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Can Oasis ‘Live Forever’? |
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Written by JUSTIN BECKER / Photos by LYLE A. WAISMAN and DANIEL LOCKE *
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Wednesday, 24 December 2008 |
Any arena rock show nowadays begs a very important (and potentially fatal) question: Are you going to play the hits? Recently, bands like the Smashing Pumpkins have struggled with the tug-of-war that breaks out when you don’t play what your fans paid to hear. It’s a delicate issue and both sides have a point. On Friday night at the Allstate Arena, another 90’s giant, Oasis, tried to balance modern day relevance with past success. The show was supported by alt-country artist Ryan Adams, who has so much material in such a short amount of time, he’s exempt from the above mentioned phenomenon.
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Oasis with Ryan Adams & the Cardinals
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 Entertainment
 Art
Allstate Arena
Rosemont, IL
December 12, 2008
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p> After a short set by singer-songwriter Matt Costa, Adams took the stage with backing band, The Cardinals. Opening with the gentle rolling “Cobwebs”, he leaned heavily on songs from his past two releases – 2007’s Easy Tiger and this year’s Cardinology. Adams didn’t say much while he and the Cards playfully extended out jams to softer numbers like “Off Broadway” and “Goodnight Rose”. It was definitely a different Adams (and for that matter The Cardinals) than even a few years ago. This most recent incarnation seemed to bring a certain level of comfort to Adams’ playing and stage presence – like he’s better suited for the democratic rule of a band than as a solo artist. As a whole, The Cardinals’ live show is better than the sum of its parts, especially on the free-style sonic re-arrangements of favorites like “When The Stars Go Blue” and “I Taught Myself How To Grow Old”. It’s a sound that even surpasses the original recordings. For fans that are still undecided on where Cardinology stacks up against the rest of Adams impressive 11-album discography, it may take seeing The Cardinals live (and electric) to understand that Adams has far from lost his touch.
Oasis headlined in a very familiar fashion – quickly and unapologetically. The Manchester quartet concentrated only about one fourth of their material from this year’s Dig Out Your Soul. The rest was left for anticipated hits (“Cigarettes & Alcohol”, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” “Wonderwall”) and classic Noel ballads (“The Masterplan”). Lead singer Liam Gallagher’s voice strained, but that didn’t seem to faze the crowd. Fists were pumping, Manchester flags were flying, and air whammy bars were being used ad nauseam.
Still, Oasis lacked a modern day significance that compatriots Coldplay and Radiohead garner here in the US. While Dig Out Your Soul has landed on a number of ‘Best of’ lists this year, even Noel Gallagher has admitted it’s no Definitely Maybe or Morning Glory. It’s not surprising the highlight of the evening was his stellar, acoustic rendition of “Don’t Look Back In Anger”.
So in an age where the arena rock tour has become near extinct, the few bands lucky enough to be grandfathered in should stay conscious of fact that there’s a way to balance their catalogue. While Oasis may have lost a step over the years, at least they know that their fans are less worried about the importance of being idle and more concerned with “where were you while we were getting high”?
* Ryan Adams & the Cardinals images by Daniel Locke |
amazing show
Written by Guest on 2008-12-25 01:26:00
Oasis live is brilliant. Loved both the old and new songs. | oasisssssssssssssss
Written by Guest on 2008-12-25 17:57:32
 for me is the best group in the world perhaps sometimes they are a bit big mouth but they make me laugth when i´m sad | Long Live the Kings
Written by Guest on 2008-12-26 19:51:52
Oasis is the best rock and roll act in the world today - period. 2nd place goes to Radiohead.
Live Forever!
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