This is Laura's story:
'Good afternoon! Its Bill calling for Laura, just to let Laura know that Noel IS coming in January 16th, it is the the Friday after the Oasis show. He's coming in at 2:45 so I'm hoping you can make it! And uh, I'll get you in, cause I'm on, so that'll be good. Anyways, 2:45 January the 16th Noel WILL be coming in. Hope to talk to you soon! Bye."

Don't worry, I didn't memorize that whole message. Its only right that I should save that tape for later use, y'know.

Anyways, the exact words from Bill Welychka on my answering machine that day. If you don't know who Bill is an incredibley cool person. He works as a VJ at Muchmusic and is an Oasis fan!! Time for a plug, visit my page about him http://members.tripod.com/~BillWelychka.

Anyways, you all are thinking 'she must have been pissing herself!!!', nah, actually, the opposite. I was angry and upset.

My flight left from Toronto back to my hometown Thunder Bay at 12:45 pm. A mere 2 hours before the interview. Fuck.

Phoned up Bill, left a message on his machine saying I couldn't go. Very very hard. Turning down an offer to meet the most important person in my life. I was beyond upset.

It wasn't easy to get my flight changed. I had to go through hell just to go to the freakin' concert. I'd cost me $300 to change the flight. I'm flat broke.

I guess the whingeing worked well, that night my mom told me that 'Ok, we'll get the flight changed'. Being the obsessed Oasis fan I am I offered her before that I'd pay for it. It was worth it though. I swear, I would have payed $1000 if I had to. I would have gone 5 years without going out to the movies, etc.

The next day I told Bill I could go and talked about Alphagettis and Oasis. He told me how he wanted Liam to come, but the girl at Muchmusic who books the interviews doesn't like him cause he 'swears a lot'. He also told me that they moved the interview up to Thursday, the day of the concert. $300 changing my flight for nothing? Ah well. 'Nobody knows the way its gonna be".

The next days went by slowly. In those 5 days before I departed for Toronto, I spent them repeating this phrase over and over: 'I am going to meet..Noel Gallagher...Fuck"

Wednesday the 14th of January.

Early in the morning, we get on the plane to Toronto. I brought my Wonderwall and Be Here Now cover to be signed. The thought that I'm going to meet Noel Gallagher still doesn't register in my head so I decide to repeat the phrase through out the trip to the hotel. "I'm meeting Noel in a mere..37 hours, or so!! Fuc....I mean...umm...I'm meeting Noel!!!"

Unpack, eat. Spend the day shopping, going to CN tower, and stopping by the Muchmusic (Chumcity) building to see if Bill is in. Nope. So we hang around in the building for a bit.

Its bloody freezing outside so we just stay in there for a bit to warm up. The lead singer of Everclear (Art Alexakis) walks in with 2 people holding coffee. Woah, heavy sh*t (stole that quote from Liam). I freak out, make a fool of myself, and manage to get an autograph. 'If that's how I act around HIM how will I act around Noel??' is my new phrase to repeat over and over.

The end of the day. Tired. Very tired. Can't fall asleep. Getting very emotional. The most memorable moment of my life is about to happen the next day.

Fall asleep, wake up early. Eat. Walk around the Eaton Centre. I can *not* get the song The Fame out of my head. Meet up with this girl, Caroline, who works with me on the Bill Welychka website. It's 12:45, we go to Muchmusic.

My first words when the building came into view was 'Oh my god! Look at all those people!' A LOT of people had lined up and had been huddled around the building. Later I had learned some of them had been there as early as 8 am!

We walk into the building, to the front desk, give them are names, and are let in.

Talk with Bill. I'm very calm. I'm trying to be very calm. We go upstairs with him while he gets some coffee cause he 'feels stoned'.

We are the only fans that were let in so far. I go out to check to see if my friend (who came with me from Thunder Bay) is in the lobby. Yup. I get her in. Bill goes out for a smoke. I seat myself in his chair. Look at an Oasis article on his desk. This isn't happening.... He comes back and shows us where Noel will be sitting. On this wooden stool. We seat ourselves on the desk about 3 meters away from the stool. I make sure I'm right in front. I stay calm, but my knees start shaking. Watch Bill do a few throws, he tells us the rules. Don't run up to Noel, don't ask for autographs YET, don't run up to his face and start snapping away with your camera. Alright then.

Sit around. On some security guards walkie talkie I hear 'we're bringing him in.' Deep breaths. Stay calm.

I watch Bill do another throw. I hear him say 'Noel is in the building'.

Ahh! My eyes zoom over to the entrance where he was to be coming in. Green shirt. Brown hair, Surrounded by several people. Noel. Here. Walking towards me.

I repeat the words 'oh my god' in a tone as if someone just told me my dog died. A really pathetic 'I'm gonna cry' tone. We walks down the steps and looks around. I wave at him excitedly. He give me a little smile and a nod. He's holding his acoustic guitar.

After hooking it up, he seats himself on the ground beside the stool and tunes his guitar. He looked very lad-ish and cute.

On a minor note, I haven't stopped saying 'oh my god' in that tone.

He seats himself on the stool and people explain to him which cameras they'll use, and the hook his mic up on his shirt. He looks at me several times. The most memorable was when he looked up at me as my eyes were of course, fixated on his, and we just sorta look at eachother for a few seconds. After being in complete awe, I manage to utter the words 'Hi Noel'. He gives me this cute little smile, nods and winks at me. Aww... I was speechless for quite a while. Literally, I could NOT talk. I didn't turn to my friends and gush 'Noel just winked at me!'

He goes on to the soundcheck in which he plays a beautiful acoustic version of Stand By Me. Ahhh...don't cry. Don't cry. 'Oh my god, I'm sitting here watching Noel Gallagher play guitar'. He looked at me throughout the song (well of course, I was right in front of him y'know!) I was really choked up. There was one line that had never meant anything before to me, but then it really got to me. 'So whats the matter with you? Sing me something new'. Even now when I hear that lyric I get tears in my eyes. He sung that line to me, as in he was looking at me as he sung that line. It really meant something, and was really powerful. I actually looked away with a 'I don't want to cry now' look in my eyes. The end of the soundcheck. Those 3 minutes I felt like it was just me and Noel in the room. I didn't pay attention to anything else. And I was crying. Not totally bawling my eyes out, but there were tears shed and my eyes were red. I *never* cry. NEVER. Until now I guess.

They let fans in. At least we knew they were the TRUE Oasis fans, they were first in line. And if some of them were waiting out there since 8 am..well, they're mad fer it :)

The interview went as any interview would. Pictures/autographs at commercial breaks. I got pictures. Lots :). I also got my Wonderwall single signed, let my friend have my Be Here Now cover to get signed cause she left hers at home. Ah well. Bill looked at me at every commercial break and mouthed the words 'are you ok?'. I'd nod. Yeah, yeah, I'm ok. Just kinda touches you when the worlds most important person is sitting in front of you, y'know what I mean?

At the second last commercial break, Bill walks up to me. 'When we go to All Around the World (the video) then walk up beside the camera there ok?' Actually, if you watched the interview on TV, you can hear him ask Noel right at the end 'Can you just do a quick picture with a fan who travelled a long way (looking at me) Laura?' Noel was also looking towards me 'Yeah, yeah yeah'. The other people were slowly being escorted out, so it got a bit crowded where I was standing. Noel approached, I gave Bill my camera and sooner or later I'm face to face with Noel.

'Whats your name again?'

'Laura' 'Where you from?'

'Thunder Bay'

'What's that? Like four thousand miles away or something?'

Nervous laugh and smile. Looking into his eyes. Another powerful moment. Within those few seconds I think 'Noel..he's just a person. He's a huge rock star and everything..but..fuck, what the hell am I doing here??!?! How the hell did I get to this point??'. He puts his arm around me..aww..pats me on the back a couple times and Bill take the picture. Pats me on the back 2 more times and turns to shake some hands. Noel turns back to me 'Here you can have this as well'. Hands me the pen he had been chewing on/signing autographs with/scratching his head with/fiddling with through out the whole interview. He gives me another wink and gets led out of the building. First thing going through my mind is 'Woah..I never knew Noel winked so often!!' But of course I'm happy. I'm ecstatic. Although thats the last time I saw Noel. Well until the concert that night, but I didn't get to say hi or anything :(

Hung around Much a bit longer. Chatted with Rick, met Cornershop (who were REALLY nice).

They signed autographs and posed for pictures. Ben Ayres had the cutest little accent, and was very talkative. Of course, nothing beats Noel's lovely Manc accent though. Said our goodbyes to Bill, who left when we did because 'he didn't want to do more more work'.

That night we saw Oasis live at the Maple Leaf Gardens. Top show. The best day of my life.

'There are many things that I would like to say to Noel but I don't know how'.

The Monday night after I did speak to Noel again, believe it or not, on a phone in radio show Rockline. Thats where the Wonderwall line kicks in. I didn't mention meeting him at Muchmusic. Oh well. Noel meets hundreds of fans in a day. Probably changes their lives too.

BTW: On a minor note, I still have that pen...I put it into a concealed place, and guess what??? It smells like Noel!! I'm obsessed, I know, but for anyone who cares it smells like this really nice aftershave... Also, amazing enough, Stand By Me has become my favorite Oasis song. Even when Liam sings it...although it has more meaning when Noel does... I get tears in my eyes when the line 'So whats the matter with you? Sing me something new' comes along.

"Don't you know the cold the wind the rain don't know

They only seem to come and go away"
By:Laura


This is Chris's story:
Last August I was in Cork in Southern Ireland to see Oasis play 2 gigs (the two gigs after Knebworth). I had some spare tickets so I was walking down Cork Main Street trying to sell them when I heard some girls screaming across the road. I thought..."Na, it couldnt be!" but I looked across the road and there, sure enough was Noel. I said "FUCK!" and ran like hell to get my mate Ned who was in HMV. I shouted to him across the shop "Ned! Noel's walking down the street!" to which he replied "aye, right" . I just ran out of HMV and there was Noel again and behind him in a swarm of girls was Liam. Noel was wearing (for those sad fashion victims reading) a Levi's denim shirt, combat trousers and Nike trainers, Liam wore his fishermans' hat, a black woolen cardigan with big wooden buttons, black Levi's and white addidas gazelles. Cool bastards.

They both had huge bouncers to protect them and they need them to keep the 100 or so crowd which had formed around them. I pluck up the courage and said, "Hey Noel, any chance of a handshake?" to which he replied "Sure" and shook my hand! Soon after I said the same to Liam and he said "Sure mate, no problem" and gave a really strong 'I'm-a-hard-lad hand shake!!

Ned then had the idea of "Hey buy a disposable camera!" Which we did and I got a pile of photos of the two guys. The best one is one I took of myself by stretching out my arm and pointing the camera at my face and has Noel in the background looking directly at the camera!!

Now why the Fuck Ned didnt say "Hey buy a pen too!" I don't know cos then we could have had their autographs too, but that's life!

They were then swiftly escorted into a big mercedes limo to do some coke or have a row or something! But what a day and the two gigs that followd were absoloutely amazing, even better than when I saw them at the Point in Dublin last March but that's another story! Here's a pic of the meeting.
By:Chris


This is Anna's story:
My boyfriend, his brother, and I had gone to Chicago to see Oasis in January...well, we got there kind of early....about 9 hours early....we weren't worried about our seats cause we already had tickets and that didn't matter...anyway, we were the only people there and all of a sudden we see a bus pull up...since we had gone to the Fairfax show two weeks earlier we knew it must have been Cornershop....and so it was...well, Nick and Anthony of Cornershop were standing outside watching the planes go by, so we decided to ask them for an autograph and in the process ask them what the hell they were doing....looking for 747's they were...anyways, we wait another couple of hours around the back of the Rosemont Horizon....Noel was doing a radio show so we knew he wasn't anywhere close, so we decide to wait by the tour buses...we were there for a while when all of a sudden a cab pulls up....and guess who gets out?!?! no not Noel, Cornershop's lead singer Tjinder....anyways, I ask for his autograph on my ticket stub...he looked surprised I asked....and out of the corner of my eye I see a limo pulling up around the back so I basically grabbed the ticket out of Tjinder's hand (sorry!) an run over to the limo.....and who get's out?!?! You guessed it, Noel Gallagher! It was so amazing to see him..I mean I was literally less than a foot away from me...well, he was signing autographs and after I got my ticket signed, my boyfriend showed Noel his tattoo, it's of Noel and Liam which you can see at www.rocktoons.com....anyways, I had gotten the Oasis logo tattoed on my shoulder the day before, so I said, "hey Noel take a look!" ...he had to touch my shirt to pull it down so he could see!!! after he saw it he smled and said "COOL" I will never forget that day as long as I live!!! the good thing was only a handful of people got stuff signed that day...and I was one of them....I still shake and almost cry every time I think about that day...and I have the signed ticket stub in a frame so I will NEVER forget!
By:Anna
This is Jesekah's story:
The first one I met was Noel. Me and my friend Amy had just gotten to the hotel in hope that we would meet any of them. As we were walking up to the hotel, we saw this group of people surrounding somebody, then we saw his fave.. it was NOEL!! We sprinted over there and got loads of photos and an autograph. He went over to the Pub across the road where Alan and Bonehead were. We got more photos and alans and boneheads autographs. At this time it was about 6 pm. We were waiting outside the hotel for Liam and Guigs for hours. We didnt end up meeting Guigs, but, at 11:30 pm, a woman called Louise came up to us, and said she was just inside the hotel at the main bar, and the band was in there. We gave her my camera to get a photo of Liam for us, and 3 minutes later, she came walking out with Liam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It turned out, she told Liam how long we had been out there (6 hours) and HE wanted to see US!!!! I got a really cool photo with him, but I didnt get his autograph until the next day.

Well, that is a VEEEEEEERRRRRRYYYY short version of what happened when I met them for the first time! I ended up meeting Liam 6 times, and Noel 2 times. It was really funny, coz as we were walking to get some lunch on Saturday (we met them fisrt time one friday), we saw this White Limo at the traffic lights, it had tinted windows so we couldnt see in. But we could only see the outlines of a few people inside. We waved, and they waved back. Then, a few days later, I saw the same Limo on the news when they were talking about oasis, and Noel climbed out of it!!!!!! And he waved back at us and we didnt even know it was him!!!!!! That day, we had lunch with oasis' jeyboardist, Mike Rowe. He is soooo cool. I did take a photo of him, but it for some reason didnt work out :(

Well, that is just a very brief description of what happened. Pretty cool huh? My sister was also there with a couple of friends and they got some really good video footage of them. Even one of Liam picking his nose!!!!!!!!! And Alan talking on the phone to my sisters friends mum in the pub!!!!!!!!! They didnt get much of Noel, but a really good shot of his underwear! (He wears Calvin Kleins by the way) :):) By:Jesekah