Oasis

The 40 odd thousand of us who have made our way to North London today go there knowing that half the battle has already been won. For today, rare in this poor excuse for a British summer, we have perfect gig-going weather; the sun is up and the sky, although admittedly not blue, has declared a ceasefire which will be maintained all day save for a brief drizzle later on when most people are too drunk/stoned to care. Straight away though it becomes apparent that yesterday's revellers were not so lucky. The result of Friday's showers means that much of Finsbury Park has been reduced to the kind of mud-bath that would have inspired Wilfred Owen to write anti-war poetry.

Happily this does not seem to bother the majority of the crowd who come, as they always come, to see the Brothers Gallagher and those other three chaps perform songs which almost seem tailor-made for occasions such as this. The fact that these concerts sold out quicker than half-price Heineken in a student bar is testimony to the pulling power that Oasis continue to hold in the 21st century and given that no-one (other than naughty copyright anarchists via the web) had heard any of the songs from new album "Heathen Chemistry" - other than the two singles released thus far - when tickets went on sale, you cannot but scoff at detractors who claim that the band peaked in popularity in the mid-nineties. Hopefully the purists who insist that Oasis started to 'lose it' way back when curly-haired drummer Tony McCarroll left will revise their opinion if they bother to listen to the new album and discover that it is quite possibly the finest Oasis album since 1995's "(What's the Story)…Morning Glory".

It is a pity then that such a lukewarm the-up, the Charlatans excepted, has been chosen for today. First band The Coral would undoubtedly go down a bomb in your local Dog and Duck but given that tickets here cost nearly 30 quid you cannot help but feel a little cheated that someone more established could not have been chosen. Noel Gallagher's recent observation that Oasis are the only guitar-based band in the charts at the moment is depressing in itself but then if this is the most exciting act to emerge recently then is it any wonder? The crowd seem more occupied at this early stage with hurling (plastic) lager bottles at each other, some of which are not even empty; given the prices here this seems a little short-sighted, but each to their own. The bottle-throwing actually serves as a useful barometer to judge each successive band's popularity. Generally, the more vicious the bottle wars become the more likely it is that the people onstage are fighting a losing battle to be loved; sadly, this appears to be the case with The Coral but the night is young, as is The Coral's career so far, and both will undoubtedly improve.

Next up we have Proud Mary and things do improve dramatically. Proud Mary are signed to Noel Gallagher's own label and it shows; they're Mancs and they play a style of music which was popular 30 years ago. They happen to play it extremely well though and it is refreshing to hear a guitar band near the bottom of a bill who do not use distorted guitars and shouted vocals as a substitute for talent and craft. Proud Mary have plenty of both and it is shown through exemplary musicianship - Nev Cottee's bass-playing being particularly impressive - and most distinctively through the singing of Greg Griffin, which is powerful without resorting to histrionics. If Proud Mary introduce a bit more variety into their song-writing and perhaps acknowledge the 21st century a little more enthusiastically, then the world, as Arthur Daley would say, could be their lobster.

Cornershop differ from both The Coral and Proud Mary in that they have a genuine worldwide smash in their canon. Cornershop perform "Brimful Of Asha" and maybe half a dozen others but their case is not helped by a muggy sound system and Tjinder Singh's deceptively low voice which struggles to emulate the sounds we hear on disc. Cornershop have a sitar player onstage which of course makes a cover of "Norwegian Wood" compulsory, the sitar being to that song what Rolf Harris's wobble board is to "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport". There is a nice twist in that they perform the song with Indian lyrics which, despite involving more syllables than are ideal for the song, makes it the most memorable moment of the day so far

Two pints of lager and a hotdog later we await this week's next big thing. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC) didn't get where they are today just by having a silly name so it must be something to do with the current media obsession with "back to basics" American groups like the Strokes and White Stripes. BRMC do not seem to have the same quality of songs as those two bands but they certainly go down well with a large portion of the audience and any bottles hurled seem to be thrown in exuberance rather than boredom. BRMC appear to be one of those bands where familiarity of material is crucial to enjoying the live experience, the band neither looking nor sounding particularly exciting without this benefit, and matters are not helped by songs which frequently overstay their welcome.

The Charlatans have played with Oasis before, most notably at one of the mammoth Knebworth gigs in 1996. If they feel any resentment at constantly playing second fiddle to Liam and Noel (after all, "The Only One I Know" was a hit when Noel was still lugging around equipment for Inspiral Carpets and Liam wasn't old enough to drink) then it does not show in their performance. Singer Tim Burgess mentions more than once how happy they are to be here and cheekily dedicates "A Man Needs To Be Told" to Liam and "Sproston Green" to the band as a whole. They opt to play a greatest hits set but also fit in the first four songs from current album "Wonderland". "You're So Pretty…We're So Pretty" is the most impressive of these and goes down well, Burgess mentioning at the climax that the record company would not release it as a single but that in his opinion it "would've done alright".

But it is on the old favourites that the Charlatans remind us of just what they've given us over the years. With "Just Lookin'", "North Country Boy", "Can't Get Out Of Bed" and a double whammy of "The Only One I Know" and "One To Another" the Charlatans prove how adept they are at fusing rock, folk and funk into one irresistible whole. For the first time today you get that feeling of true excitement which you get when everything gels for a band onstage and songs are performed almost flawlessly but still with enough spontaneity to prevent the act appearing as a routine. It helps that Burgess is the first true front-man to perform thus far and it all ends in a triumphant "How High" and an extended "Sproston Green".

Oasis have a difficult act to follow in the Charlatans but straight away they are ready for the task. The introduction tape of "F@ckin' In The Bushes" announces their arrival and from the moment "Hello" is belted out it is clear that any lingering technical demons which were apparently present last night have been defeated. New-ish band members Andy Bell (bass) and Gem Archer (guitar) have now been well and truly bedded in and the live Oasis now sound better than ever before. Classics like "Morning Glory" and "Live Forever" benefit from their added expertise with lead guitar parts and bass fills played where they were once neglected by their predecessors. Liam's voice sounds simply fantastic when you can hear him above the crowd and he manages to produce a note-perfect of current single "Stop Crying Your Heart Out". The new line-up has also revitalised the creative output, Archer's "Hung In A Bad Place" being the only out and out rocker on "Heathen Chemistry" and performed here with some gusto. Two of Liam's three, "Better Man" and the Lennon-esque "Born On A Different Cloud" are played and show that the younger Gallagher is developing into a fine songwriter (who could have imagined after the cringe-inducing "Little James" from "Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants?).

But it is Gallagher Senior who has contributed the bulk of the material for "Heathen Chemistry" which shows that, despite his claims to the contrary in the press, Oasis is still very much his baby and all the better for it. All the Noel-penned newies are performed save for "She Is Love" and "(Probably) All In The Mind". He sings two of these, "Force Of Nature" and "Little by Little", along with oldies "She's Electric" and "Don't Look Back In Anger"; as marvellous as Liam's voice is tonight without this respite it would be easy to tire of his distinctive squall. It is testament to the quality of the new material that Oasis can get away with leaving out "Supersonic", "Champagne Supernova", "Roll With It" and even "Wonderwall". There are welcome recalls for "Columbia", "D'you Know What I Mean" and "Some Might Say", but still no "Slide Away" sadly. All songs are performed with the usual lack of physical movement and audience interaction but this is made up for by frequently hilarious banter between Liam and Noel and Liam's various nonsensical, not to mention foul-mouthed, ramblings.

By the time the last chord of a triumphant "My Generation" has faded into the London night it dawns on you that it is finally time to be excited about being an Oasis fan once more. This is due mostly to the fact that the band themselves are obviously excited about being Oasis again. This is shown on the new album, which lacks both "Be Here Now"s' bloated self-importance and "Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants"' apathy, but it is also shown by a live performance which is relaxed and confident and always impressive. If Oasis have come a long way from their late-nineties creative slump (which nevertheless still involved millions of records being sold) then their live experience is also now light-years from the televised shambles of Wembley 2000 when Liam could barely be bothered singing and seemed keen to share with the audience every grievance he held over his impending divorce. As ever, there is nothing particularly subtle or sophisticated about Oasis (nor is there a desire to be) but they manage to inspire and cheer young England, who have been disappointed by yet another summer of sporting failure and who have few worthwhile causes to get behind, and for that we should all be grateful.

Phil Baron

Finsbury Park 06/07/02