Oasis. I love 'em. Unabashedly. Till I'm in the grave. Seen them 9 times, even once in the UK. But as I mentioned earlier this year, I thought they were done here, relegated to the occasional few nights at Roseland or the Beacon (as they did in 2002). I couldn't believe (yet loved) the audacity they had to book a gig at Madison Square Garden. Whoever thought of this is a fucking genius. Honestly, I wasn't worried about them playing as much as them actually making it. I half-expected Liam to bail (which he did earlier this month in Italy) or for Noel to get in another car accident (which happened in 2002). So after a solid meal at the excellent A Salt And Battery on 2nd Ave (best fish and chips in NY), we made our way to the Garden.
I can't even believe how amazing they were last night. You won't believe it even from reading this. I won't be able to convince you with these simple words, it was something you had to absolutely see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears. Earlier this year I was pondering on this very blog where Oasis fits in today's landscape. Last night it was all revealed to me. Gone are the loutish big mouths we fell in love with a decade ago and in their place is an amazing band who have honed their craft to perfection. This, my friends, is simple, hard, ROCK N ROLL that was delivered without frills, without a fancy stage show and yet was able to make a real inpact on the audience. Though they ignored BE HERE NOW (later discussed at length post gig), the new songs really worked live (MEANING OF SOUL in particular), the classics went to a whole new level and a few surprises (BRING IT ON DOWN, LITTLE BY LITTLE) made it an almost-perfect set list. If i had any complaints, it was that they didn't play Andy Bell's now classic KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE from the new album. G complained, yet again, that the band did not play FADE IN/OUT, which became a longer conversation when the legendary Manny (not the guy from the Roses) made the same complaint! What a can of worms that became!
As for the band, the addition of Zak Starkey (son of Ringo and of Who and Johnny Marr fame) on drums really brings a fresh new dynamic to the band. He's a cleaner drummer than Alan White, and a more powerful drummer. He is sharp and precise and his more simplistic approach to the songs allowed the rest of the music to breathe and come alive. He is a very welcome addition to the band and I hope they keep him onboard as long as they can. And while I love Noel, and he delivered by playing my favourite new song MUCKY FINGERS, I was really surprised by Liam. His voice was excellent, and he seems to have matured (at least on this night), into a sharp looking, charismatic frontman. He still doesn't do much onstage, but he now does it in a way that connects with the audience in a positive way. And I can never say enough about Gem and Andy Bell, who continue to keep things moving at a brisk pace and look cool doing it.
When I tell you we were close to the stage on the floor, I am not kidding you cause we were close enough to completely miss the 14,000 other people in back of us cheering the generations best band. Speaking of generations, we were shocked at how many kids were at this gig. They are so smart to tour every 3 or so years cause each time, there's a new generation of kids waiting to see the legend that is Oasis. Now after last night, there's a generation that will start off seeing them properly presented as an epic now-classic generation defining band.
In the case, believe the truth, cause Oasis are, in fact, the reason. The next Gig Of the Year Candidate.
F
1 comment:
If the Oasis gig last night was a type of food, what food would Oasis be? Well...I think it would be a fried toffee bar, cause just like said fried toffee bar, the gig was was so sweet. And when the gig was over, much like when the last fried toffee bar was consumed, I only wanted more.
G
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