tonight i'm a rock 'n' roll star
But for a couple of hours, it didn't seem like they did it for the money.
It seemed like they really believed in all of this. Not just in this reunion tour, but in the whole myth of Oasis that they created in 90s: that they were the biggest and best band in the world.
It seemed like they believed in it more than they did back in the day, when they were constantly sabotaging themselves and each other. Everyone in the crowd sure seemed like they believed it too.
And it seemed like they were actually having a great time up there.
So there we all were, in the middle of some cavernous outdoor venue 45-minutes north of downtown Toronto, just a day before the 15th anniversary of the band's break up, forgetting about all the drama, forgetting about basically all of the music they released after Be Here Now, forgetting how much older everyone was. And remembering that there are fleeting moments where Oasis fulfills the promise of that myth they created.
There was opening with "Hello." I mean, sure, the refrain of "it's good to be back" is a little fucking on the nose, but Noel Gallagher isn't exactly known for his subtlety. Then straight after there was "Acquiesce" and the "we neeeeed each other/we belieeeeeeve in one another" that looked genuine for the first time--at least for the first time I've seen live.
There were the singalongs. There were a lot of singalongs. "Supersonic," "Cigarettes & Alcohol," "Stand By Me," "Wonderwall," and the huge chorus of "Don't Look Back in Anger."
I never sounded very good singing the latter in my bedroom as a teenager, but I'm pretty sure my rendition was flawless a half dozen beers deep with 45,000 new friends backing me up.
And even though they ripped through 23-songs, suddenly there was "Champagne Supernova" being punctuated by a fireworks show and that was that.
Oasis were back.
It's tempting to say that it was like they never left, but if time really does heal all wounds, it seems like they needed to leave for awhile to come back like this.
Album of the week
Song of the week
Classic of the week
More heat
