Review: The 'new' Oasis leave Croker in a daze
When they walk out as dusk begins to settle on the stage of Croke Park on a glorious Saturday evening, Oasis are greeted with the kind of deafening, delirious roar one might expect if (and when) Mayo finally lift the Sam Maguire again.
Somewhere up there in an executive box, Peggy Gallagher of Charlestown was having a very special moment. Because it is she more than anyone else who has made hell freeze over, bang her sons' heads ever so gently together and bring about about this miraculous reunion tour.
It hasn't quite been 16 years of hurt since Oasis last played Ireland in 2009 but Saturday's opening show of the band's two-night stand in GAA HQ was easily the most feverishly awaited Irish gig in many years. The return of the unibrow brothers is a very big deal. And yes, we all know, they're in it for the money.
There is an atmosphere of giddy euphoria in the evening air and naturally it gives way to a mid-gig eruption of "ole, ole, ole". Man City had hammered Wolves 4-0 just before Oasis hit the stage but the only nod to that is the cardboard cutout of City manager Pep Guardiola standing behind one of the Marshall amps.
This was nostalgia with its ya-ya's out. But it was also another business-like, choreographed show from the band as they approach the midway point of their reunion tour. In their now customary act of choreographed filial bonhomie, Noel and Liam stride on stage, arms aloft, hands clenched together, bang on time at 8.15pm to play a 21-song, two-hour set that left two generations of fans in a blissed-out daze.
In other words, the old Oasis is well and truly gone. This was a very slick, very polished and very professional show. Not words we'd usually associate with the Manchester band and it's clear that Noel laid down some hard and fast rules before he signed up for this juggernaut of a world tour. The Chief has turned the new Oasis into a tightly-drilled machine.
And anybody who might have been expecting some kind of final reproachment between the brothers now that they were back in "home turf" would have left disappointed on Saturday night. Any signs of the age-old power struggle between the Gallaghers was well hidden and other than that opening show of unity, there was very little interaction between the siblings.
Not that Liam was going to let that spoil his fun. His in between song patter is akin to scrolling his Twitter feed and equally hard to decipher; we are told we are "lunatics" and that we are the "bollocks" and his static stage showmanship, something he calls "stillism", rarely sees him leave the same spot. We are still not sure if he's going to kiss or headbutt the microphone.
Students of Oasis setlists wouldn't have found much to dissect on Saturday night. Nearly everything they play is from their first two albums and their great compilation record, The Masterplan. Opener Acquiesce sounds particularly vital in the summer night, as does Some Might Say and Cigarettes and Alcohol, two wicked, wicked things that no longer hold much interest for the thousands of young people in Croker. Another stand-out is a blistering D'Ya Know I Mean?, the snarling 1997 single that gave hope to keepers of the Oasis flame that the band had much more to offer. The less than stellar 1995 hit Roll With It gets one of the biggest reactions of the night and clearly it's been adopted as an anthem for a crowd who are here for a good time all the time.
Noel's mid-show solo turn is also excellent. Mr melancholia's pleading voice on superior compositions like Talk Tonight and Half a World Away is a highpoint of the evening. A return to the full band wall of sound for the ever great Shakemaker and Live Forever brings the place to its feet again. (The sound on Saturday was very, very good and maybe even made an impression in Croker's nosebleed seats).
The encore is, of course, the Oasis power set; there's a mass singalong to Don't Look Back in Anger, a song that still delivers a satisfying wallop all these years later; Liam pours everything into an emotional reading of Wonderwall, which turns GAA HQ into a constellation of mobile phones; and who cares that a spiraling Champagne Supernova ends with the giant screens showing the sun going down over a shimmering ocean. Subtly was never an Oasis thing.
So, this is the new Oasis in action - huge energy, military-like precision, not a foot or note out of place . . . Part of their thuggish charm and their eventual failure all those decades ago was their edge and their sense of danger, the unpredictability of it all.
That is gone now but these songs about feeling happy and then feeling sad are still very much vital and life-affirming for the two generations of Oasis fans who turned Croke Park into one mass celebration on Saturday night. It was worth the wait.
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The Irish Sun
30 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
Parents who force son, 9, to do squats when he's naughty defend themselves & call it a ‘corrective parenting moment'
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Extra.ie
34 minutes ago
- Extra.ie
Oasis fans warned about ticket issues inside Croke Park
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Irish Independent
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- Irish Independent
Former Eurovision star gives impromptu performance at Cork Airport
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