The Arcade Fire (Stubb's BBQ, Austin, TX, 23 September 2005)

This must be what hell feels like in the morning...

I'm in Austin, Texas to attend the world famous Austin City Limits Festival. But, as a precursor to that event, I bought two tickets to see the most fucking amazing band of all time: Arcade Fire. They're playing at Stubbs BBQ which is a BBQ joint and concert venue.

It was hella hot in Austin. Try 100+ degrees in the daytime, lowering to a comfortable high 70's to mid 80's in the evening. Thank goodness it was the evening, because Stubb's is an outdoor venue. And a great one at that. The stage is elevated up high and the entire floor is lined with gravel and dirt. The acoustics were just fabulous, even if it's an outdoor venue.

We missed the Black Keys, even though we did watch their performance from the telly whilst eating my BBQ sides. I got me some cheap, top shelf mixed drink and effortlessly made my way up the front. Texans are so nice! So, I had a great spot, stage left, to see Arcade Fire. I could hardly contain myself!

Here they come and they started off with a Bob Dylan cover entitled "Hard Rain." I didn't know what it was until well after the show. It was an amazing song, and it started the show off right instead of the typical "Wake Up."

Well, "Wake Up" did follow and once Owen and Sara started playing the strings, that's when I started going crazy. Subdued, but yet crazy (if that makes any sense). I was yelling from the top of my lungs the shouting portion of the song, with my drink raised high and my eyes closed to capture the feeling of the song. I danced to the "dancy" portion of the song, so much so that I may have created a mini dust cloud from the gravel. By the way, the persons around me were doing the same.

"Laika" followed, with as much intensity as their previous performances. This time, Will went up on the speakers, stage left, and towered over the crowd like King Kong swatting planes from the Empire State Building. Richard was left with banging his own helmet-shielded head with the drumsticks.

Win then said that "We're the Arcade Fire from Montreal." He also made some remarks about the people in Houston and South Texas who were fleeing from Rita.

I forgot what song was played next, but they did play their EP set. This was different from their San Francisco performance. It included "No Cars Go," "Headlights Look Like Diamonds," and "My Heart is an Apple." They also played "Queen's Bitch" by David Bowie. This was the first time I've ever heard their rendition of this song, and it was absolutely beautiful. I was singing along to the verse.

"Crown of Love" was another highlight. My God, this song just tugs on my heartstrings and makes my spine tingle. Especially the beginning, where the keys were first played by Win and then his voice just taking over from there.

I think it was at the "fast" part of "Crown of Love" that I decided to join all the "Rowdies" in the front, center. I was hopping around like mad, singing along, getting high fives from all the boys around me. One guy said, "Wait til "Rebellion (Lies)"!!" Oh, I'm ready! This guy didn't know who he was messing with.

But man did I meet my match a song or two later....

During "Tunnels," this large, gargantuan guy joined us Rowdies in the front. I swear he was Andre the Giant's long lost child because this guy was H-U-G-E!!! I looked at the "Rebellion (Lies)" guy and we both had an expression on our faces that this was truly the end of our lives. I spoke to Andre Jr. and said, "Dude, you're going to fucking kill us all!!" And he just laughed.

"Power Out" came on and here we go going all crazy! Like CRAZY!!! Jumping around, I found my way in the pseudo mosh pit (it was a friendly one) and got battered pretty bad, but felt good. Then the segway to "Rebellion (Lies)" came on. I went crazy for that too!! See, I didn't have any friends around me, so I needed to find willing suspects for my eye closing routine. So, I put my hands over the "Rebellion (Lies)" guys eyes for a few seconds and he was ready and willing. He enjoyed it and said "FUCK YEAH!!" I then did the same to Andre Jr.!! I thought he was going to kill me but he was so happy and he happily obliged! He then did the same to me, his gargantuan hands covering my entire face (and I have a pretty big head mind you). He then shuffled my hair with his large fingers and we did the whole high five thing and yelled out "FUCK YEAH!!"

FUCK YEAH!!!

At this point, Will plopped his guitar down and gently brought his entire body on the crowd! I was right underneath him and the Rowdies and I carried him around. I then asked him, "Where do you want to go Win?" He used his eyes to signal back to the stage and me and the others wisked him there. My lower back was pressed on the stage as he came back, so basically my upper torsoe was lying on the stage! It was AWESOME!!!

Thank God for the pause between encores. It was hot, I was surrounded by 40 sweaty, stinky boys and girls and I was thirsty. After asking the guy in front of me to steal Win's water, I guzzled it down and shared it amongst the Rowdies. I made a comment to "Rebellion" boy saying that Austin is a great town and that Stubb's is a fantastic venue.

So, here comes the encore. I forgot what they played, but here comes Win again! This time, his arse hit my head. I hugged him for a bit, to show my appreciation and then we wisked him back again.

It was a FANTASTIC show and definitely the highlight of my whole Austin, Texas experience. I was so enthused that when I saw my pal Jim, I ran to him and climbed on his back like he was giving me a piggy back ride! I was still euphoric, hopping all around like a deranged rabbit and shouting out, "I LOVE THE ARCADE FIRE!!!"

We then went bar hopping. Mind you, my entire shirt and undershirt was drenched. It looked like I came out of Rita for crying out loud! I stunk too, but nobody seemed to mind. I had the orange bracelet, which signifies my Stubb's attendance.

This band can do no wrong.

Beer Rating: 0 Beers

Austin City Limits Festival: Day One (Zilker Park, Austin, TX, 23 September 2005)

This is your music correspondent reporting from the hottest place on Earth: Austin, Texas. It's around 100+ degrees on Friday afternoon here in Zilker Park. The only band I wanted to see the entire day was Kasabian, so I just went to the festival's first day just for that. They came on at around 1:30pm and put on another spectacular performance.

Unlike their tour with Oasis, I actually caught their entire set this time. There was a good sized crowd at the AMD stage, despite the overwhelming heat. They played the exact same songs as before. "LSF," "Processed Beats" and "Club Foot" were among the crowd favourites. Well, they were my favourite at least.

Throughout the entire set, Sergio was commenting on how hot it was out here and how they were very appreciative of the turn out despite the circumstances. Although they sounded like they were in top form, they said that they weren't feeling very well. I think the heat has something to do with it, and the fact that they haven't smoked hash in a while.

After that excellent set, I decided to walk around the festival grounds just to get a gauge of what's up. First, I went shopping at the SoCo Art Market and found some good stuff and a cowboy hat to shield me from the elements. Then I checked out the food court where they had every single cuisine imaginable at reasonable prices. The layout of the entire festival grounds was well organized, with water stations stratigically placed and volunteers all around. There was even a Starbucks tent where I guzzled down some fraps throughout the entire weekend. Corporate sponsorships has its benefits, including getting a free fan/water spray gizmo from the SBC folks and a free picture from Cingular's tent.

I also bought my souvenirs that day at the Festival Market. I got an undated, black ACL shirt and a couple of other things at the Waterloo Records tent. I noticed that Kasabian cancelled their autograph appearance -- so their "not feeling well" statement made more sense.

I decided to go back to my car (the shuttles rule!) and just roam around Austin to know the lay of the land. Checked out the drag, ate a tempeh taco, and then went back to the hotel.

So, for Kasabian:

Beer Rating:

Bloc Party (The Warfield, 21 September 2005)

It's Bloc Party....again. Playing a different sized venue....again. And I went...again.

If you remember my article on Mesh regarding Bloc Party a few months ago, I predicted that this band will be so huge (since the hype was justified) that they'll play Fillmore and Warfield sometime soon. Well, Bloc Party indeed played the Fillmore not too long ago and now they just played the Warfield.

You know a band is getting big by virtue of them playing a different sized venue in S.F. for each visit. The hierarchy of "major" venues in S.F. goes something like, from lowest to highest: Bottom of the Hill, Cafe Du Nord, Great American, Slim's, The Fillmore, The Warfield, Bill Graham and Shoreline. Well, Bloc Party started off at Bottom of the Hill, then went to Popscene, then Slim's, Fillmore, respectively, and, now Warfield.

I bought a ticket to this show since a friend of mine loved Bloc Party so much. So I went and I had a great time. They started off with "Positive Tension" which was a weird song to start off with since they started with "Like Eating Glass" for the other shows. The crowd was rowdy when they came in, but they were a bit weirded out by the start of this song.

This "weirdness" subsided when the third or fourth song they played was "Banquet." At this point, me and my friends wanted to jump around and "Banquet" was the perfect song to do it to. I love this song, especially the Phones Disco Remix. "Banquet" energized the crowd and got me mad hopping around. Everyone was dancing non-stop. I liked it so much that I wished they'd do the Gorillaz thing and repeat this song in the encore. They didn't. =-(

Another highlight was their old songs from the EPs. "The Marshalls Forever" and "Little Thoughts" were fantastic! A lot of the crowd didn't recognize the songs, since Silent Alarm is probably the only album from Bloc Party they owned.

Bloc Party also played a bunch of new songs. I don't remember anything distinct about them from their current material -- which is a good thing. Why fix something that isn't broke?

I forgot what the last song they played was, or whether it was truly their last song. They stopped "Helicopter" mid-way to save a somewhat injured woman from the crowd. See, Bloc Party is against all things "moshing" or people getting hurt in their shows. They take it so seriously that they warned people at their Fillmore show about it and did the same thing here. Kele chastised the crowd, along with bassist Gordon, that they don't want to see people injured and that the crowd should behave themselves better.

After Kele helped the girl up the stage and took her backstage for some aid, they continued where they left off. Then they left the stage, in what seemed to be in disgust. They came back after a few minutes and informed the crowd that the girl was alright and further informed the crowd to temper their rowdy behavior.

They then played more songs, some new ones. They also played another encore, which I missed since I needed to use the WC.

Another entertaining show by Bloc Party.

Beer Rating:

The Arcade Fire (The Warfield, 18 September 2005)

I LOVE THE ARCADE FIRE!
I LOVE THE ARCADE FIRE!
I LOVE THE ARCADE FIRE!
I LOVE THE ARCADE FIRE!
I LOVE THE ARCADE FIRE!

Did I tell you that I LOVE THE ARCADE FIRE!

One would think that after seeing The Arcade Fire in every size venue possible, from as small as The Bottom of the Hill to as huge as the Hollywood Bowl, that they would lose their lustre. I mean, they've been touring non-stop all around the world in support of their debut album Funeral and their recently reissued EP for this entire year. During that time, they've stopped by S.F. a total of four times, and soon to be a 5th at the Download Festival. Well, they haven't lost a step. If not, they've improved and are better than ever.

By far, this is the most fun Arcade Fire show I've ever been to. It's because I actually got to dance and hop around like a chicken on crack. As the clock struck 10pm, the curtains opened with the band right there, ready to launch into "Wake Up." "Wake Up" was brilliantly done, as always, with Richard being able to move from one side of the stage to another, with accordion in hand, without tripping over something. I was at the far stage left, next to the speakers, just holding in my enthusiasm. I was jumping around, but nobody else was. I saw people in the middle front going crazy. I knew I had to join them.

Afterwards, I heard the opening beats to "Laika." At this point, I couldn't contain myself. Like a superhero dashing to save the damsel in distress, I ran towards the middle. I tried to be as courteous as possible, but there were some people unwilling to budge. So, I did the total asshole thing to do and just barged in. My apologies to the people, but I had to do it. I was jumping around like mad, shouting the words "LAIKA!!" I think Win stage dived at this point. I don't remember.

At this point, after "Haiti," their setlist concentrated on the EP. They played "No Cars Go," followed by "Headlights Look Like Diamonds." During "Headlights..." I did that whole "woo-woo" sound along witht the rest of the band. Then "Vampire/Forest Fire." The surpise of the night was "Cars and Telephones," a song I've never heard before live (or ever for that matter). The only reason why I know of the song is through the lyrics. Everyone was absolutely quiet for this song, with only a select handful knowing what it was. I was dumbfounded by it, and it was absolutely beautiful.

After the "oldies," as Win aptly called it, they played more songs from Funeral. "Une Année Sans Lumiere" was done, followed by a heart wrenching, emotional and very tear jerking "Crown of Love." My God! The passion in that song nearly drove me to tears. If it wasn't for my sweat soaked body at this point, I would have just cried.

Then, the rockin' portion. I think at this point, they played "Power Out" which drove the entire floor section M A D !!! And so was I. After the extended "Power Out," they then played "Rebellion (Lies)." I covered my friend Jason's eyes as is customary when I hear the song. We all yelled in unison "LIES!! LIES!!" Absolutely astounding!

Then after a short wait for the encore, and after the entire crowd was chanting "ONE MORE SONG!!" they did "Tunnels." Win had to stop the song because his mic wasn't working, but he started again. I am running out of synonyms to describe how amazing this version was compared to others I've seen before. There was just so much energy. 110% was given.

Then "Backseat" was on. The entire crowd was dead quiet, anticipating Regine's soft yet booming voice to resonate. And so she did! Instead of the usual funeral procession after the song, they launched into this LOUD and ROCK version as if this was the end of an Oasis concert. Then, as each band member picked up their unplugged instruments, one-by-one, each member approached the crowd. Win, with acoustic guitar, stage dived and was wisked away towards the back of the pack. Owen, with a xylophone, also stage dived. I gave Owen the BIGGEST bear hug. Also, Regine came close with two tambourines. I reached out for her hand and she held it intently for about 5 seconds. I wanted to kiss her hands to show my appreciation. Then here comes Owen again, with his bum hitting my head. I was waiting for Win to return, but he never did.

As I exited the venue, I noticed a HUGE crowd outside. It was Win! Playing fucking acoustic guitar right outside the Warfield, facing Market St. I don't know what he was playing, but he was just strumming the guitar. The crowd applauded loudly as he finished it, and calmly went back in.

OH MY GOD!!

It was FUCKING AMAZING!! Name one band, one fucking band, that would do this! NONE!! I can't think of one damn band that would give 110% of their energy and soul to entertain an audience and interact with them nonetheless. The Arcade Fire are pretty big for indie standards, but yet they haven't forgotten about the fans. Throughout their set, Win was so appreciative, telling the crowd "thank you" so many times, and at one point just saying, "We're so glad to be here!!" After their not so great experience at KROQ's Inland Invasion (Win said there were 3000 people on the lawn and 30 people in the front talking on their mobiles), Win was just glad to see REAL people.

So, I'm seeing them again in Austin on Friday at Stubbs, at ACL on Saturday and then at Download Festival in S.F. I can't wait!!!

I'm going to take a shower now and go to bed...

Beer Rating: 0 Beers.

-- Photos by Edwin Lee

The Bravery / Maximo Park (The Fillmore, 15 September 2005)

I'm fucking tired.

I took a 7am flight out of San Diego, meaning I had to wake up at 5am to get to the airport on time. Then I went to work right at 9am. Got out of work at around 5pm for fear of Bay Bridge traffic. After paying my bills online, I took my uncle to SFO for his flight to Manila. Finally, after a quick bite for dinner, I went to the Fillmore to see this fantastic show of two outstanding bands.

Maximo Park is a band from England that is all abuzz on the NME at the moment. Their brand of new wave like music is akin to current artists such as Franz Ferdinand and The Futureheads. We unfortunatley missed a couple of songs in their set, but the handful or so of songs that we did catch were just absolutely amazing. "Apply Some Pressure" was so tight and well done that if I wasn't so tired, I would have been dancing my arse off. Paul Smith's energy, magnificently tailored suit and perfect hair was the perfect visual for these amazing songs. Another great song was a new one, whose title I forget at the moment. "Now I'm All Over the Shop" was the last song of the set and the crowd were absolutely mad fer it. And so were we. We hated to see them leave, especially after such an energetic and tight set, but so the story goes.

Bravery were next after what seemed like an eternity of them setting up. These boys are as dressy and as energetic as ever. "Unconditional" and "Honest Mistake" received the most applause and raucous. As expected, Sam Endicott was all over the place with the mic stand moving from one end of the stage to another. In between part of their set, Sam commented on how this was a historical event since the Bravery finally made it to the Fillmore. It is actually since I've seen the Bravery at Cafe Du Nord, Slim's, Great American Music Hall and, now, The Fillmore. What's next? The Warfield? Shoreline? You have to hand it to the Bravery though, these guys put so much energy and chutzpah to their live shows and it's always an entertaining time. It's even entertaining to watch the bass player slowly undress and count how many beers he can guzzle per song.

Overall, an excellent billing of two great, up and coming bands.

Beer Rating:

Oasis / Jet / Kasabian (Coors Amphitheatre, San Diego, 14 September 2005)

Part 3 of 3

So.

This is the last show of my Oasis concert tour for California. Unlike the previous two shows in San Francisco and Los Angeles, I actually sat down and saw all three bands. This is an especially memorable show because it marks the first time me and my friend John saw Oasis. We were supposed to see them at the Universal Amphitheatre back in 1995 (God!) but they cancelled that show. And this was an event 10 years in the making. So, nostalgia all around.

We missed a couple of songs from Kasabian's set, but they were nonetheless as tight and awesome as they ever were. We caught "Club Foot" and "Processed Beats" which is good enough in my book. The crowd was still semi-sparse at the venue, but there were a handful of people in the front standing up and giving Kasabian some love, me included. John was impressed even though he heard only a few songs before. I'm definitely seeing their entire set when I go to Austin next week.

I also sat through Jet, which is not that bad if you have an open mind. I was closed minded when I saw them in S.F. and L.A. Yes, they are very generic rock but somehow, in San Diego, they were pretty damn good. Most of the songs I recognized for once. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and "Look What You've Done" were done really well as long as the other songs. They weren't this cheezy this time actually, minimizing the "yeahs" and the long pauses between songs to incite the crowd.

And then, of course, Oasis. Fuck this band is just hot. Liam was wearing some shortened trench coat and white shirt. Noel was wearing the same thing. Gem was looking good with a pink long sleeved shirt and suit jacket. Andy was wearing something similar, except with an Adidas shirt inside his suit jacket. Zack was also wearing something similar.

The setlist was exactly the same as previous nights. Here it is:

Turn Up The Sun
Lyla
Bring It On Down
Morning Glory
Importance of Being Idle
A Bell Will Ring
Cigarettes & Alcohol
Acquiesce
Live Forever
Mucky Fingers
Wonderwall
Champagne Supernova
Rock N Roll Star
------Encore-----
Guess God Thinks I'm Abel
Meaning of Soul
Don't Look Back in Anger
My Generation

Needless to say, like previous nights, I was singing my heart out and mimicing everything that Liam did on stage. Like previous nights, Liam was very grateful and playful with the audience, giving his tambourine to a youngster in the front after "Morning Glory" and then giving another to three bitches after "My Generation." He again dedicated "Live Forever" to the people of New Orleans and Noel said "gracias" a couple of times for the Mexican contingency.

I can go on and on and on on how Oasis were just spectacular tonight as in previous nights. But I just want to reflect on these three shows.

The thing that made these shows great were the people I was with. From Kat, Jason, Sara and Minh-Lan in S.F., Chris in L.A. and John in S.D., all these guys were willing to put up with my antics and my sing-a-longs.

Singing along to an Oasis song brings back a flood of memories. As Sara said, "I felt like a 15 year old again." Well, I felt like an 18 year old when I sang my heart out to "Live Forever" or had my arm wrapped around the shoulders of Chris during "Champagne Supernova" and "Don't Look Back in Anger." It's the memories behind these songs that makes Oasis so great. It's like each song represents a time capsule in my life and singing the songs is like opening up that capsule and looking through the things in it.

Also, the camraderie involved makes the songs great. Good people around can make any show worthwhile. This was one of them.

Of course, I don't want to take away the credit that is due to the band themselves who played each song with such intensity and professionalism that is unparalleled in the music business. Liam's no-nonsense, rock star attitude on-stage also adds to the show's greatness.

But the combination of friends, memories and Oasis is just potent. They should bottle this shit and give it to anyone depressed.

"Don't put your life in the hands, of a rock n roll band." Well, I did and I have no regrets whatsoever.

Beer Rating:

Oasis (Hollywood Bowl, 12 September 2005)

Part 2 of 3

I landed in Burbank at around 4pm and already there's something wrong in the confines that is Ill-Eh. There was some major power outage earlier in the day, thus all the traffic lights were going blinky. I had no clue what was going on, thinking that this is just another daily occurrence in the chaos that is this City.

Otherwise, everything was going well. Got my car rental: a Hyundai Accent that seemed to be falling apart once I get pass 85 mph on the freeway. The car is really dinky, but it was a lot of fun to drive because of it's small stature and tiny wheels. When I was next to an SUV, I felt like I was in one of those clown cars in the circus.

After getting semi-lost around Burbank, I finally found my hotel. My "suite" smelled like that disinfectant at a beauty salon.

After ordering some veggie Chinese food, Chris came along and bought some Newcastle for the pre-drinking festivities. We drank it all and drank more at the show.

With that in mind, the Oasis show at the Hollywood Bowl was SO MUCH BETTER than their performance at Mountain View the night before. There's something magical about the Hollywood Bowl. I've seen several shows there and each and every time, regardless of how far away I am, it's still a good gig. We intentionally missed Jet again, but caught the last 2 songs of their set before opting to get more Red Stripes.

Oasis came on like clockwork at around 9:45pm. Once again, they dimmed the lights to "Fuckin' In the Bushes" before the band launched into "Turn Up the Sun." Liam was wearing a plain white undershirt along with a pinstriped suit jacket. He again wore sunglasses. Noel looked like he was wearing something similar from the night before.

What made this night better was the sound. Hollywood Bowl's sound is just amazing and each and every bass and strum can be heard. The banging of Zack Starkey's drums was ever more prevalent tonight than the night before. Liam's vocals, as rough as they were in the beginning, became more finely tuned as the show progressed.

Also, with the sound improving means that the songs weren't so flat. The new songs from Don't Believe the Truth had some added zing to it. "Mucky Fingers" was especially good, and "Lyla" had renewed vigor.

If you thought the new songs sounded good, the classics were much better! "Live Forever," "Wonderwall," and "Champagne Supernova" were absolute tear jerkers. "Cigarettes & Alcohol" and "Morning Glory" were done so well that footballers all around were just shouting the lyrics. The best song of the evening was "Don't Look Back in Anger" where Noel's voice and the line, "please don't put your life in the hands, of a rock n roll band, and throw it all away," had more impact on me than any previous night that I can remember.

Like last night, Liam dedicated "Live Forever" to the people of New Orleans and "A Bell Will Ring" to all the deaf people. Noel made a semi-speech saying that they finally made it this far in L.A. compared to playing all the fucking clubs. He also dedicated "Don't Look Back in Anger" to all "people of Mexican decent." I guess he's trying to tap into the Morrissey fanbase?

A fantastic show that only deserves one rating:

Beer Rating: 0 Beers (although I had 5 or 6 that night).

Oasis / Jet / Kasabian (Shoreline Amphitheatre, 11 September 2005)

Part 1 of 3

I'm on holiday at the moment for my long time ritual of going to see Oasis in every single possible venue in California. Tonight is their first stop in Northern California as they do a show at the much hated Shoreline. If it wasn't for the 49ers traffic, my friends and I could have made it on time to see Kasabian. Alas, that wasn't the case.

We caught the last couple of songs from Kasabian. I think the last song was "L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)" and it was as brilliant as what it was when I saw them at Coachella. The lead singer (whose name escapes me at the moment) looks a bit more tidy with the haircut and tucked in shirt. He looked very Liam-esque actually. A skinnier, younger version at least.

Afterwards we went to get some beer and met up with a couple other friends. Meeting up at the Shoreline is almost an impossible task with all these concession stands. As I peeked at the overpriced merchandise (Oasis track jacket: $80. Oasis bag: $40) I got some MGD courtesy of M-L, who was hella late because of her flight plans in Ontario.

We spent the Jet set on the lawn since we want to be as far away as possible from these guys. Their rock is too damn traditional. It's like the Stones and Aerosmith were all in there. There should be a Jet drinking game, where everytime the lead singer says "YEAH!" it's drinkin' time. Guaranteed to kill you since he says that word every other sentence. I wasn't impressed. Even with their hit songs. Again, I wasn't impressed. These guys should come on first instead of Kasabian.

Oasis came on at around 9:30pm. They opened their set with "Fucking in the Bushes" as the entrance song. Here comes the band, with Liam wearing a collarless long sleeved shirt with gold rimmed sunglasses. He looked straight out of Be Here Now if it wasn't for the fact that he got kinda big and his skin aged tremendously. That's what drugs will do to you kids. Think moderation. Noel was as slender as ever, but he still looked kinda old.

"Turn Up the Sun" came on next. This and other new Oasis songs like "The Importance of Being Idle" and "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" fell short since it was too dull sounding. Other new songs like "Lyla," "Mucky Fingers," and "Meaning of Soul" fared better, but not by much.

It was the past albums that made Oasis great and the crowd at this show didn't get crazy until an oldie was played. The song after "Lyla" was "Bring it on Down" which should amuse all the 30+ kids out there. I like "Bring it on Down," but it's a good live song IMHO. Obviously, "Supersonic" could have been played, or even anythhing off of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, Heathen Chemistry or, my preference, "D'You Know What I Mean?" from Be Here Now.

I don't think they played any songs off of Heathen Chemistry, which is surprising since they seemed really proud of that album. Most of ths songs consisted of classics like "Live Forever" (which was dedicated to New Orleans) "Wonderwall" (which was dedicated to all the ladies in the audience) and "Don't Look Back In Anger." For "Don't Look Back in Anger," Noel let the crowd sing the first chorus. It was a big sing-a-long and I grabbed four of my friends and forced them to sing it with me in tandem. It was a proud moment!

There was a problem with Liam's mic during "Champagne Supernova, " probably because of feedback in the monitors. Liam was as playful as ever. Placing the trambourine flat on this head. Or biting the tambourine so that it looks like Liam has this huge grin. Liam trying to pinch Noel's bum after the encore. Liam shaking hands with the twats in the lower level seats. Or Liam giving a couple of lucky fans his tambourine. I want that tambourine damn it. I've been waiting for it for the last 7 years.

Overall, a great show with all the classics spilled right in.