Oasis Tour Nearly Delayed By Noel Gallagher's Lost Passport

LONDON, UK (Oasis Fans Website) - Noel Gallagher of Oasis reportedly lost his passport and was almost left behind when the band prepared to depart the U.K. for the start of its U.S. tour Friday (August 2) in Pompano Beach, Florida, the band's U.S. label confirms.

Gallagher realized his passport was missing just before he was due to fly out with the rest of the band and would have been in trouble if the U.S. embassy in Britain hadn't rushed to the rescue with a quick turn-around on a working visa for the English musician.

While Gallagher had a spare passport tucked away at his management company--a common practice for many artists who tour internationally--it does not have a working visa stamp. The visa usually takes approximately six weeks to process, but the U.S. embassy rushed through his emergency application.

According to a spokeswoman for Oasis, the embassy staff managed to turn the six weeks processing into a speedy two hours.
"Time was against them and they are really grateful to the U.S. Embassy for doing it so quickly," the spokeswoman said in a statement. "If they hadn't been so quick, we don't know what the band would have done."

Oasis is set to perform Monday (August 5) in Atlanta at the Tabernacle, then moves on Wednesday, (August 7) to the Murat Theater in Indianapolis.