Music Appreciation

The brothers already own the stage and with their merry band of troubadours in tow they deliver a set that turns the 80,000 sold-out crowd into a sea of joy and tears. Breathing new life into old songs they break all the rules and make the old sound modern, the past into the future and turn pop culture on its head. The all-ages audience, with a good fifty per cent of them not old enough to have seen the band before, surf on the energy and can’t believe they are hearing these hallowed songs live.

The mythical band kick in with ‘Hello’ and everything slides away through the generations. The older heads are misty eyed remembering their live forever mad head youth and the new youth can’t believe the band are in front of them and in the here and now – this is the next generation who in two years will provide a clutch of bands in all shapes and sizes inspired by these magic moments in a sun drenched park in Manchester.

They could have got away with a karaoke run through of the classics – the audience is so hyped they would have done the rest in a mass singalong, but the band want this to be bigger and better than ever before. Just like all those decades ago when they rehearsed endlessly on the Boardwalk, Oasis have high standards and they have nailed this set and then cranked it up really high and with the huge bank of visuals on the screen behind them, they have gone over every detail to create an audio visual freak out. They totally utilise the three guitar line up with Bonehead’s wall of sound as ever the key core sonic constituent to Oasis sounding gloriously Pistolian, whilst Gem picks out notes and melody lines and Noel takes nearly all the leads.

Oasis 25 is a glorious reminder and reaffirmation of the power of rock n roll. They bring joy to the masses and anthems that people soundtrack their lives with. They melt cynicism, and they are a reminder of the simple joys of guitar and great tunes, and sometimes putting your lives into the hands of a rock n roll band does work.