Oasis in concert in London: Brits and fervor

"What's going on here is really something." Brock, a handsomely shabby fifty-something, tells us this without warning. He comes from Wigan, a suburb of Manchester. He and his brother Darren, sitting a little further back in the stands, are long-time fans and played the part on the cover of the 1997 single D'You Know What I Mean ("the last halfway decent thing they put out, we agree") – they both have saved photos of the session on their smartphones. The former has no hair, the other has gained 20 kilos, but they're the same.

In the hours that follow, Brock will introduce us to his niece (Jo, 12, who has come to witness "the most important moment of [her] life" ), insist that we sing Teenage Kicks by the Undertones together, take one, then two, then three selfies with us (we take no less than ten throughout the evening, with people we sometimes only saw for a minute and about whom we know almost nothing) and, of course, pay for an astronomical number of rounds of drinks, like everyone else. In front of us, a young Korean couple clings to each other as if they were about to jetpack to Saturn. A little further away, a group of 18-year-old girls in Manchester City shirts are watching the stage with the same excitement as if their A-level results were about to be announced, written in 20-meter-high letters of fire. We are at Wembley Stadium, Saturday, the 26th