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How the Oasis Reunion Became the Feel-Good Event of the Year (actor/comedian Alex Edelman in Rolling Stone)
Published today, but Edelman's writing here about the first show in New Jersey, on 8/31. See that show here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/1034151115
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/oasis-reunion-tour-gallagher-brothers-1235422640/
-snip-
Beyond being the tour of the summer, these Gallagher Brothers shows, by all reports, have been surprising in their positivity. “There are New Jersey vibes in the arena!” said Liam when he first got to the microphone. “There are Oasis vibes in the arena!” Who would’ve guessed Jersey vibes and Oasis vibes would be so…cuddly and buoyant?
-snip-
And Oasis sounds great, by the way. Liam’s voice sounded like it did on the albums, like he still sounds in your headphones, like you remember from Oasis being background music at the first house parties you got drunk in. And they play mostly the hits, mostly pre-1996 stuff, mostly sing-along-friendly stuff. An unexpected highlight is “Half The World Away,” a theme song to a British sitcom that didn’t chart in the United States, but whose chorus is enthusiastically echoed by the crowd when the band leaves room for them.
-snip-
It’s obviously not unusual for people to sing along with a concert, especially in a stadium, but the lack of self-consciousness was noteworthy. These two Mancunians — especially Liam — are nearly characterized by the presentation of coudn’t-give-a-fuckness. But you don’t squash a Cain-and-Abel feud, sell a million tickets in less time than it takes to watch an episode of Friends, and design endless amounts of custom merchandise on a lark. You don’t pay $40 for parking on a lark. You don’t drive to New Jersey for fun. You do it because you want to, and because you’re a decade past pretending you don’t.
Oasis in 1996 felt subversive in its naked desire to be rock stars. Oasis in 2025 is subversive in understanding that it’s a bit silly to want that, but utterly non-judgmental about the time when you did. At these concerts, as people scream — scream — along to “Cigarettes and Alcohol” with 50,000 others, and a few folks Google the lyrics, you can’t pretend you don’t care. Cynicism is for the irony-soaked, the terminally online, and the reason this tour is a “must experience” is simple: For a few hours in a stadium, as you’re bellowing your lungs out to “Supersonic” and other hits, you’re so glad that you’re not trapped in 2025, that it’s possible to go back in time.
Beyond being the tour of the summer, these Gallagher Brothers shows, by all reports, have been surprising in their positivity. “There are New Jersey vibes in the arena!” said Liam when he first got to the microphone. “There are Oasis vibes in the arena!” Who would’ve guessed Jersey vibes and Oasis vibes would be so…cuddly and buoyant?
-snip-
And Oasis sounds great, by the way. Liam’s voice sounded like it did on the albums, like he still sounds in your headphones, like you remember from Oasis being background music at the first house parties you got drunk in. And they play mostly the hits, mostly pre-1996 stuff, mostly sing-along-friendly stuff. An unexpected highlight is “Half The World Away,” a theme song to a British sitcom that didn’t chart in the United States, but whose chorus is enthusiastically echoed by the crowd when the band leaves room for them.
-snip-
It’s obviously not unusual for people to sing along with a concert, especially in a stadium, but the lack of self-consciousness was noteworthy. These two Mancunians — especially Liam — are nearly characterized by the presentation of coudn’t-give-a-fuckness. But you don’t squash a Cain-and-Abel feud, sell a million tickets in less time than it takes to watch an episode of Friends, and design endless amounts of custom merchandise on a lark. You don’t pay $40 for parking on a lark. You don’t drive to New Jersey for fun. You do it because you want to, and because you’re a decade past pretending you don’t.
Oasis in 1996 felt subversive in its naked desire to be rock stars. Oasis in 2025 is subversive in understanding that it’s a bit silly to want that, but utterly non-judgmental about the time when you did. At these concerts, as people scream — scream — along to “Cigarettes and Alcohol” with 50,000 others, and a few folks Google the lyrics, you can’t pretend you don’t care. Cynicism is for the irony-soaked, the terminally online, and the reason this tour is a “must experience” is simple: For a few hours in a stadium, as you’re bellowing your lungs out to “Supersonic” and other hits, you’re so glad that you’re not trapped in 2025, that it’s possible to go back in time.
Btw, Edelman was only 5 years old when the first Oasis album was released, 7 when they played Knebworth, 20 when they broke up. But they were obviously still a supernova in his mind.