James Moorhouse
Oasis played their third gig in Manchester last night as their reunion tour continues to prove incredibly popular, with hundreds travelling to Heaton Park without tickets despite a desperate plea from organisers.
Hundreds of thousands of people descended on the band's hometown at the weekend for two sold-out gigs, with those lucky enough to snag tickets describing Liam and Noel Gallagher as the best they have ever sounded.
On Wednesday, a mere 50,000 tickets were sold for another appearance at Heaton Park, with the most desperate fans employing underhand tactics in order to get in.
Although not everyone has enjoyed the experience, with one American influencer suggesting that the fans were like 'wild animals' and that Manchester was 'filthy', most would do anything to even get close to the Britpop band, which was reflected when a huge number of people sat on a field close to Heaton Park known as 'Gallagher Hill'.
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However, the same fans were left furious when a huge fence was erected blocking the already distant view of the stage, with Manchester City Council urging ticketless fans to stay at home.
Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Employment, Skills and Leisure, said: "The atmosphere across Manchester has been electric over this last week with the whole city swept up in Oasis fever and peaking over the weekend with the first two hugely successful homecoming concerts at Heaton Park.
"As you would expect given the size of the concerts and numbers of people attending, we go through a continuous process with partners of re-assessing the plans in place for the concerts to ensure both public safety and that any environmental impact on our award-winning park is minimalised.
"The steps being taken ahead of the next concert regretfully mean the distant view of the large screens behind the event stage will no longer be there.
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"Unfortunately our hand has been forced in having to put these additional measures in place to protect the very recent extensive planting of young trees in that location as we try to establish a new woodland area in the park, and the wellbeing of our cattle herd in the field, as well as to keep people in the park safe.
"Our advice to music fans who don't have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead. The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time. We've got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy whether they've got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not."
But, in true northern fashion, Oasis enthusiasts were not going to be deterred and hundreds still showed up to the hill on Wednesday night, perhaps just to enjoy the summer weather alongside some fellow fans, with some even bringing their garden chairs and settling down for the night.
So, despite being Half The World Away, it seems as if Gallagher Hill may well Live Forever.