NME Festival Guide
2009

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Oasis' Noel Gallagher: 'Benicassim was a waste of time'

Guitarist blogs about sound troubles at Spanish festival

July 19, 2009 | 31 Comments
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Oasis' Noel Gallagher has described his band's set at the Benicassim festival on Thursday (July 17) as a "waste of time" because of the sound problems that occurred during the show.

The Manchester legends lost sound while they were playing 'Wonderwall', with singer Liam Gallagher walking off stage before later returning to complete the set on the first night of the Spanish event.

Writing on his blog at Oasisinet.com, Noel explained that only the crowd reaction the band received made the show worth it.

"Benicassim?" he wrote. "What a fuckin' waste of time! If it wasn't for those bloody kids it would've been a disaster. I really can't say enough about the crowd. Unbelievable behaviour. Special mention to the topless birds – what a welcome sight that was!”

Elaborating on the sound problems, he continued: "The problem was... wait for it... yes! The fuckin' PA. It blew twice! And the monitor system blew twice! It's becoming a joke. And not a very funny one."

The show wasn't the first time the band have suffered sound problems recently. They were forced to leave the stage during a show at Manchester's Heaton Park last month when a generator failed. Oasis also suffered a sound blip during a recent show at Wembley Stadium.

Photo Gallery - Highlights of Benicassim 2009

Blog - Chaos at Benicassim - the view from backstage

weeser99

Jul 20, 2009

sound problems again? A bit convenient no? Wish oasis would admit they have nothing new to offer and 'do a Blur' and naff off for 10 years so we can appreciate their greatest hits when they come back!

shityourlegoff

Jul 20, 2009

Waste of time? Now he knows how anyone who has listened to an Oasis album feels.

LINK2K9

Jul 20, 2009

Is it time to hate on Oasis/Noel again? Geez, I'm not even dressed!

madferit1

Jul 20, 2009

haters.

IndieWriter

Jul 20, 2009

shityourlegoff, you clearly don't like Oasis, so why do you always read oasis related stories, then at the bottom always leave a comment about how much you don't like Oasis. Have you got absolutely nothing better to do in your fucking life? Are scouting for girls not touring atm? dw, the hoosiers will come round soon, i assume you were at T4 on the beach yesterday?

webb123

Jul 20, 2009

Shityourlegoff and weeser99......... what are you on? Oasis still produce the goods, there still quality live and the new album was probably some of there best work. Blur are'nt even in the same league anymore. So get a grip you nobheads!!!

Gayna_Oh

Jul 20, 2009

its shocking how they keep having sound trouble, on the same song too. Oasis need some new equipment.

dozzablue

Jul 20, 2009

ha, fairplay, you two are hilarious

semi_mental

Jul 20, 2009

These comments have all the originality and humour of a Michael McIntyre joke

Museician

Jul 20, 2009

Shows Noel's commitment to festivals and fans alike. Face it Oasis your shit live! Oasis=Rock for chavs and dads

thevoiceofraisin

Jul 20, 2009

Where are the hundreds of Oasis fans jumping to his defence? Even they have got sick of this turgid little prick.

KidDynamite

Jul 20, 2009

i am truly astonished at the lack of appreciation for this mega of a band. what is it with you silly clunks out there? rather see some fluorescent f**k off prancin about? how many albums? how many years runnin? how many loyal fans for life? we'll see where your day-glo bum holes stand during the passage of time. i reckon completely forgotten.

jozblade

Jul 20, 2009

Or, to the poster above, writing a comment on something you're clearly not the slightest bit interested in.

TOMQ84

Jul 20, 2009

How witty you really are shityourlegoff. Why dont you get some musical taste instead of listening to shit like Muse, Radiohead and Coldplay.

lipgloss

Jul 20, 2009

Museician, "Shows Noel's commitment to festivals and fans alike". What are you on about? Was it not Noel who gave the whole crowd its money back even though they still played a whole set. Is it not Oasis who album after album play some of the biggest venues in the country and spend month touring the world to play to as many fans as possible? yeah, of course, Noel hates the fans, dickhead!

Stuntman Mike

Jul 20, 2009

lol, leave poor, poor Shityrknobff alone, he's clearly waiting on some very questionable GCSE results which will confine him to a Mcdonalds drive thru window for life.

Leave Off

Jul 21, 2009

"Shityourlegoff" clearly has enough sense to appreciate Chris Morris' Blue Jam and nick a line from it for their username. So I'd have thought they'd have more sense than reading stories about Oasis just to slag them off. Such a shame that someone with sense decides to waste it so tragically.

markiechops

Jul 21, 2009

TOMQ84's tongue is yet again lodged so firmly inside Noel Gallagher's rectum that I'm surprised he can ever reach the keyboard.

markiechops

Jul 21, 2009

I cannot believe what so-called "indie" music fans have come to when they constantly justify Oasis's existence by referring to their perceived enormity and popularity as if that's some guarantee of quality. If it's sales that matter, I suppose you're all huge Take That fans as well.

miniospina

Jul 21, 2009

Why are all of the NME's titles so misleading? You make it sound as if Noel was badmouthing the festival itself! I do love Oasis, and I hope that they get all of their technical issues sorted.

Major_Tom7

Jul 21, 2009

Y'see it's all these comments that make oasis so good. Everyone has an opinion on them. there's so so many bands that no one could give less of a shit about yet just a report on noel's blog got 20 comments. And no matter what you say you can't beat a communal drunk sing-a-long to champagne supernover....

TOMQ84

Jul 21, 2009

Agreed there Major Tom, I'm going Bridlington Spa in August and cant wait.

markiechops

Jul 21, 2009

We're not making Oasis good by commenting on them, Major_Tom7 (that wouldn't be possible however much we trolled), we're just trying to counteract the "Oasis-headline-a-day" brief that the NME is forced to operate within for commercial reasons to make sure that rocktards like you and TOMQ84 have a higher chance of brushing your tongue against the side ads while trying to get your rudimentary fingers to hit the keyboard. Some of us think that the NME is at its best when it's given the space to champion new and original bands with a genuine maverick spirit, instead of corporate creations like Grandpa Noel's sludgerock dinosaurs, who only ever had the appearance of independence because of Alan McGee's shrewd marketing decision to license them to Creation in the UK when the rest of the world had them on Sony. "Indie" Oasis were unleashed with the kind of marketing and distribution resources that so-called "manufactured" groups like Take That, who were, ironically, very much a cottage industry who were forced to work out of a minibus to build their fan base, could only ever have dreamed of at the time. Consequently, Oasis are about as independent, challenging and nutritious as Pepsi and Pizza Hut.

pmgreen79

Jul 22, 2009

I thought OASIS were superb at the Benicassim Festival, I was there so can comment. The festival itself though was very poor overall. I would not advise a visit.

TOMQ84

Jul 22, 2009

Whats that got to do with anything Markie,hats life, the best band or the best brand in the world has the most money spent due to their global appeal music is no different, why shouldnt a band make money? You'll be telling me next that they should do it solely for the love of music, get in the real world

punkrock_1976

Jul 22, 2009

If the sound keeps cutting out during gigs, it's simple Noel... Fire the soundman and hire a different PA rig!

JonnyMarrman

Jul 23, 2009

I was there and wasn't impressed by Oasis. Went to Heaton Park and they were great. But not this time - Liam sounded terrible and they didn't look interested at all. I don't know why Noel has to condemn the festival, he still got paid and from the amount of effort they put in I'd say that's all they turned up for.

owersderek

Jul 23, 2009

Whoever wrote the above comments clearly wasn't there. I was and despite the sound problems, the crowd was jumping and that to me is what a big gig is all about. I think they rocked!

markiechops

Jul 23, 2009

You seemed to have lapsed into another language there, TOMQ84. Will I be able to bring a translator when I come to this Northern "real world" of yours?

kitoire

Jul 23, 2009

markiechops actually just made me smile. i agree with him.

JonnyMarrman

Jul 28, 2009

Owersderek - Of course the crowd were loving it, it was an Oasis gig ffs. No matter how bad they were no Oasis fan is gonna stand still at what could be one of the last gigs they ever play? I didn't say I didn't enjoy it I said they weren't as good as they have been when i've seen them previously. If you haven't seen them before then fair enough, you don't have anything to compare it to. But I have, and they've been better. A lot better.