Oasis
Where: Manchester Heaton Park
When: 7th June 2009
All great bands have stand-out gigs. The Beatles performed at the Shea Stadium. Led Zeppelin played the Tampa Stadium. The Stone Roses had Spike Island. A certain Mancunian band had Knebworth. In these moments, legacies are defined.
Once again, that certain Mancunian band has raised the standard. Who am I on about? Oasis, of course. Not content with their epic Knebworth gigs in 1996, playing in front of 250,000 over two nights, the five-piece have continued to stamp their God-like status on British music by announcing a gigantic stadium tour.
The first stop on the tour, no other than their home town of Manchester, saw two dates announced with another added after huge demand. Luckily enough for me, I was able to secure tickets (via eBay) for the third and final night at Heaton Park.
The venue, set to hold 70,000 punters, was a wonderful choice of setting. As throngs of fans made their way through the gates, the first band to take to the stage was Free Peace. The fact that they came on at five o’clock, a whole three hours after doors had opened, highlighted the massive task of getting such a large number of people into the venue. They did not disappoint, putting on a rock heavy set reminiscent of the Led Zeppelin sound. Unfortunately, their music did not gather half as much attention as the misfortune of their lead singer. Whilst his enthusiasm and singing ability cannot be criticised, his ability to wipe his nose may well be questionable. This comes as camera shots for those at the back of the arena caught him singing with a big, well, bogey (childish I know) hanging from his nose. Roars of laughter were heard from the Oasis faithful, eventually leading to a “wipe your nose” football-style chant. Misinterpreting this for criticism of the band’s music, the lead singer duly finished his set without realising his predicament.
Next on came Twisted Wheel. I am ashamed that I did not give this band a chance before I witnessed them live, even having heard about them. I’ve seen the light. Impressive to say the least. Think Paul Weller, with the added venom of Johnny Rotten. A local act, they soon got the home crowd stretching their vocal chords in preparation for an epic night of mass sing-a-longs.
Third up were the Enemy. You could be forgiven for thinking that this was some kind of festival when reading this review, but believe me, this was just the support for Oasis. Four bands for the price of £38.50, even before Oasis came on, was value for money. Tom Clarke, duly unworried by his supposed spat with Liam Gallagher after allegedly claiming Oasis were “past it” came on and showed the kind of attitude famously shown by the former. Driving up the pace, the Enemy showed plenty of promise, showcasing that epic stadium sound heard on their new album, Music For The People. Mixed with the hits from We’ll Live And Die In These Towns, Manchester awoke. “F***ing come on Manchester” urged Clarke, driving his guitar with passion. Thoroughly brilliant, the Enemy were a class act.
The responsibility of setting the atmosphere before the main attraction (not that it needed doing so) fell to Kasabian. The psychedelic rockers put in an entertaining performance that included the likes of 'Underdog', 'Fire', 'Fast Fuse' and 'Vlad the Impaler' from their newly-released album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. Traditional crowd-pleasers 'Clubfoot', 'Shoot the Runner' and 'LSF' were also included. Whilst gearing the crowd up, I felt that Kasabian were disappointing compared to my previous experience of them when I witnessed a wonderful evening at Wolverhampton Civic Hall. Maybe the epic open air venue was too much for their sound, being more suited to the intimate stage.
And then it began. The big moment. 70,000 voices gasped as the stage plunged into darkness as 'Fuckin’ In The Bushes' resounded into the evening sunset. On strolled Oasis, acknowledging the crowd, with Noel casually walking at the back with hands in pockets. As cheers greeted the stars, they plunged into 'Rock ‘n’ Roll Star'. Frenzy ensued, beer and urine flying everywhere. Being at the front of the crowd, actually on the barrier, my ribs had took a beating being crushed against it for nine hours waiting. The pain soon disappeared, as my attentive gaze was now firmly fixed up on stage. Nothing could distract anyone. The Manchester legends rattled through a greatest hits set, following the opener with 'Lyla' and 'Shock of the Lightening' before going onto play classics such as 'Slide Away', 'Morning Glory' and 'Cigarettes and Alcohol'.
A big surprise was the inclusion of 'My Big Mouth', from the third album Be Here Now. A brilliantly aggressive track, Liam attacked the mic with venom, spitting the end of each line with fury. This was the custom tone for the rest of the night. This was Liam on form. Strutting around, standing still gazing over the crowd, it was a statement of intent. This was his stage. This was his night.
As is standard, the frontman left the stage at periods as his brother Noel took over singing duty. The stand out tracks performed by the guitarist were the 'Masterplan' and 'Dont Look Back In Anger'. The latter was a moment of beauty. Gallagher, caressing the guitar with care and perfection, often let the crowd take over parts of the song. “And so, Sally can wait” sang 70,000 souls, pouring their hearts into the words. Although the epic anthems such as 'Morning Glory' are amazing, it cannot be denied that this was beauty in its own right.
Conversation with the crowd was kept to a minimum, with the music set to do the talking. Upon entering the stage, Liam greeted the spectators with “Manchester, how you doing”. Noel remained quiet and content, occasionally piping up with the odd comment. A particular gem was when asking if there were any scousers in the crowd. As cheers rang out, he coolly replied: “Everyone else, check your credit cards”. After three epic nights, the guitarist also thanked each of the support bands, and the crowd for attending.
The main highlight of the evening was the re-introduction of the ever-lasting, all time class 'Live Forever'. Omitted from their previous Dig Out Your Soul tour at the tail-end of 2008, many fans expressed their disappointment at their favourite song being dropped. Maybe it was intentional, with the view of bringing it back for the series of stadium gigs, but for whatever reason, it was most welcome. Shouts of joy rang out as Liam returned on stage and introduced the song. Gallagher put in a stunning vocals when singing the track, exerting great effort in delivering the track to the home crowd. Maybe the fact that it was Manchester added that extra bit of effort, resulting in an exceptional performance.
The band rounded off the gig with 'Champagne Supernova', before finishing with an epic rendition of the Beatles classic, 'I Am The Walrus'. Upon completion of the track, the frontman left off stage before going along the front row of the fans shaking hands. An appreciative gesture, this was well received by the Heaton crowd as Noel, Andy, Chris and Gem continued to see out the end of the song. As the last note sounded, the band showed their thanks by gesturing and waving to the 70,000 faithful, before disappearing backstage. And that was that. Liam has previously stated that the three Manchester gigs would be better than Knebworth classics of ’96. Indeed, only history will decide.
Words: Alex Read
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Reply #1 on : Wed July 08, 2009, 18:46:42
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Reply #2 on : Fri April 16, 2010, 23:37:20