The first weekend of Oasis concerts at Heaton Park in Manchester resulted in just 15 arrests, Greater Manchester Police have confirmed.
Saturday night saw nine arrests, added to six early starters from from Friday.
The arrests ranged from suspicion of fraud after attempting to access the venue with fake accreditation to suspicion of assaulting a member of security staff.
Two further men were also arrested on suspicion of assault, one for section 18 inside the venue and one for section 47 outside.
There was a Section 34 Dispersal Order in place for each evening so far and that will be re-assessed before each concert next week, with the reformed band due to play five hometown gigs in the park – and potentially pumping over a quarter of a billion into the city region’s economy – before heading to London, then Scotland, Ireland and the world.
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle said: “We have been planning for these events for several months, working with partners and the organisers to make sure everyone can enjoy the concerts safely. To that end, I’m pleased to say that the first two Oasis homecoming events have been a success.
“What has been especially pleasing is how more than 100,000 people have enjoyed these iconic events safely and without trouble. We will have a highly visible presence in and around Heaton Park, and across the city, to ensure the next three events continue to pass safely.
“A number of people without tickets attempted to gain entry through a perimeter gate on Saturday night but failed to do so. We continue to support the event organisers and the local authority with their plans preventing any unauthorised access to the arena site.
“While arrests have thankfully been minimal, we have had to take some suspects to custody, including one after an alleged assault on a steward on Saturday night. We will not tolerate any abuse of anyone doing their job.
“On Friday night we also dealt with a number of breaches of airspace restrictions involving drones where our officers seized five drones and spoke to two other pilots.
“We continue to have airspace restrictions in place on the nights of the concerts and anyone found breaching the one-and-a-half-mile restriction zone could face prosecution.”
Elsewhere, the weekend saw a smattering of boos, presumably largely from Manchester United fans, when singer Liam Gallagher dedicated D’Ya Know What I Mean to record-breaking Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who was in attendance on Saturday night, and a half-hearted apparent apology for an alleged racist Tweet the singer made recently using a derogatory term for Asian people.
Before playing the band’s 1995 hit Some Might Say on Saturday, Gallagher made a comment about the sunglasses that he was wearing, having chosen not to wear anything to protect his eyes during the searing heat of Friday’s gig. The 52-year-old said: “Gotta wear the shades tonight, didn’t wear them last night, woke up this morning like a grasshopper. You’re allowed to say grasshopper, right?”
Humble as ever Liam, well done.
