A glimpse of my music history - the day I spent backstage with Oasis

Remembering Andre Barreau

It feels like everyone has been talking about Oasis this week and in a departure from my herbal stories I thought I’d share with you the day I met Oasis.

Music has always been central to my life from my Mum playing Motown all day long to saving up for my first gigs, buying precious vinyl and pretending I was a photographer at uni to get in to see bands…

Way back in 1991 I was 18 and at Strathclyde University, studying Hotel & Catering Management and mad on all things 60’s. I’d always loved The Beatles music and spent most of my late teenage years in black jeans and a black polo neck thinking I was really beatnik.

(Me sometime in the 90’s)

Towards the end of our first term, me and a friend heard that The Bootleg Beatles were playing at one our Uni bars so off we went prepared to be disappointed and were slightly taken aback at how accurate the music was, it was all a bit rough and ready being the uni bar…as you can probably imagine from a bunch of drunken students the band were battling the singing and general chaos of a student night out. After the gig the band headed to the bar and I was insistent that we had to go and say hello. We had a brilliant night, chatting about The Beatles and I remember asking if they’d been to Abbey Road Studios, which to me was like the Holy Grail of Beatledom. The band suggested we come to their gig at the Kings Theatre in Glasgow later that week to see the full show with all the lighting and costume changes throughout the different eras of Beatles music and that the gig that night hadn’t really been what the show was all about.

(Me trying not to laugh with the Bootleg Beatles)

So off we went to see the ‘proper’ show and it was totally different to the night at uni. From the guitars, the sound, the changes in costume through the mop top era to Revolver and onto Sgt Pepper and the White Album. It was so good to hear the music played live. After the gig we headed to the bar across the road and later the band came in and plenty of pints were consumed.

Over the next few years whenever the Bootlegs were in Glasgow as part of their Christmas tour, off we’d go to see them and we even made the trek down to London to see the band in the big smoke.

After graduating, I moved to London for 12 months, working in a publishing company and spending most of my money going to gigs. I caught up with Andre (George in the BB’s) on a regular basis, we went to Notting Hill one day and I went to see his own band, Chelsea Drugstore. The band were in the film Sliding Doors and his friend David Catlin-Birch who was in the original BB line up and World Party was also in the band.

(Andre and Dave at The Mean Fiddler)

After a year in London I moved back to Glasgow, bought a flat and life was great. One afternoon in 1996 I had a call from Andre asking how I was and if I’d like a backstage pass to a special gig they were playing - Oasis at Balloch Castle Country Park, Loch Lomond. It was the week before the Oasis Knebworth gigs and they were supporting Oasis along with Cast, Ocean Colour Scene and Black Grape, it was the ticket for the summer. Of course I said yes and so on Sunday 4th August 1996 I headed up to Loch Lomond on a train packed with mad for it Oasis fans, wondering if the pass really would be there…

The pass was there and I made my way backstage, spending the whole day with Andre and the band. At one point during the afternoon, after The Bootlegs had done their set we wended up standing at the side of the stage watching Black Grape with Liam and Patsy. It was the most surreal day, I can’t really repeat what was said but I got the distinct impression that they weren’t getting on that well at the time...

The day flew by and I remember being in the catering tent queuing with Noel to get some food and having lunch with Noel and Meg, chatting with the musicians. Just your normal run of the mill Sunday afternoon . Cast and Ocean Colour Scene were great and when it was finally time for the Oasis set, we were right at the front of the stage in the pit , which was, without sounding corny, electric.

After the concert everyone headed back to Glasgow for the after show party and I have a hazy memory of getting home at about 7am, thinking that I had to get ready for work and doing such a fast turnaround I was the first in the office and made myself a strong cuppa. I was working at Peebles Publishing and one of the editorial team came in and couldn’t believe how early I was for work asked if I’d had a good weekend? The Oasis gig was all over the press and no-one could believe it when I said I’d spent the day backstage.

I stayed in touch with Andre - I ended up working at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as events manager and by then the band had a much bigger stage show with a brass and strings section and regularly played there at the Concert Hall on their annual tour.

A few years later I moved back to Manchester and then in 2004 I set up my own marketing and PR agency. The agency took off and I started doing lots of traveling and lost contact with Andre.

There have been so many times that I’ve thought about contacting him, especially when Abbey Road Studios became a client and I spent quite a lot of time showing prospective corporate clients round the studios. I’ll share more about the Studios another day, but I often thought of him, as I walked over the famous crossing several times a month and wondered if I’d bump into him on one of those days.

I was incredibly sad to find out that Andre passed away last August. I’d actually emailed him to say hello to see how he was and never heard back. Since we’d last been in touch my life of gigs had changed beyond recognition - lockdown, retraining to be a medical herbalist and setting up my herbal medicine practice had kept me busy since 2018. I hadn’t known that he’d been ill, plus it had been years since I’d seen him so I was really upset that I’d not reached out to say hello sooner.

(Andre Barreau and Neil Harrison, soundcheck, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall)

So thank you Andre for that backstage pass in 1996 and for looking out for me on what was a pretty crazy day, it’s a concert I’ll never forget.

Andre was such a lovely person and a very talented musician -if you want to hear him just listen out for the guitar solo on Robbie Williams, Angels.

And if someone comes to mind who you haven’t been in touch with for a while, just contact them. I really wish I’d emailed Andre years ago to say hello.

Cath