Event Calendar

12 September 2005

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.



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