GIG: Oasis - Wembley Stadium, 12th July

The Gallagher brothers truly are the scum of the earth when it comes to their nazified opinions on music, and I would definitely like to have a go with a baseball bat. It's ridiculously annoying then, that they made Definitely Maybe and (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, albums which both stand the test of time, their universe-sized choruses and riffs standing up there in the pantheon of the greats. For this odd chemistry alone, I went along to see the forever maligned and worshipped band at their third date at Wembley Stadium.

First up though, is a support line-up that fits the billing very nicely. Reverend and The Makers have a great sound mix, but the songs themselves make sleep sound like a more interesting premise. Fuck off, Reverend. We now have The Enemy, who are fantastically shit on record but surprise me here live with their dogged confidence. The one mesmerising aspect of their show though is how incredibly ugly their frontman is; I mean, real fucking ugly, stupefiyingly so. Really though, jesus christ. I mean, come on. No-one should be allowed to have a face like that. It should be downright illegal. Erm, oh yeah - Kasabian. More Northerners taking to the stage, I know - but these have a massive live performance promise, and deliver that to a tee. 'Clubfoot', 'Empire' and 'LSF' are beasts from your worst musical nightmare, and echo around the stadium with the weight of their own cosmicness. Even new single 'Fire', which is shit, gets practically everyone in the place jumping like a madman with absolutely no prompting. Quite a feat, quite a feat.

This moment I like to call The Moment Of Truth. It's the point in a show when the artist has come onstage, looks around at the audience confidently, but hasn't yet sounded a single note, but instead just basks in the excited cheers coming his way. And when the actual music starts is when he'll be judged. So we have it, Oasis the Abbhored / Adored strut their stuff into the fray, Liam looking like an angry turtle with his massive green coat, Noel looking like a confused primate. The launch into 'Rock N' Roll Star' begins, and hey - it sounds good. Pheeeeeeeeeeew.
We're then treated to the likes of 'Lyla', 'Cigarrettes and Alcohol' and 'Roll With It' amongst other classics and newbies, with Liam sneering like he was back in the nineties and actually had something to be angry about. The real first mass singalong of the evening is the surprise acoustic rendition of 'Whatever', then even more so for 'Half The World Away'. Honestly, when Liam buggers off and leaves Noel on lone acoustic guitar, the whole show settles comfortably and allows itself to transcend the confines of its own self-shy, laddy pretensions. Or maybe it's just that Liam's a terrible singer.
'Songbird' sounds fantastic; 'Slide Away' is as moving as it's always been. Though it's 'Wonderwall' and 'Live Forever' that gets the nostalgia really flowing. Of course. These gigantic anthems are almost something more than what they actually are, and a packed venue of this size singing its utter heart out to these tunes, that don't lyrically mean a whole lot, is really testament to the power of not just live music but all music in general. While most of the crowd here tonight are rowdy fuckfaces who would tear each other apart on a whim on any other day, are now united brotherhood-style. And the really impressive thing is that the band who manages this are rowdy fuckfaces who tear each other apart themselves. They do it on a daily basis, however.
The encore opener is a hushed version of 'Don't Look Back In Anger': while it promises to crash in with the plomp of the original but sadly never does, it does allow the crowd's voices to be heard. Which is also a bad thing, because it's fucking defeaning. And the band's real crowning achievement, 'Champagne Supernova', simply sounds eternal. It's all frenzied up one last time in the form of The Beatles' 'I Am The Walrus', their version a nasty, heavy, LSD head trip. And it rocks. After the final glorious ruckus, the band leaves, and the crowd is left to an incredibly long, sweaty and achey ride home on the tube. Fucking Jubilee line closure.

So, it's been surprising. Oasis were actually good, and I'm thankful for that. And no powercuts either - the first night was besieged by them. Unfortunately there was no airing for Acquiesce, one of my personal favourites, but you can't have everything. Another nag was that by the time the band finished, even though they played for two hours, it was still light, so the whole stage set-up was never able to work its full magic. Still, it was fun. Not the greatest stadium show I've ever seen, but the band knew their stuff, Liam didn't have a tantrum and do a walkies, and the crowd were mad fer it. Sorry.

Overall - 8 / 10