never seen them together. I was up until three or four in the morning waiting for tickets. I had to find a way to make it.”
Oasis do have US dates lined up over the coming weeks, but Miller says the relationship with their music is different here.
“People know Wonderwall,” he says. “They might know Champagne Supernova and Don’t Look Back in Anger. Maybe those three, but that’s it, so it was cool being at the pubs last night where everybody was singing all the songs.”
