16 hours ago
Why Oasis is like Reform
Almost 16 years after they last performed live, Oasis kick off their reunion tour tonight and for every 'mad for it' fan, there's someone else who thinks they're a musical atrocity.
The critics say they rip off other artists. There's not much to debate about this. The intro of 'Don't Look Back In Anger' is John Lennon's 'Imagine', the opening riff on 'Cigarettes and Alcohol' is T Rex's 'Bang a Gong (Get It On)', while 'Step Out's' chorus is Stevie Wonder's 'Uptight', to name just a few examples.
There are countless more and Noel Gallagher makes no secret of how he writes songs. He told Q magazine in 1997 that he 'absolutely' rips off other artists and admitted on Desert Islands Discs that he'd 'ripped off' Pink Floyd alone 'at least three times'.
His crowing tone brings us to another criticism: that Noel and his brother Liam are hopeless show-offs. Again, who can really dispute this? From the early days, they crowned themselves the 'best band in the world' and went on and on about how rich they were.
After Noel said he hoped two members of Blur would 'catch Aids and die', and Liam called Russian football hooligans 'batty boys', Simon Price wrote in the Guardian that the brothers have 'prehistoric views'. The younger Gallagher apologised for the 'batty boys' remark but Price still thinks Oasis are 'the band of choice for flag-shaggers and Reform voters'. He said it's 'remarkable' how often their fans have the 'butcher's apron' – i.e. the Union Jack – on their Twitter profiles.
After the band played at Earls Court, a longstanding local resident told the tabloids she'd never known a fanbase to behave with such debauchery. When I saw Oasis live at Wembley Stadium and Finsbury Park, fans were hurling around plastic cups full of their urine throughout the shows.
Oasis lyrics are meaningless, say the haters, and it's true that even committed fans struggle to explain what most of the band's songs are about. I suspect that Gallagher senior would often just toss up a word salad that fit whichever melody or riff he'd borrowed that day. His songs remind me of the drug that he used to indulge in so enthusiastically – like cocaine, they make you feel invincible and full of yourself for a bit, and then suddenly it's all over and you feel soulless and empty.
Also like cocaine, they're good business: Noel once bragged that he had £87 million in the bank and the reunion tour has added to the sense that the brothers are only in it for the money. When the tickets went on sale, many fans were asked to pay as much as £350 per ticket, around £200 more than advertised, due to demand. In response to the resulting backlash, Oasis said that they had left decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management. Experts at Birmingham City University estimate that the UK dates alone could bring in roughly £400 million in ticket sales and other add-ons.
So maybe Oasis are a bit like Reform. They've got lots of front and swagger, they pump out slogans that make you feel hopeful but actually mean very little, their gatherings are peppered with union flags but sceptics think it's all about making rich people even richer. In the 1990s, Tony Blair invited Noel to Downing Street because he was a useful way to tap into the Cool Britannia vibe, and now Oasis are back as the cocky Reform alternative to the Blur of Keir Starmer.
But although I think pretty much everything the haters say about Oasis is true, I also think that none of it matters. I've seen them live many times and walking into their concerts was like being whipped into a magical tornado that combined the atmosphere of the best football match you've ever been to, the best gig you've ever seen plus the communal ecstasy of a rave.
Everything that makes Oasis terrible also makes them terrific. The ripped-off tunes are instantly familiar and the meaningless lyrics make them simple to sing along to. Yes, the Gallaghers are full of themselves but they also want us to feel that way: their songs are meant to make the listener believe, however briefly, that they, too, could conquer the world.
So yes, the audiences at their reunion tour will be paying over the odds to see a derivative, boorish band that's hit the road to make a quick buck – and, quite rightly, they won't care very much.
