Here's my ultimate Britpop story. Bear with me, it's one of those bizarre connections that maybe one or two of you might actually appreciate.
I saw Oasis in October 1995 on their first famous aborted U.S. tour (not the one where I witnessed Patsy Kensit blow a gasket), they played Hammerjacks in Baltimore but not DC. It was one of the few dates they did with Scott McLeod since Guigsy was out for a bit. I see a lone photographer in the pit snapping great shots of Liam holding up a Heineken and doing some other stuff. I think "wow, cool shot". I buy a t-shirt with the Union Jack in Irish colors (orange and green instead of blue and red).
Flash forward about 3 years. I am in Chicago, visiting my family. My sister brings over her best friend and her new boyfriend. We start chatting. He was from Ireland, lived in Baltimore, was a photographer for the City Paper, then moved to Chicago. We talk about concerts. He tells me he saw Oasis at Hammerjacks...he also tells me he had a photo pass. We put 2 and 2 together and it turns out that HE was the photographer I saw. My sister's best friend didn't even know him at this point, but they happen to meet by chance in Chicago a few years later. He gives me a cool print of Liam holding up his beer. Weird, I remember the exact moment he had taken the picture, and there it is.
It gets better. 2 years later. I am in Ireland for the wedding of him and my sister's best friend. My sis is the maid of honor. We are in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE near Kinnity Castle. I am wearing my Oasis shirt with the Irish colors when I go to breakfast one morning. Dolly, the lady who owned the b&b where I was staying, sees me in my shirt and gets all excited. She tells me that Tony McCarroll's mom (first Oasis drummer) lives down the road, and he just happens to be visiting her. She asks me if I want to meet him...she calls him up and 10 minutes later we are having a pint at 11 in the morning, and he is telling me some Oasis stories and raving about Coldplay (who at that point were only just starting to get popular in the UK).
Sorry...xneverwherex, that was for you