Sunday, December 14, 2008

Oasis at the Palace of Auburn Hills, December 13, 2008



Playing to a half empty (but enthusiastic) arena, Oasis was in typical form meaning big, loud, brash, bombastic. The set list was (in no particular order):

Rock n' Roll Star
Lyla
Shock of the Lightning
Cigarettes & Alcohol
Song Bird
Slide Away
Waiting for the Rapture
To Be Where There's Life
Morning Glory
Importance of Being Idle
Meaning of Soul
I'm Outta Time
Falling Down
Ain't Got Nothin' on Me
Wonderwall
Don't Look Back in Anger
The Masterplan
Champagne Supernova
I Am The Walrus

Oasis always puts on a good show. I've seen better from them, though. This was the weakest of the four Detroit area shows I've seen. Still, it was very good.

Liam was his usual strutting self. As I was side stage, I could see him repeatedly motioning to the sound crew something about his microphone (either the PA or monitors.) He joked with the crowd and the people behind me couldn't understand that he said a tamborine was too expensive to give away but he could take cash or credit card for it. Nevertheless, before the evening was over he tossed 2 tamborines and 1 microphone into the first few rows. Nice souvenirs.

Noel greeted the crowd several times. He joked that the keyboard player, Jay Darlington, was "the Shroud of Turin," a hysterical comment if you've ever seen Jay (a Jesus look-alike if there ever was one.) Some exuberant but possibly confused fan threw 1 shoe on the stage, which ended up being great fodder for Noel who asked the crowd to "own up" to being the owner of the other shoe. At the end of the show, he walked off stage with the shoe and handed it to a security guard.

The new drummer Chris Sharrock sounded great. He's a stick tosser and twirler, a little unusual for Oasis.

As a huge Oasis fan, this show was a tad sad for me because there were so many empty seats. Oasis's booking agent should be fired immediately for booking them in a 22,000 seat venue in Michigan in the middle of a recession (and with no local radio support for the new album.) The Palace is simply too big for an Oasis show here in Detroit.

The fellas have a dedicated following here in America, but it's miniscule compared to the United Kingdom. Oasis is nothing more nor less than a big guitar rock and roll band. Why they don't translate here well is beyond me. They might be the most misunderstood band of the last 30 years. You either get them or you don't. Unfortunately not too many in Detroit get what they're all about or they would have packed the place to the rafters.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The booking agent assumes that the concert promoter knows the market and will do what it takes to sell the show. The management of Oasis should share in the blame, for exceptimg the date in such a large venue.

ourboy said...

Thanks CMorr. Good point. Someone's to blame for putting the band in a venue that they could only fill to less than half capacity.