I thought that nothing would beat the London gig but I was about to be proved wrong. Me and two friends started queueing outside the venue at 3pm in hope of getting in the pit. The gates weren't to be opened until 6pm. As the excitment grew there was an announcment....
"Unfortunately Liam Gallagher has been advised by dotoctrs not to perform tonight due to a troat infection. Noel Gallagher will take care of all vocals and anybody who wants a refund can go to the ticket office around the corner, other then that the show will carry on as normal!"
This had the crowd going mad. We could not believe it. Anyhow the gates opened at 6pm and we got into the pit!!!. Travis came on at about 7:20pm and played what I thought was a great set. He dedicated "All I Wanna Do I Rock" to Noel and "Funny Feeling" (I think that is what is was called) to Liam. After they went off there was a 20min gap untill the curtain dropped and the start of "Be Here Now" thundered through the speakers. Noel, Alan, Bonehead and Guigs then jumped out of the phone box and Noel said good evening. The played an blinding "Be Here Now" and then proceeded to play "Stay Young". Noels vocals so far were superb. Then, with everybody expecting "Stand By Me" he played "Some Might Say" instead which was unbelieveable. Then came "Roll With It". After that Noel explained to the crowd
"Sorry the other fella could not be here tonight...he's a lightweight and he has been smoking too many cigarettes. This one's called Magic Pie"
After that came "Don't Look Back In Anger" and believe me the best was yet to come...he did something that he had not done for 18 months..his famous acoustic set...He played the following songs acoustic
Stand By Me
D'You Know What I Mean
Don't Go Away
Whatever
They were absoloutly incredable. The the rest of the band come back on and Noel said that the next one was for the older people. They played a blinding "Fade In-Out". After that Noel said that they were going to play some old ones and asked us if we could name the next one straight away....He then played the famous intro to Cigarettes & Alcohol and this had the venue hopping! Then came "Live Forever" and after that Noel said
"Thanks a lot this is the last one....Well it's not really the last one 'cause we are gonna play this and then we are gonna go off and you lot are going to keep singing and the we are gonna come back on so...good night and thanks a lot"
He played Wonderwall and then the band gave US a standing ovation and they went off for about 3 mintures and came back on a played the best version of "Acquiesce" I have heard. Noel let us sing half of it as he did with Wonderwall in March '96
This is my recollection of the setlist.
Be Here Now
Stay Young
Some Might Say
Roll With It
Magic Pie
Don't Look Back In Anger
Stand by Me (Acoustic)
D'You Know What I Mean? (Acoustic)
Don't Go Away (Acoustic)
Whatever (Acoustic)
Fade In-Out
Cigarettes & Alcohol
Live Forever
Wonderwall
Acquiesce