Craig Cash recalls intimate Oasis gig where Liam and Noel performed to three people

A whopping 80,000 fans are predicted to flock to each of Oasis's homecoming gigs in Manchester. Noel and Liam Gallagher returned as Oasis to Heaton Park, Manchester last night – 16 long years since they last performed in their hometown. The Britpop band kicked off the first of their Heaton Park comeback shows.

Heaton Park fans saw the impossible happen last night, in the first of five nights of the Gallagher brothers' homecoming gig, as the former rivals walked out to the packed, sweltering crowd hand in hand.

While thousands of fans missed out on tickets those at home poured over live streams of the historic night on social media. Some even accused the crowd of being 'too tame', while others blamed the apparent lack of chaos in the park on the scorching heat.

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However, writer, actor and comedian Craig Cash recalls a time when an Oasis gig could only muster two or three spectators – one of whom was Liam and Noel Gallagher's brother, Paul.

Cash, who starred in The Royle Family, was another attendee at the Boardwalk gig where Oasis were supporting Northwich band The Cherrys. Speaking to the BBC, he reminisced that despite the sparse crowd, Oasis "blew him away" and their star potential was evident.

Cash shared: "You knew from early on they definitely had something about them, so it was absolutely no surprise when they were huge."

Liam was singing like a rock and roll star, Cash remembers to the BBC. "He had that same swagger when nobody was watching him." The show also gave Cash a glimpse into Liam's fiery nature. He recalled how Oasis were "going on a bit too long" before The Cherrys took to the stage as the main act.

"They were great... but the Cherrys actually pulled the plug and switched [them] off." And then it all kicked off. "Liam was offering them out from the stage and all sorts of chaos ensued.

"But they plugged them back in and [they] finished the set." Now aged 64, Cash fondly remembers hitting it off with Noel after the singer-songwriter's first ever radio interview.

When their recording session was interrupted, they headed to The Pineapple Inn, near KFM Radio's studio, and "bonded" over pints and their mutual love for Manchester City. "We ended up having a skinful and going back to finish the recording half cut," he said. "The laughs we had... they were heady days and fun times."

Cash's fondness for Oasis led to the B-side Half The World Away being chosen as the theme song for the BBC sitcom The Royle Family, where Cash portrayed Dave, the dim-witted, devoted boyfriend of the late Caroline Aherne's Denise.

Cash expressed: "I just love that song. It really fit the mood. You're kind of stuck here but you love it all the same." Noel says now it feels like it's not even their song now, its ours," he added.

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