Friday, December 5, 2008
Take Me Away


For two hours Wednesday night I was 16 again, going with my brother on midnight runs to Tower Records in search of the latest singles (whether by way of Japan or in a faux Benson & Hedges box) by our favorite band, Oasis. Liam, Noel and the rest of the band who are not Guigsy or Bonehead visited Oakland, and Chris and Tiffany and I went to catch up with the boys from Manchester.

It was a rollicking good show. The old songs--"Cigarettes & Alcohol," "Slide Away," "Supersonic," "Don't Look Back in Anger"--sound just as good, and the new ones--"Waiting for the Rapture," "I'm Outta Time," "The Shock of the Lightning"--are up to the task. And Liam, more than decade removed from the peak of his fame, seems as arrogant as ever--taunting the crowd; standing at the front of the stage like he's just dared you to take the first punch; and, when it's not his turn to sing, simply leaving the stage. I see how this can be annoying, but to a fan, it's brilliant.

My lone nit had nothing to with the music (though I could've done with an hour less of opening act Ryan Adams). As I scanned the crowd of thirtysomethings and above, I noticed that this was the first my concert where the act was neither of the moment (Coldplay, 2003; Dave Matthews Band, 1996) nor delightfully under the radar (several shows by the Freddy Jones Band and the Samples). I'm aware that in too many posts here I've whined about feeling old in this, my 30th year. But the similarities to, say, a man of my father's age going to see the Rolling Stones were too apparent to ignore. And that's an especially apt comparison, as Noel says the bands are in the same league. (Video from the show below.)


Posted by Chris at 10:29 AM | 0 comments