Oasis Fan Misses Entire Reunion Concert After Security Guard Knocks Him Unconscious

An Oasis fan missed the entirety of the band’s homecoming reunion concert at Heaton Park in Manchester, after a security guard “clattered” into him and knocked him unconscious, according to the British newspaper Metro.

The fan, 34-year-old Joel Garner, attended the July 16th show along with his sister Evie and three others. As the five were headed to a bar, they saw a “flash of yellow” as security identified a gate crasher attempting to sneak into the Heaton Park venue. “There were five to seven security guards fully sprinting, tailing this guy who jumped over the gate,” recounted Evie. “There was one massive pile-up and they clattered into the guy who jumped the barrier and Joel.”

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The collision apparently knocked Joel unconscious and caused him to have a seizure on the ground. Meanwhile, the security guards eventually caught the gate jumper, and according to Evie, seemed uninterested in whether or not they had seriously injured Joel. “The security said to my boyfriend, ‘did he jump the fence? or was he collateral damage?’,” Evie said. “What a way to refer to someone they’ve just knocked over. Then they just walked off and all of them just left… It seemed like they were trying to take down the guy and didn’t care who was in their way.”

Joel was rushed to the on-site medical tent just as Richard Ashcroft began his opening set, and was eventually taken to the hospital, where he remained until 4:00 a.m.—meaning he and his group missed the entire show. Fortunately, Metro reports that Joel’s CT scan came back clear. Still, he says he’s “gutted” to have missed the concert and is now openly pleading for tickets to Oasis’s reunion shows later this year.

“I am absolutely gutted to not have seen Oasis. We were just looking forward to having a good time and literally within 15 minutes all hell breaks loose,” Joel said. Though his memory is a bit fuzzy from the collision, he recalled, “There was a bit of a commotion and before you know it I was knocked flying by someone… I’m grateful I’m still in one piece. The five of us spent £700 on tickets and we didn’t get to see a single band.”

Metro notes that the Greater Manchester Police investigated the incident the following morning, and Joel decided not to press charges. “I’ve had mates asking me since, ‘Oh, how was, how was Oasis?’ and I have to tell them I couldn’t see them,” Joel said. “I would love to see them live. They’re my favorite band.”