By Ed Shrinker
Friends: the wait is over.
Oasis was superb. Their seamless set was stellar.
It was scintillating; exhilarating; uplifting; rowdy; raunchy; compassionate and comprehensive.
On the day when this great city of ours was the epicentre of global rock, Oasis reopened for business and the Oasis collective, from seven to seventy, cajoled and encouraged by rock’s eternal teenager Liam Gallagher, sang and cried their hearts out.
We knew they would be stadium-ready after a 16-year hiatus when, separately, they had roamed the world making very good- but not great- rock, new sets whose own restrictions were highlighted by both’s occasional forays into their Oasis back-catalogue.
The only question mark remaining was- could their performance match the amazing anticipation this reunion had fuelled since the end of last year?
From the first bars, it was never in doubt.
The band and the audience were a unit, revelling in a crackling bonfire of a catalogue that had no “massive potatoes” (don’t mention ‘em) but a lot of bangers at its heart. A bucket-hat brim-full with bangers in fact. One stopped; another started. Liam was rejuvenated. He intoned and inflected, spitting out sequences of emphasised, extended words that were elevated tolyrical lynchpins after beginning life as humble two or three syllable nondescripts.
The master vocalist stared into mid-space, then nodded with assurance and then contorted and grimaced his way through barnstormer after barnstormer.
Alongside, brother Noel, heavy brows knitted and furrowed, coaxed and caressed riff after riff, fill after fill, hook after hook from his guitar. He surfed on a six stringhard drive provided by “legend “ Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs and Gem Archer and a rhythm section of Bassist Andy bell and drummer Joey Waronker. And he sang a short selection of his own work, including Half the World Away.
The full 23-tune set list is below. All were excellent. The sound system was superb; the decision to keep the roof closed spot on. The psychedelia-inspired back projections were a nostalgic nod to the musical homage that forms the bedrock of Oasis’ music.
For those of us who were there, the heady heydays of 1995 are a long way away. The optimism, swagger and immediacy of Britpop has passed. Cool Britannia has become Broken Britain.
But last night’s gig shows that that spirit remains strongand Oasis certainly aren’t lying down anytime soon.
In fact, like our great city, they are still the Bollox.
For the record, Oasis’ Cardiff setlist was:
‘Hello’
‘Acquiesce’
‘Morning Glory’
‘Some Might Say’
‘Bring It On Down’
‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’
‘Fade Away’
‘Supersonic’
‘Roll With It’
‘Talk Tonight’
‘Half The World Away’
‘Little By Little’
‘D’You Know What I Mean?’
‘Stand By Me’
‘Cast No Shadow’
‘Slide Away’
‘Whatever’
‘Live Forever’
‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’
‘The Masterplan’
‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’
‘Wonderwall’
‘Champagne Supernova’
All photos ©️TC/RC/LP Photography
