10 Greatest Music Gigs You Wish You Could Have Been At

9. Oasis - Knebworth

The first trip on the list to visit Knebworth, this 1996 performance by Oasis truly showcases what a band who really are as good as they think they are sounds like. Full-on pomp and swagger, with a set of all-time classic anthems and an audience of hard-core devotees ready to worship at the temple of all things Gallagher. Noel shouted out, "Right here, right now, this is history!" He was right.

Playing to over 250,000 people over the course of two nights, the only excuse for an Oasis fan to have not been there is that they weren't old enough! They'd played some other mega-gigs prior to this but this was the true statement of arrival, the home of the classic rock supergroup events of years gone by. With a setlist that read like a greatest hits album Oasis couldn't fail.

Oasis knew this was something special and they clearly relished the moment. They brought Stone Roses guitarist John Squire up for their encore, a symbolic move that acknowledged their roots and unity with the acts who'd influenced them. Oasis were lovers of rock'n'roll history; at Knebworth they created their own slice. Robbie Williams may have played more nights in a row years later, but with zero rock'n'roll credibility it really doesn't matter.

 
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Lifelong music obsessive, regular contributor to US guitar magazines, sometime radio presenter, singer/guitarist in Star Studded Sham, true believer in the power of rock'n'roll and an amp turned up to 11, about to publish first novel, The Bulletproof Truth.