Casting Several, Long, Optimistic Shadows

Reviewed by Ryan Britt for Live4ever.us

Three years ago, I found myself on the Staten Island Ferry; drunk as the wait for a late-night New York City subway train is long. I had just left the Oasis concert on the Across The Narrows festival, hardly remembering any of it, owing primarily to the availability of too much free booze. For me, my memory of the "Don't Believe The Truth" era is as a result, a swirling confusion of emotional chaos better described as the "landside" the Gallagher brothers sing about in "Champagne Supernova." So last night, at Madison Square Garden, I decided to reclaim my Oasis concert experience by refraining from too much partying.

The result was total appreciation of watching a musical group at its most daringly professional and completely in control of its audience. Just as the Gallagher's approach to life has supposedly sobered-up, the experience of their music is similarly more clear. There are those who complain that Liam's vocal delivery these days seems belabored, as if he's constantly catching his breath. But from the perspective of the life long fan, and equally perpetual skeptic, his singing seemed more like an outright assault on the audience, and most certainly in a good way. The high points of emotion of the concert certainly came from the audience singing back at the band during "Wonderwall" and "Slide Away" moments. But the true revelation of what kind of group this now has become, came during the songs from the new album, specifically, the plodder "To Be Where There's Life." This song, one that even I, as a massive Oasis fan, dismissed as being "dull" or going nowhere, positively destroyed my sensibilities in its live incarnation. When the instrumental portion of the song takes over briefly, just prior to Liam snarling "Dig Out Your SOUUUUUL!" the subtle aesthetics, of the band positively killed.

Though my love of the band's personality sometimes colors my objective opinion of their music, it's hard not to hear the pathologically confident tone of Liam and Noel's life philosophy in their live delivery. Even years later, there are teenagers at their concerts, kids the age I was when I first heard "Morning Glory" screaming their heads off and hugging one another just when Liam moves a finger. All the while, these guys can casually break your heart with a "Masterplan" or a "Songbird" thrown in here, there, and everywhere.

In short, they do it for themselves, but if you open up yours ears a little bit, you can hear the same Noel Gallagher who wrote "Rock N Roll Star" when he was sell-all-your-clothes dirt poor. The self-belief of this band has made them more than just a good live act, but something more. Oasis reminds us, that like a certain syrupy political slogan, that "yes we can."

And they'll do it all while standing perfectly still.