ACC: An Oasis Last Monday!

When you are sober at a Monday night concert and still manage to enjoy it, you know it was a great show! That was the case a few nights ago at the capacity packed Air Canada Centre when Oasis rolled through timeless anthems like Live Forever, Rock and Roll Star, and Champagne Supernova. Really, there is no other relevant band today that can brew up as much excitement with such little effort. There is never any fancy pyrotechnics or fat bitch backup singers at an Oasis concert, nor is there anyone wearing a school uniform, tie, or ugly 80s haircut. Just straight-out rock and roll music is what Oasis and their die-hard fans are about.

The opening band, Arctic Monkeys, needed only 30 minutes to prove why they are the biggest band in the U.K. right now. Despite not having played too many big venues like the ACC up to this point, they looked very comfortable on stage as if they’ve been doing it for years. Singer and lead guitarist Alex Turner has a unique stage presence strumming aggressively his guitar - worn higher than most other guitarists would. Fake Tales of San Francisco, I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor, and A Certain Romance were the highlights of their set.

Oasis came on later and reminded us why we paid $80 and drove all the way to Toronto to see them. They were their usual selves. Liam – singing in his famous stance and occasionally staring into the audience; Noel – very professional playing a nice red semi-hollow Gibson (ES 335?); Gem & Andy - strumming away like usual. Drummer Zack Starkey’s beats were simple, but worked better with the Oasis sound than Alan White’s. He was also very animated as he went all out on My Generation during the encore. Noel: Sign him up as a permanent member NOW!!

They played most of the songs we were expecting - a handful of which were from their latest album Don’t Believe the Truth, plus classics like Morning Glory, Supersonic, Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back in Anger. Heck, they even played a couple old b-sides: Acquiesce and the rarely played favourite, The Masterplan.

The Gallaghers were also very interactive with the audience between songs, but unfortunately I couldn’t understand 90% of what they said – thanks to their thick Manchester accents. All I remember is Noel telling a “fatty” in the front row to stand up. Kinda cruel, but anyone who sits at an Oasis concert deserves it. Plus he dedicated a song to her.

Bottom line: Great show and hope to see them yet again in a few years.