2005 is going down as my most sluggish summer date. With the usual array of shows and big tours floating in and out of Boston, I for one have barely budged outside a few special must sees with Oasis being the highlight.
Oasis is one of those bands that bounce me between love and hate. A few good records in 94 and 96 which lead into a trail of tears. As each subsequent record was a bore, they were tossed on sale on half.com. Revisiting those early tracks kept Oasi in iPod rotation but things were getting pretty f'ing bland there for a while.
Next,word comes of their new record, a new sound... keeping hope i download an iTunes EU leaked copy and discover the boys have begun to play like a bunch of guys hanging around their shitty basements again. Wonderful.
And of course, on the trail of a decent record (depending on which bullshit review you care to eat up), they announce a world tour which includes a stop at ye old Great Woods in Mansfield, MA (Tweeter for all the new heads). Great Woods is one of those tragic venues in the music biz. Preshow tailgating calls you to stay, drink, and chat for as long as humanly possible before the main act gets on, but is a skull banger to to leave once the show ends... as long as 3 hours in some of the deep pakced lots.. but this is rock, so who cares.
Back to the show. One thing I famous for when attending an Oasis show is to become as intoxicated as I possibly can. Its my little secret weapon against Oasis: be as drunk as Liam, laugh at Liam... the mindstate is both calming and accepting of a bumbling lead vocalist who, righteously so, doesnt give a shit about me you or the venue. To me, thats fine.
The point I am making is that I hate the venue and I need to drink to see the band. Its this potion for disaster that drives me back everytime!
To my joyous surprise, the show turned out to be one of the best and tightest Oasis shows I have seen since back in 96. Liam looked sober and worked damn strong without moving a fucking inch from the mic stand. Solid vocals and no mishmash. Great opener, solid version of Mucky Fingers ... half way through the gig i sobered up enough to realize, "Hey they may be back in form, but I sure could use another Newscastle."
Love Oasis.