BBCFifteen years ago, tens of thousands of people flocked to the main stage at V Festival to watch Britpop legends Oasis perform a slew of their hits
Little did the Weston Park crowd know the headline performance would mark the last time the Gallagher brothers were together on stage.
Fans at the gig, on the border of Staffordshire and Shropshire, said the set seemed tense and seemed to end abruptly. It was then announced singer Liam was diagnosed with laryngitis and the band cancelled their second V Festival performance in Chelmsford.
They were scheduled to play at Rock en Seine in Paris a few days later but festival-goers were told that day the Oasis set had been cancelled “as a result of an altercation within the band”.
Just hours later, Noel said he had quit the band and that he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer”.
Until news of their reunion came out people who were at the Weston Park edition of V Festival 2009 thought they would be the last to ever see Oasis on stage.
bbcEmma Perks, who owns Spinning Around Records in Wellington, Shropshire, was one of those in attendance.
She and her friend had planned to see Lady Gaga on the third stage but it was so packed they decided to watch Oasis instead.
“I just remember it being a really good atmosphere and everyone was just singing along,” she said.
“I’m sure there was some beer thrown around as there normally was at V Festival and at Oasis concerts.”
She remembered being in the crowd with “some blokes from Manchester” and cheering when the band played their version of I Am The Walrus – a song which she said “bewildered” her friend, who had not heard it before.
Ms Perks said they never believed the band would really split up, adding: “We just thought it was going to be like an argument like they’ve had before and that they would just get back together.
“Obviously it never happened until today…It looks like they really have lived forever.”
PA MediaBBC Radio Shropshire’s Carlie Swain was also at the show, having bought all their albums during her 90s childhood.
She said: “They played all the hits and at times the crowd were singing so loud, you couldn’t hear the band. Everyone there knew every word.”
But she said there was “tension on stage” adding that the performance ended quite abruptly.
“What we didn’t know at the time was that would be the last time they would perform,” she added.
“There were due to play the next night at the Chelmsford leg of V but they never did. Who knew we were witnessing a bit of music history.”
‘It was inevitable’
The Oasis reunion has sent fans into a frenzy and it has also sparked nostalgia among people who were in the record industry at the height of their success.
Ian Bridgwater used to own Langland Records in Wellington and remembered how popular the band were.
He said he knew the reunion would happen eventually, adding the upcoming shows next year were likely to make them a lot of money.
“It was inevitable. The boys are probably running out of money and they want big bucks,” he said.
“I’m sure they will pack the stadiums, I’m sure they will.”