"Walking home from Midtown, Manhattan to the Upper West Side in the summer of 1994, a friend of mine and I cut across Central Park. On the way, we heard some phenomenal music, which I thought was coming from a loud boom box somewhere in the park. I didn't recognize the song and I had to know who it was [this was before Shazam], so we went looking for whoever was playing it. We found a band playing at the bandshell, and a couple dozen people watching. We watched an incredible show for about 20 minutes and then the band took a break, so I approached one of the members (no idea which one). The conversation went exactly like this:
Me: You guys are amazing. What's the name of your band?
Musician: (Sweeps hand across T-shirt) "It's Oasis."
Me: I follow music intently and I can't believe I haven't heard of you guys.
Musician: (looks down at his shoe and says sheepishly) "Well, we're already famous in the UK. But not in America yet. We're here to do a video for MTV. But the crew never showed up so we're just gonna jam. You guys should hang out and watch.
[another 20 minute incredible set]
Me: Fantastic show. This is totally my lucky day. My friend and I were heading to the Upper West Side and the weather was so nice we decided to walk for the first time ever. What luck! Musician: Upper West Side? Is that like 88th and Columbus?
Me: Yeah, that's on the Upper West Side.
Musician: We're going to a party there tonight. You guys should come.
Me: Oh, no I'm totally booked, but [to my friend] you should go.
Friend: I'd love to go but I have a date.
Me: Well anyway, incredible show. You guys are awesome. Thanks. Good luck with the video.
A few weeks or months later I'm at a record store in New York, and I see Definitely Maybe. I called my friend: "You'll never believe whose album just dropped."
