EVERETT - You wouldn't have really known it to look at lead singer Liam Gallagher and his guitarist brother, Noel Gallagher, Friday night at the Everett Events Center, but they seemed pretty pleased.

Why, you might wonder?

The notoriously volatile pair are leading their band Oasis through something of a comeback after taking off like a rocket in the mid-1990s and fading into relative obscurity in this country well before the end of the decade.

There was a time when Oasis packed the biggest arenas in all the land, but they only drew a hearty crowd of about 4,500 at the Everett Events Center.

"Are we in Seattle, or some other place?" Noel Gallagher asked the crowd at one point, hearing only a chorus of mumbles and grumbles.

"Seriously," he replied. "Because we got on the freeway and drove for, like, 45 minutes."

Hearing a bit more of a response from folks in the front rows, he repeated, "Oh, Everett. OK."

And that seemed to be quite all right.

Fellow British group Kasabian opened the show with a raucous half-hour set before giving way to Jet, who proved once again that everyone in Australia is either famous or bound to be famous. The band sported shaggy hair and flared jeans to boot, in presenting its brand of recently resurfaced 1960s-style rock in a 40-minute set highlighted by its breakout hit, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?"

Oasis' on-again, off-again brothers, vocalist Liam Gallagher and guitarist and chief songwriter Noel Gallagher, are apparently on again. They've played nice since the release of the new album and throughout the first leg of the tour. They kept it together Friday along with their bandmates, guitarist Gem Archer, bassist Andy Bell and drummer Zak Starkey, the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

Standing nearly motionless, but nonetheless dramatic, Liam Gallagher mostly stayed at the front of the stage wearing a long-sleeved black shirt, dark blue jeans and shades. He kept his arms at his sides as he leaned into the microphone, often pushing it forward on the stand with his upper lip.

Apparently reaching his happy, playful limit, the stoic and straight-faced Liam Gallagher amused himself by occasionally balancing his tambourine on his nose or on his head - of course, remaining perfectly still so it wouldn't fall off.

In a more serious moment, Liam Gallagher dedicated the band's breakthrough 1994 hit, the hopeful power ballad, "Live Forever," to the people of New Orleans.

Oasis ripped through 17 songs in a 90-minute set that included a heavy dose of new material. The band kicked off the show with "Turn Up the Sun" and "Lyla," off the May release, "Don't Believe the Truth," on its way to playing seven songs from its new album.

But the guys mostly stuck to the bookends of their career, ignoring the three albums they produced during the past decade, much like most American fans did.

But it was a night of reflection and rebirth, and one that certainly left many fans hoping the band's resurgence isn't as fleeting as a green spot in the desert.

Heraldnet