Thursday, January 29, 1998
Here now
MUSIC: Oasis wages a rockin’ battle for staying power
By Trinh Bui
Daily Bruin Contributor
In England, the rock’n’roll band Oasis, who played a sold-out
gig at the Universal Amphitheater on Tuesday night, has the
distinction of being a public demigod. They command front-page
attention and easily sell out shows with audience capacities of
250,000. Each album released in their homeland breaks new sales
records, causing mass pandemonium. These British brats have come to
represent working class blokes that like their beer strong and
music loud. Yet despite Oasis’ cemented appeal in the United
Kingdom, the boys are still on shaky ground in the States.
After going multi-platinum with their sophomore release,
"(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?" Oasis appeared primed and ready
to conquer America. Their breakthrough hit, "Wonderwall," stayed at
the top of the Billboard Modern Rock charts for over twelve weeks.
Unfortunately, a series of break-up rumors, some bad-boy behavior
and the occasional tasteless outburst curbed further progress as
Oasis began to be known in America more for their antics than their
music.
With the band’s third album "Be Here Now," Oasis seemed to has
refocused its energy back to the domination of the world. Even
still, sales for the record haven’t been as big as they were for
"(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?," causing some critics to label
the platinum-selling album as a "flop."
In support of the underachieving album, Oasis stopped by the
sold-out Universal Amphitheater (after cancelling twice there in
1996, angering ticketholders) and delivered a standout performance.
Tuesday’s show definitely affirmed Oasis’ status as one of the best
pure rock bands around. Everything clicked that night as the songs
sounded crisper and the energy level never dipped below
ecstatic.
Before the Manchester crew stepped on stage, the British band
Cornershop valiantly tried to warm up the still-gathering crowd
with Indian influence-laced Britpop. It was all in vain as the
antsy crowd chanted incessantly for Oasis. Cornershop did have
their moment with the addictive "Brim Full of Asha," but for the
most part the hypnotically mellow music was too mundane for the
psyched-up crowd.
As the time drew closer to the main event, notable celebrities
began to fill the joint. Lars Ulrich, drummer for Metallica and a
big Oasis fan and Gwen Stefani, lead singer of alt-pop band No
Doubt, were among the 6,000 plus fans eagerly anticipating the
emergence of the Gallagher brothers. Surely they weren’t
disappointed as Oasis took the stage and worked the crowd over with
the energetic title track from "Be Here Now." A classic Oasis-type
tune, "Be Here Now" gushed with thick guitar action and a catchy,
often repeated chorus. The band played songs from all three of
their albums, mixing the harder traditional rock songs from their
debut album,"Definitely Maybe," with poppy ballads off of "(What’s
the Story) …" and "Be Here Now."
Oasis maintained a high-tempo atmosphere for the first 30
minutes, performing such get-up-and-shake songs as "Roll With It,"
and the T-Rex inspired "Cigarettes & Alcohol." Probably the
best moment of the night came with an amazing rendition of
"Supersonic," which basically wrapped everything that is good about
alternative music into four and a half minutes of bliss. Lead
singer Liam Gallagher’s singing was especially emotional and
forceful during that number.
After a riveting beginning, the obligatory Noel Gallagher (the
guitarist-brother of Liam and songwriter for the band) acoustic set
began, which slowed down the pace considerably. Noel is a great
lyricist and a good guitarist, but unlike Liam’s, Noel’s voice
doesn’t carry the same brashness and sneering qualities that brings
life to Oasis’ songs. As a result, the beautifully constructed
"Don’t Go Away" and b-side "Talk Tonight" suffered from Liam’s
absence.
Oasis quickly jacked the excitability level back up to pre-Noel
status with a Liam-led, electric fueled "Wonderwall," adding some
spunk to an otherwise soft ballad. From then on, Oasis rode the
wave of fan enthusiasm to the end with strictly upbeat
‘shakermaker’ music, capping the main set off with an extended,
guitar-jam version of their classic, "Champagne Supernova."
Surprisingly, the Gallagher brothers were on their best behavior
that night and were more animated than usual. Liam actually
interacted with the crowd, bouncing a beach ball off his head and
teasing his adoring fans instead of just standing with hands behind
his back for the entire evening. They only threatened to "go home"
once during the entire show (after a flying object almost pegged
Noel).
With an appreciative crowd mouthing the words to every song,
Oasis laid down a set with a vicious intensity and purpose that
turns a music veteran like Ulrich into a wailing fan. Oasis played
like they had something to prove on Tuesday and at their best
showed why all of Europe is under their control. Inching ever so
close to American super-stardom, Oasis for at least one night
reestablished themselves as a premier rock group with the potential
to fulfill their own hype as "The Biggest Band in the World."