A Heap of nonsense over supporting entertainment in the city - Susan Dalgety

Oasis last performed at Murrayfield Stadium in 2009

Assuming the Gallagher brothers don’t fall out before next August, tens of thousands of Oasis fans will stream into the city to relive the 1990s when the group went supersonic.

There may be less glitter and more stubble on show than there was at Taylor Swift’s recent sell-out concerts, but fans of Manchester’s most successful band are likely to spend just as much money, if not more, than the Swifties and their parents.

It is estimated that Swiftonomics brought between £75m and £100m into the city. Oasis fans are likely to spend that on crates of Budweiser alone, to say nothing of their hotel bills.

But no doubt there will be at least one Green councillor already drafting a motion complaining about the cost of Oasis to the public purse. Councillor Dan Heap has just found out that Taylor Swift’s three shows, seen by 220,000 people, cost the city council £40,000 for extra loos, security and staff overtime, and he is not happy. “For the Council to be providing free services worth almost £40k when services are being cut is outrageous,” he boomed in his best “you will have had your tea” voice.

My trusty calculator tells me the council spent 18p per person on supporting the Swift concerts which, for a possible boost to the city of £100m, or £454 from every ticket sold, is a pretty impressive return on investment.

The petty nature of some of our Green councillors constantly amazes me. It was the Greens who complained about spending money on celebrating the city’s 900th anniversary this year, and now they are moaning about spending a few thousand pounds on temporary loos so that young women can spend a penny.

Don’t they understand that they are in charge of a major European city, not a community council?

Edinburgh used to struggle to attract big name acts, with most preferring to go west to Glasgow, so we should all be delighted that Murrayfield is now the first choice of global acts like Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen, and now Oasis.

Councillor Heap should just roll with it.