Post by Rob on Oct 1, 2005 4:35:30 GMT -5
Poor Noel Gallagher. Perhaps the greatest British songwriter of the last 10 years and his little brother reduces him to a bit player in the background by simply walking to the front of the stage, putting his hands in his pockets and his ever present tambourine in his mouth and just standing there. Those simple actions at the beginning of Oasis show last night at Merriweather Post Pavilion ensured the audience was eating out of Liam's hand the entire night.
Things got so bad for Noel that he was reduced to trying a behind the head guitar solo during the set's third song just to remind everyone that he was on stage. Liam was busy bounding back and forth between the mic and the side-stage soundboard, telling the sound man to turn up his vocals, and with good reason, the sound mix seemed a bit off most of the night. Some songs Liam would be loud and clear and the band was too low, others were vice versa. Liam finally threw his hands up in disgust at one point and told the crowd to sing the chorus while he paid another visit to the sound board. DCist thinks the sound guy was within a few inches of his life at that point.
Luckily things got straightened out and the large and very vocal crowd enjoyed a set of new songs and old favorites played by what was once the biggest band in the world. Things have been rough for Oasis since their mid-90's glory days, all that remain from the original band are the brothers Gallagher. However, their new rhythm section, Andy Bell (ex of Ride), Gem Archer (ex of Heavy Stereo) and Zak Starkey (yes, Ringo's son) are a marked improvement on the musicians they respectively replaced. Material from the band's "shaky period", the cocaine induced Be Here Now (not so cringe inducing eight years after the fact), the rudderless Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (even more cringe inducing five years later) and 2002's Heathen Chemistry (underrated to this day), was noticeably absent from the set. Instead, Oasis stuck to their guns, playing a smattering of new tunes from their well-recieved (and rightfully so) new album Don't Believe The Truth; some album cuts from their early records; "Bring It On Down;" a classic b-side, "Acquiesce;" and, of course, the hits, in all their sing-along glory.
Noel did manage to steal the spotlight a few times during the night, but only when Liam was offstage. After Liam sang a rousing, electric version of "Wonderwall," Noel, while tuning his guitar for the next song, turned his attention to a girl in the front row and said, "Why were you crying during 'Wonderwall'? Was it that bad? 'Cos I thought it was quite good." Pause. "Oh, those were tears of joy? Well good." The band seemingly enjoyed their first appearance in the greater D.C. area since 2001. Near the end of the night, Liam made the unprecedented move of jumping down into the crowd to mingle with the fans, something DCist has never seen him do.
DCist arrived at the show late, but according to reports on the internets, openers Kasabian were forced to cancel their set due to the aformentioned technical difficulties. This was unfortunate, but the upside of the situation was that grunt-rockers Jet were only able to play for about half an hour. For that, DCist is thankful. Oasis tried to make it up to Kasabian, bringing out two members of the band to help on vocal duties during their set closing cover of The Who classic, "My Generation".
Things got so bad for Noel that he was reduced to trying a behind the head guitar solo during the set's third song just to remind everyone that he was on stage. Liam was busy bounding back and forth between the mic and the side-stage soundboard, telling the sound man to turn up his vocals, and with good reason, the sound mix seemed a bit off most of the night. Some songs Liam would be loud and clear and the band was too low, others were vice versa. Liam finally threw his hands up in disgust at one point and told the crowd to sing the chorus while he paid another visit to the sound board. DCist thinks the sound guy was within a few inches of his life at that point.
Luckily things got straightened out and the large and very vocal crowd enjoyed a set of new songs and old favorites played by what was once the biggest band in the world. Things have been rough for Oasis since their mid-90's glory days, all that remain from the original band are the brothers Gallagher. However, their new rhythm section, Andy Bell (ex of Ride), Gem Archer (ex of Heavy Stereo) and Zak Starkey (yes, Ringo's son) are a marked improvement on the musicians they respectively replaced. Material from the band's "shaky period", the cocaine induced Be Here Now (not so cringe inducing eight years after the fact), the rudderless Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (even more cringe inducing five years later) and 2002's Heathen Chemistry (underrated to this day), was noticeably absent from the set. Instead, Oasis stuck to their guns, playing a smattering of new tunes from their well-recieved (and rightfully so) new album Don't Believe The Truth; some album cuts from their early records; "Bring It On Down;" a classic b-side, "Acquiesce;" and, of course, the hits, in all their sing-along glory.
Noel did manage to steal the spotlight a few times during the night, but only when Liam was offstage. After Liam sang a rousing, electric version of "Wonderwall," Noel, while tuning his guitar for the next song, turned his attention to a girl in the front row and said, "Why were you crying during 'Wonderwall'? Was it that bad? 'Cos I thought it was quite good." Pause. "Oh, those were tears of joy? Well good." The band seemingly enjoyed their first appearance in the greater D.C. area since 2001. Near the end of the night, Liam made the unprecedented move of jumping down into the crowd to mingle with the fans, something DCist has never seen him do.
DCist arrived at the show late, but according to reports on the internets, openers Kasabian were forced to cancel their set due to the aformentioned technical difficulties. This was unfortunate, but the upside of the situation was that grunt-rockers Jet were only able to play for about half an hour. For that, DCist is thankful. Oasis tried to make it up to Kasabian, bringing out two members of the band to help on vocal duties during their set closing cover of The Who classic, "My Generation".
