'I saw Oasis' first Heaton Park Manchester show and these were the best moments fans may have missed'

As the sun set over Heaton Park last night, the darkness enveloping the stage, and the final chords of Champagne Supernova rang out across the Papal Field, the night sky suddenly became alive as a stunning firework display closed out night one of Oasis in Manchester.

As Liam and Noel Gallagher took to the stage at 8.15pm in front of almost 80,000 adoring fans, alongside bandmates Bonehead, Andy Bell, Gem Archer and Joey Waronker, there was a series of deafening cheers from the crowd as they welcomed back the Manchester legends.

"OASIS, OASIS, OASIS," they bellowed, as F***** in the Bushes rang out. And as a pint of p*** flung across the barrier and cascaded down my back, I couldn't even really be mad, instead I dusted myself off - so to speak - and took my place in the crowd for what would be a triumphant victory lap for the Burnage brothers.

Fans had travelled from as far as Japan, Costa Rica, North America, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Ireland, Italy and Australia to witness the opening show of Oasis’ five-night homecoming in the city, others had come from just up the road in Middleton, but every single one of them was there to be part of a gig that will go down in Mancunian history.

READ OUR REVIEW OF THE NIGHT HERE

Having now dried off, showered and poured through hours of video and pictures from last night, I've taken some time to reflect on some of the best moments of Oasis at Heaton Park night one.

The Manchester moments

In case you had forgotten, this was a Manchester show of "epic proportions" and there were plenty of nods to the brothers home city and more specifically their hometown of Burnage and Manchester City Football Club.

A Pep Guardiola cut-out kept them company on stage, as did the Manchester City emblem, and a cheeky nod to the United fans after perfectly executed Poznan - all ticked off the list.

The Poznan is a dance that was adopted by the Gallaghers' beloved Manchester City around 15 years ago.

It was a craze that would sweep the blue half of the City and become permanently ingrained in football folklore.

Liam was well up for it when it came to getting the crowd to do it too.

He said: “It’s Poznan time I don’t ask for much I don’t ask for you to do the Macarena or the locomotive any of that nonsense… it’s Poznan time.

“I want you all to turn around, put your arms around each other even you United fans stop f****ing sulking you’ve not had much to jump around to recently so get f****g involved. It’s good to be in the cool gang.”

There were also plenty of tributes during the show too that nodded to their roots. Liam dedicated Fade Away “to all the people from Burnage”, while Noel, during his acoustic set, also made a dedication to Manc royalty - The Royle Family’s creators, comedians Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash.

He said: “This one’s for Caroline and Craig” before performing an acoustic singalong of the TV show’s theme tune Half the World Away.

And it was another spinetingling moment when Noel addressed the crowd as they performed Don't Look Back in Anger.

He said: “Manchester you know what this song means to us all so feel free to join in,” as yellow and black bees flooded the screens during the song, a poignant tribute to the victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack in 2017.

It's 30C and Liam is wearing a zipped-up parka

Manchester baked in the sun yesterday, which makes a marked change from the rain with which we're so commonly associated.

And as fans soaked up the sunshineeeee, piling into trams, or braving a sweaty walk from town, the fashion choices were suitably weather appropriate - shorts, branded Oasis t-shirts, an assortment of bucket hats and lashings of Factor 50.

Noel got the t-shirt memo, Liam either did not, or simply chose to ignore the sweltering heat, opting instead for his classic parka and trousers combination. During the encore he could also be seen wearing a hat that wrapped around his neck...

Liam Gallagher booed as he dedicates song to "legend"

The footy banter also led to some boos for the frontman, when he said: “I’d like to dedicate this to the greatest manager of all time, Mr Pep Guardiola.”

But the mention of the Manchester City boss, who was in the crowd, sparked some boos in the crowd as those in front standing swivelled their bodies towards Pep who was over in VIP.

From where I could see, it looked like Pep took it in good spirits, but clearly unimpressed, Liam retorted: “Who you f***ing booing? Wo you f***ing booing?”

The video also panned to the life-sized cut-out of Pep that was placed on stage, with a Man City scarf around his neck, while real-life Pep swung his hips around to Whatever and sung along with his family. In a touching moment, some fans chucked a bucket hat towards him, which he also thanked them for several times.

The name calling

There was a point when I worried that, believe it or not, it was all a little too slick. Since Cardiff, fans have been saying that the band sounded the best in years, or even better than they did in the 1990s.

I was quite young when they burst onto the scene, so my knowledge of their rock 'n' roll antics, on-stage bust-ups and prolonged feuding is very much based on generational folklore, tabloid fascination surrounding Liam and Noel's tempestuous relationship, and listening to podcasts and documentaries, but I like many, have a decent measure.

So while I'm all for this newfound maturity, it was nice to see Liam show his teeth a bit and have some of that old school banter with the crowd.

There was something cheeky that made me smirk when Liam paused to tell the crowd: “You should be very proud of yourselves 10/10”.

Then there was the interaction with a person in front standing, who was seemingly communicating with the frontman to tell him what he really thought of him.

Not missing a beat, Liam sized up to the mic, looked the fan dead in the eye and bellowed: "Takes one to know one mate, the difference is at least I'm a good looking c***'."

“This is the place, THIS is the place!”

The Tony Walsh poem "This is the Place" about Manchester, which became a symbol of resilience and community after the Manchester Arena bombing, will stick in many Mancunians minds and as bees flashed across the screens during 'Don't Look Back In Anger', I think many of us felt a lump in our throats.

There's another phrase though that I think speaks to that spirit.

The phrase "This is Manchester, we do things differently here" is often bandied around, but the well known slogan associated with the city and attributed to Tony Wilson, the late founder of Factory Records, represents a independent spirt and encapsulates a feeling of identity and uniqueness.

You could change it though to apply to last night's show to, "This is Manchester we do things really well here and we care an awful lot", and it would be true because a big part of the success of the gig was the authentically Mancunian atmosphere.

As I said in my review: "Is there anything more Mancunian than wrapping your arm around the stranger next to you, chucking your pint as far as they eye can see, and belting out the words to The Masterplan, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Wonderwall?"

There really isn't. The crowd around me at time were so loud it almost enveloped the sounds of Liam, Noel, Bonehead, Andy Bell, Gem Archer and Joey Waronker, but it was this level of volume, passion and enthusiasm for Manchester's favourite sons that made me proud to be from Greater Manchester, and elevated the homecoming a step further, and helped me finally forgive the person who threw something "that wasn't Carling" over me mere seconds before the show started.