CONCERT REVIEWS: Oasis
- Jeremy Ashcroft and Bob Gajarsky
August 31, United Kingdom (Jeremy's turn)
The evening's big surprise was the unannounced guest - good old "Evil Dildo" himself - Evan Dando. He just came on solo with his guitar and sang a few songs. The audience seemed to enjoy it and there was a really nice moment when a fan from the audience got up onstage and sang harmony vocals on one song! Evan was clearly surprised and delighted and the crowd really cheered on their home-boy. At the end of the set - which was only about 20-minutes long - an announcement came over the PA to the effect that if you wanted to hear more of Evan, he promised to play outside the stage door when the bars had shut at midnight. (I was still inside at the time, so I can't tell you if he followed up his promise.)
During his set myself and friends were watching from a gallery overlooking the stage. Immediately behind me were Oasis themselves, chatting and watching. They also had a professional-standard camcorder and were filming the set - later another camera was brought out to film the entire Oasis set. I overheard Liam saying that he'd been to this venue before, as a member of the audience (it's just about 45-miles from Manchester).
Before Oasis came on stage, the DJ was playing a lot of Manchester bands - I think The Charlatans were playing as the band took the stage. "That's enough of that shite!" was how the band introduced themselves!
The opener, "Rock and Roll Star", was one of my favourite songs of the evening - it was more of an atmospheric song than the singles. The audience enjoyed themselves throughout, which is more than you can say for the band if their expressions were to be believed. I found that to be really offputting, to see a band playing and not even look like they're enjoying the music themselves. Just three songs into the set and there was potential trouble; I didn't even see anything being thrown, but Liam singled out someone in the audience and said that he didn't like having things thrown at him and that if they were going to do that he'd like them to come on stage "so I can slap you in front of everyone".
They also showed that they weren't a particularly friendly band a bit later. At one point Evan Dando came dancing on stage with a young girl he'd been hanging around with that night. As they were spinning around enjoying themselves, one of Oasis security came from the side of the stage and bounced them off!
They played all their hits, which were great, but the whole show lasted just 60-minutes. They closed with their now standard "I Am The Walrus". That was great - just the idea of doing a heavy-metal version (the intro at least) was great and the extended playout set up a great groove. The only thing that spoiled it for me were the vocals... he went from line to line without any gaps, more like a recitation than with any feeling (even it he was trying to sound deadpan, it didn't quite work). Still great though.
The bottom-line of a good concert is "Would I go again?" And, in this case, the answer is a resounding yes.
Fast forward to late October, Hoboken, New Jersey...(Bob's turn)
Oasis is concluding their brief United States tour at the famous Maxwell's. The fire code at Maxwell's is 125, but there are easily 200 people packed tightly in the club; rumor has it that if you slipped the doorman $25, you could get in once the show was "sold out". Don't believe the hype that it's all teens into Oasis - this show was packed with many people in their late 20s and early 30s catching up with one of the hottest new bands of the year.
Oasis didn't disappoint. From "Rock and Roll Star" to the concluding "I Am The Walrus", the band sounded *perfect*. The acoustics at Maxwell's leave a lot to be desired, but it was overcome by a brilliant performance. Again, the band didn't move around - not like they had room to - but lead singer Liam Gallagher explains, "I've got no time for jumping about, do I? I'm too busy singing the songs." His brother Noel chimes in, in response to some critics questioning the band's arrogance, "We wouldn't dare go on stage and prance around and preach to the audience."
There was a mosh pit, too. Well - it was about 10 losers who felt the need to slam to each song. The audience did a good job of tossing elbows (and throwing down) the moshers, but the small crowd irritated Liam. He yelled, to a standing ovation, "Hey, Elvis! Why don't you stop running into these people and let them enjoy the show?", after one of the songs.
The band is back in England and "Supersonic" is finally receiving well-deserved airplay (top 15 on Billboard's Modern Rock Charts). But, rather than lament missing one of the U.K.'s top exports, check out the debut Definitely Maybe. Don't take my word for it - your ears will do the talking for you.
