Oasis trounce expectations, rock Slane to its core

Lost amidst the maelstrom of bad press for Slane this morning is one simple fact; 80,000 people bounced and sang along with every word of every song Oasis played on Saturday night.
I'm sorry for the people who were stranded, couldn't get on a bus to get back home to Dublin, but that wasn't my experience.
My experience was being at one of the finest concerts I have ever attended; a strong support (The Prodigy blazed their way through a blistering set including classics like Their Law, Breathe, Firestarter and Outer Space) and a superb headline act capable of delivering a euphoric set for fans and onlookers alike.
There are few other bands in the world capable of delivering such a powerful set and sustaining it over two hours, with little in the way of effects or a flashy stage show to reinforce that impetus. Oasis can do that. Screw the naysayers, those who say Oasis haven't hit the heights of the epic and seminal beginning to their career - all a load of tosh.
Alright, there has been plenty of tosh, but there has been some gems along the way - 70 million album sales speak volumes. The Gallagher twosome deserve their status as Rock and Roll Stars, all iconic swagger and lippy quotes; they don't need to pander to a critical audience - they just care about rocking the socks off the people in the crowd who came to sing.
And boy did we. Walking onstage to F*cking in the Bushes (used to memorable effect by Guy Ritchie in Snatch) they immediately tear into Rock and Roll Star and 80,000 people bounce, sending shockwaves for miles around.
In fact, it is said later that the crowd could be heard lustily singing along for miles in every direction, not surprising given that every man woman and child were holding onto each other for dear life - those tone-blessed and equal pars deaf - belting out the lyrics.
Lyla and The Shock of the Lightening - from more recent albums both - follow, before we are dragged back to the mid 90s with the anthemic Cigarettes and Alcohol and Roll With It.
Oh and how we love it. Beer in hand, sunglasses on head, people on shoulders. Wow.
To Be Where There's Life and Waiting for the Rapture - the second and third tracks from recent number one album Dig Out Your Soul to grace the set list - sit nicely alongside the classics, before Noel takes over on vocals and performs a spine-tingling Masterplan.
Liam comes back for Songbird and we got a two song highlight in the middle of the set, Slide Away and Morning Glory.
My Big Mouth from the under-rated Be Here Now precedes The Importance of Being Idle and Half The World Away, while ballad I'm Outta Time sits happily alongside a three song burst of Wonderwall, Supersonic and Live Forever.
We get the inevitable walk off before the band return for an encore of Don't Look Back in Anger, Champagne Supernova and I am the Walrus. Epic stuff.
Streams of happy punters make their way out of the amphitheatre-like venue, some headed for nightmare bus journeys, others going to wait the night out at their cars.

But, while getting home from Slane may have been a nightmare for some, without question the gig was superb - one that will linger long in the memory.

As Noel said: "Thanks, it's been Biblical".