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Fizzing Performance By Champagne Oasis




















As loyalty goes in rock ’n’ roll, it doesn’t come much more devoted than an Oasis crowd.

Checking for a moment the arms-aloft, mile-wide grinning mob singing along to Champagne Supernova during the band’s encore last night it’s hard not to hear it as a national anthem for a credit-crunched generation.

And while those glad smiles and wet eyes may have more to do with euphoric recollection these days than anything else, there were some emotional moments shared between thinning-haired men comfortable for once in their middle-aged spread.

Even as the venue does its best to suck the sonic subtleties out of a roundly accomplished set, the audience feels more like a football crowd than anything else – ready to go through the highs and lows as personnel come and go safe in the knowledge the object of their devotion will always be there with them.

And the latest to be clasped to the collective bosom, new drummer Chris Sharrock propelled the whole affair with reliably beefy beats. More flamboyant than his predecessor Zak Starkey, but never gaudy, he’s a class act that suits the more musicianly, groove-filled songs from Oasis’s new album Dig Out Your Soul and adds new dimensions to old favourites.

Talking of which, it’s the big hitters that inevitably get the biggest reactions. Opening with Rock ’n’ Roll Star – still the band’s inch-perfect statement of intent – the set unfolds like a recently updated family photo album. Lyla, The Shock Of The Lightning, Cigarettes And Alcohol, even the under-rated Meaning Of Soul from their previous album, Don’t Believe The Truth, are given a robust yet surprisingly agile treatment.

With Liam’s countenance divine still commanding constant attention, Noel looks studious to one side, possibly still feeling the effects of cracked ribs after being attacked onstage in Canada last month, while Gem and Andy stand implacable to the other, and keyboards wiz Jay Darlington makes telling contributions from the shadows.

The extensions to the timeworn Oasis sound can be found in the raga thrum of the Gem-penned To Be Where There’s Life and the rapturous chords of Noel’s Falling Down, while Liam’s heartfelt Outta Time travels well from record to stage.

At times some of the older tunes (Wonderwall, Songbird, Slide Away) sound unwieldy, but a truly awesome Supersonic closes the set before the band reassemble for a touching acoustic take on Don’t Look Back In Anger and we’re sent buzzing into the night after a ravaging assault on I Am The Walrus just like the way they used to do it.

And only a fool would bet on them being any less supersonic tonight.

Source: www.bournemouthecho.co.uk
Picture Credit: Allan Jones

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