An Oasis superfan will need a Wonder-full rest after camping outside Wembley in anticipation for their London gig.
John Smallbones, 50, has been to 40 gigs by the Manchester icons and spent £14,500 on memorabilia over the years.
This time around he’s determined to meet Liam and tell him he’s not ‘just a random fan’ after getting the frontman’s face tattooed on his back.
He’s even come up with his own Masterplan, offering £1,000 to his friends if they can get him a face-to-face meeting with Liam.
The superfan from Andover, Hampshire, will be staying the night in his Oasis-themed van to nab a spot at the front of the gig on July 26.
Held on the Saturday, John plans to not look back in anger but look forward to that weekend.
‘A lot of people meet him. Obviously they are fans but they probably don’t have what I’ve got,’ he said.
‘I’d have a hundred questions to ask him but my mind could go blank.’
John is no ordinary Oasis fan – his home is adorned with mugs, t-shirts, cardboard cutouts of the brothers, and a handmade ‘Liam’ wig.
But for John, it took an army of seven friends and family to hunt down tickets to the Wembley shows – one in July and one in September priced at £350 each.
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He said: ‘They were all in their own houses on different laptops. Every time when everyone got down to number one in the queue it logged you out. They spent about seven or eight hours each on it.’
While the others were trying, John said he doesn’t do computers and was too busy thinking he’s a rock and roll star by deciding what wig he would wear.
The roller coaster ride for the friends and family was supersonic after they couldn’t get tickets in the first sale.
‘Eventually everyone gave up except my dad,’ John revealed.
‘He was the one who got them. He just kept trying and trying, because he always does for me.
‘If I could have got a ticket for every night in each different place, I would have done.
‘He got me the ticket for my 50th birthday. I was smiling from ear to ear.’
Impact of Oasis tour
As the Oasis tour kicks off in Cardiff this evening, SumUp has compiled real-time data to show the economic and cultural impact.
Rise in mod-style haircuts – The research shows that mod-style haircuts were non-existent in the city before the tour. They now account for 2.5% of all cuts, the equivalent to 10 per week.
Surge in Oasis-era fashion – 80% of the sales this week are Oasis themed from stores like Stone Island, CP Company, Fred Perry, Adidas, with demand for original merch soaring.
Spike in sales of Noel Gallagher’s guitar – A 200% increase in sales from May until June just in time for the tour.
Surge in taproom bookings – 50% increase in taproom bookings across the city in the lead up to the gig.
Despite John’s dad, whose also called John, getting the tickets, he kindly passed up on the opportunity offering it to his son’s cousin.
John said he’s not worried about the brothers splitting up like last time.
He added: ‘To be honest, I don’t think they ever really probably fell out. I’ve always said to people that they get back together.
‘A mate of mine said that there was no chance that they would get back together and that he didn’t know why I kept banging on about it.
‘But I said “yeah, they will – they definitely will”.
‘I remember him saying how they don’t even like each other and me saying “yeah, that’s what they say, but it’s probably all part of the plan”.’
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