First Concert (without parents)

I was 15 years old and I had won 2 tickets to see Oasis in Providence, RI from a local radio station that is no more (RIP 99.7 X). While mostly a hard rock/metal fan, I always loved Oasis. I was pretty excited to go even though I didn’t have a license yet and Providence was a 45 minute drive “into the city.” When you grow up in Rhode Island, nothing you need is further than 15 minutes away, so 45 minutes into the scary city was a big deal. But somehow, I talked my parents into letting me go and taking me there.

March 10, 1996 at the Strand Theater in Providence, RI. My parents made the “long” drive and dropped me of with my friend Ryan (whose parents weren’t too excited either) in front of the club. We waited in line with  the crowd and were 2 of the youngest people there. Doors opened at 7:30 p.m. and we headed in. Since we had never been to a club like this before, we just walked down to the stage, trying to get as close as possible, and waited to see what we were in store for.

I wish I could remember who the opening band was, but c’mon, this was over 20 years ago! I do recall that they were decent though. They didn’t suck like many, many others I’ve had to sit through over the years. I wish I could remember Oasis’ set list too. But sadly, I don’t. I do know that they played (What’s the Story) Morning Glory and some other tracks off that album. But what I remember most, was how the show ended.

About 40 minutes into the show, the band left the stage and then Noel Gallagher (primary song writer, but not the normal lead singer – except for the unplugged performance on MTV) came back out with an acoustic guitar and did a solo version of Wonderwall. At this point in time, Wonderwall was ALL OVER the radio. This was their big hit. This was the IT song on alternative radio at the time. About half way into the performance, some douche  in the crowd thought “hey. I’ll take off my boot and throw it.” He followed through on his bright idea and hit Noel’s guitar, just inches away from his hand. It wasn’t a light toss either. Had it hit his hand, that could have been a tour ending hit.

Noel looked down, realized what happened, looked annoyed, and just got up and left. A couple minutes later, Liam Gallagher came out and started ripping into the crowd. With his heavy British accent, it was hard to understand what he was saying. But part of what I do remember is that he said they still had a bunch of songs to play, including Live Forever (one of my favorites), we were all assholes, and they were leaving. And they did. Show over. I called my folks who had only been home for a short time to come back and get us.

What gives Ryan and me a laugh about this show years later, is that Oasis has mentioned this show a few times in various interviews. It’s usually a quick “someone through a boot at us” but it’s enough to make us chuckle. And to my knowledge (without doing any intense research) I don’t think Oasis has ever performed in RI since this incident. Am I wrong? Let me know. Also, if you were there, I’d love to know if you remember any of the set list or have any photos you were able to sneak that night.