On This Day in 1996, This Genre-Defining Band Draws Record Crowd to Historic English Estate
· Vice
By 1996, Oasis were not only the biggest Britpop band, but one of the biggest in the world, and that was reflected in the record-breaking attendance of two late summer concerts in their native United Kingdom. Over two days, Oasis drew a combined crowd of 250,000 people. That is approximately 125,000 per day. These concerts took place on August 10 and 11, 1996, at Knebworth Festival. The festival is located on the grounds of Knebworth House, a historic English country house in Hertfordshire. I promise there’s no Blur reference there.
Knebworth Festival had previously hosted legendary English bands such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Rolling Stones. Notably, Knebworth Festival was the location of Freddie Mercury’s final live performance with Queen in 1986. These shows solidified Oasis’s place among the greatest bands in England’s history.
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In 1994, Oasis released the fastest-selling debut album in UK history, Definitely Maybe. They penned some of their first hits, “Supersonic”, “Live Forever”, and “Cigarettes & Alcohol”. Oasis brilliantly followed up with their 1995 magnum opus, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
With their sophomore album, they penned their signature hit “Wonderwall”, and other notable hits “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and “Champagne Supernova”. Both albums shot to No. 1 in the UK, defining 90s Britpop. Due to these albums’ massive success in their home country, their 1996 Knebworth concert drew a record-breaking attendance.
Firsthand account from Oasis after Knebworth
In 2021, a live album and documentary film titled Knebworth 1996 was released. In a 2021 interview with Rock Cellar Magazine promoting the release, Liam Gallagher reflects on his experience visiting the site. “They took me to the site, and it just looked like this massive empty field that we could never possibly fill. I told them we’d agree to do two nights. After all the ticket requests came in, they came back and said we could have done eight. Knebworth was amazing.”
On August 11, 1996, just before the second night, Noel Gallagher spoke with BBC Radio 1 about the experience of playing for 125,000 fans. “I can’t put it into words. I can only understate it really, cos you can’t see the back of the gig cos it’s dark, and it’s f**king 2 miles away from where you’re playing. I’ve been doing interviews all day trying to put it into words, and I’d rather not f**king try to tell you the truth. Absolutely mind-blowing.”
Noel then added, “Now I know what the word big means. We thought we were big when we played Earls Court, then Maine Road. But after last night… There’s big, then there’s bigger than big, and then there’s f**kin like last night… Now that is big. Now that is big. It’s big.”
Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns
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