Storm Oasis is about to hit Edinburgh – is it nostalgia or just nuisance?
Though it did cause the cancellation of a slew of Fringe shows, Edinburgh largely escaped the worst Storm Floris had to offer. But the buffeting, tumult and upheaval predicted of the next pressure front to sweep into the capital – high or low, you decide – may better match the doom-mongers’ expectations.
The Oasis reunion tour – part rock’n’roll circus, part nostalgia-fest, part lager-fuelled money-making machine – sets up at Murrayfield on Friday for the first of its three Scottish dates. In its slipstream, a procession of sometimes strained, sometimes fawning though often genuinely adulatory reviews of the shows played so far.
But also a death – this at the conclusion of Saturday’s show at Wembley show – and, perhaps not unconnected, data on how much beer is driving that money-making machine. Fans at the London shows downed a staggering 250,000 pints each night. Because somebody actually counts such things, we can now hail that as a record.
Ahead of the Scottish shows there has been much talk. About the strain the event will put on transport infrastructure in Edinburgh and the wider Central Belt. About the effect on the Edinburgh Festival in terms of ticketing and stresses on accommodation. About crowd behaviour and crowd control, both of which often correlate tidily to bladder and bowel control – in other words how many fans end up relieving themselves in front gardens.
Why Val is wrong and activists are right to target Edinburgh Festival sponsorship
For some, then, the Oasis tour is a nuisance. But for others it’s boon and blessing.........
© Herald Scotland
