A WARNING TO OASIS FANS

Now, generally, we'd be tempted to say if you've bought Oasis tickets, you might deserve everything you get, but we don't like seeing people being ripped off, so there's a warning for those heading to Milton Keynes in a couple of weeks in the experiences of those who went to see Green Day.

Green Day played the MK Bowl the weekend before last, which, as you'll recall, was a pretty hot weekend. Ralph Bacon sent his 16 year old daughter well prepared for the day, carrying three bottles of water. As he tells the story, when she got to the gates of the Bowl, the stewards stole two of her bottles on the basis that you were only allowed to take one bottle inside.

Oddly, it turns out this is policy. The Bowl operators - Gaming International - have imposed a "one litre only" policy on people going to gigs there, regardless of the weather conditions. It seems this time, though, the limit was cut to just half a litre - a spokesperson for the company told the MK Citizen this was down to Green Day themselves; according to them, the band wanted the limit imposed because one of them was hit in the face by a full bottle once.

Now, this seems odd to us - if you're hit by a full bottle, you're hit by a full bottle, regardless of if it's got a litre or half a litre in it, it's going to hurt. And if you're going to throw a bottle, then you're going to throw a bottle, regardless of it's your only one, or if you've got many.

Even more curiously, it seems bottles of water sold inside the Bowl can't hurt bands if you throw them. And this, we suspect, is the real reason behind the ban on more than a little water going in to the venue - because if people take their own water in, they won't pay the shocking two pounds fifty for a bottle of water inside the bowl. Of course not, because who but someone with no choice would pay such a gouged price for water?

Bowl spokesperson Julie Wilson seems to think this is about "confusion" - "This confusion won't happen again. The restrictions on bottles taken into the arena won't change and will remain at one litre bottles or less." (Actually, for Oasis, it's going to be 500ml). But Julie, it's not confusion - we can think of several words for people who take water of teenagers about to stand and dance in thirty degree plus temperatures, and then offer to sell them water at grossly inflated prices. None of them are "confusing", although the first syllable does sound pretty similar.

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