A special thanks to Matt Potter for doing this review! His e-mail address is mattpotter@dial.pipex.com

Well, what a night. It was certainly one of the most eventful gigs I've ever been to.

Me and 3 friends got to Earls Court at 9:00 in the morning, a good 9 and a half hrs before the doors opened. Much laughing, joking and singing took place before we were finally let in, and when we were I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was right at the front.

At 19:15 the Verve came on and rocked their way through tracks old and new, including History, as well as new singles Bitter Sweet Symphony and The Drugs Don't Work. On the subject of drugs, there was a bit of pre show entertainment in the form of some guy smoking the biggest cone you have ever seen. It was HUGE!!, and very funny......

Anyway, back to the show, the Verve put in a storming set which was very well received by the crowd. I won't pretend to be their no. 1 fan, so I can't list their songs, but they rocked all the same. They played for about 45 mins and got the crowd nicely warmed up for what was to follow.

Exit the Verve, enter the stage crew. They fiddled with the mikes, tuned a few guitars, then BOOM. Down flew the curtain and the opening notes of Be Here Now filled the halls. The stage set consisted of a huge clock, a Rolls Royce, on which Alan took his spot, a bar behind which a few keyboard players sat, and an oversized Phone Box, through which a hotel porter ran out. Don't ask why, I have no idea. Anyway, through the use of exaggerated sign language, he said 'where's the band? Are they in the phone box?' He ran over and opened the door. Enter Liam, Noel and the others, exit all oxygen from my lungs. I have never experienced a crush like it. As they rocked their way though Be Here Now, I came extremely close to blacking out, and being at the front there was nowhere to move to. People were passing out and being carried over peoples heads to the security guards. The girl next to me, no older than 13 or 14 passed out and I literally had to catch her before she got trampled.

It is my personal opinion that the band should have stopped and calmed down the crowd. I don't know, maybe they just didn't notice.... Anyway, within the first 10 mins, most of us had found our 'spot' where we were relatively comfortable and could breathe, so we could now concentrate on the show. The opening song Be Here Now and Stay Young really got the crowd going, with Liam's vocals all the more raw and aggressive. Obviously performing over the last 2 weeks made his voice a little 'croaky' but it really suited the songs.On to Stand By Me, and the crowd was truly taken away. Forget the fact that we were all dripping with sweat and struggling for breath. It just didn't matter anymore. Supersonic was up next, and was performed with such power and feeling it was unbelievable.

At this point, some 'funny' guy decided to shine one of those 'laser pen' thingys all over Liam and Noel. They were not impressed... After a couple of warnings both by an announcer pre-show, and by Noel , this idiot persisted and both Noel and Liam flipped. Here are a couple of quotes. Noel : "Oi, Darth Vader with the laser, fuckin' pack it in or we're off!!" "Oi, you c**t, you do that again and you are out! I'll kick your Cockney arse out of here myself!" (Here are the good ones) Liam : "Look, fuckin' Luke Skywalker, if you shine that laser on me again I will personally get in there and cut you from head to toe!! Don't be so fuckin' childish!" "I'll tell you now mate, you're in fer it now, whoever's stood next to you is going to kick shit out of yer!!"

It was disappointing that this guy had to be so persistent with the laser. In the end Noel and Liam just got really pissed off. I hope they realized that the rest of us wanted the tosser to stop as well. I think, though, that they may have just tarred us with the same brush...

Back to the show, and the guys played classics such as Roll With It and Some Might Say, all to a brilliant standard. Do You Know What I Mean was a revelation though. Whereas the recorded version was all backwards samples and Morse code, this live version was rock pure and simple. Liam's now growling voice, together with a more aggressive guitar from Noel made it so much better. If the recorded version was Noddy goes to Toyland, this was Apocalypse Now. Truly stunning, and a highlight of an already superb show. Noel didn't have an acoustic set, although he did have himself a couple of songs, namely Don't Look Back In Anger and Magic Pie. Another funny moment happened at the end of Magic Pie, we forgot to cheer. I don't know why, it was just one of those surreal moments. Noel finished the song, and suddenly those twinkly piano notes were played. We weren't expecting this, there wasn't a piano after all, so we just stood there. "Well don't I get a cheer for that? (To Bonehead and Guigsy) Did you hearanything? (Both shake heads)" Cue massive cheers to make up for forgetting. Sorry Noel!!

They ran through other classics, such as Champagne Supernova, an electric Wonderwall (not a patch on the acoustic), and Live Forever. Today this was dedicated by Liam to all his fans and family. Not Princess Di, as with other shows. Then came yet another strange moment. Noel says, "We're going to take the piss now". Silence. Liam says "He said we're going to take the piss now. Don't you get it? Oh fuck this I'm off!" Liam made to walk off but walked back to the mike, big smile on his face. Us Cockneys obviously don't understand Manc humour!!

Anyway, they launched into Fade In-Out, the Dance Version. It was very different. Obviously Noel work with the Chemical Brothers had rubbed off on him. It was full of guitar distortions and a thumping beat. A sign of their future musical path? Who knows...still rocked though..... On to All Around The World, Liam's Voice showing signs of cracking. It didn't matter though, you could hardly hear him over our ( the crowd's ) singing. As brilliant live as it is on disc. Very much an 'arm round a stranger' moment.

The encore was Acquiesce ( that's right, no I Am The Walrus ). This was performed perfectly. A perfect end to a perfect show. However, there was still the feeling that Noel was pissed off with us for the laser and not cheering. On the way off stage, he flicked a V sign at us. I really hope it was in a good humoured way, but I can't really say. Still, this was the most amazing gig I've ever been to, even surpassing Knebworth. The closeness of Earls Court suits Oasis far better than the open expanses of Knebworth.

What a night, what a show, what a band. Amazing.