Tag Archives: oasis

Thursday: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds / Mona @ The LC

You know those concerts that you regret not going to the minute you make up your mind not to attend? In 1994 my friend (and Sony college rep) Andy called and said, “I’m going to Cleveland to see this band called Oasis at the Grog Shop. They are blowing up in the UK the way Pearl Jam is blowing up in the US. Want to go?” Hearing this, I thought Oasis MUST be a grunge band because that was all the rage but when I heard the Gallagher brothers, the music sounded nothing like the music coming out of Seattle so I passed on going with Andy.

I never did see Oasis live though I probably had some opportunities before they broke up. When the Gallagher brothers split off into two bands (Liam with Beady Eye, Noel under his own name), I pretty much decided that the only chance to see either band would be to travel to a HUGE city like New York or Chicago or L.A. So, yeah, I was a little caught off guard when it was announced Noel would be playing at the LC on March 29 and bought a ticket within hours of them going on sale.

The day has finally arrived. As if seeing Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds isn’t great enough (I put his self-titled debut on my “Favorites of 2011” list), the Nashville-by-way-of-Dayton band Mona (who opened – and thoroughly impressed – for The Joy Formidable at The Basement early in 2011) will kick the night off.

If you like peeking at Christmas presents before Christmas, here’s the set list from Noel’s March 13 show. You can bet it’ll be pretty similar – if not exactly the same – in Columbus (lots of Oasis songs in the mix!).

Oasis, Beady Eye, Noel Gallagher

Reading Chuck Klosterman’s interview with Noel Gallagher this morning on the train definitely dusted off my love of the band. It’s been awhile since I listened to anything by either brother but now I’ve got several hours of music on a Spotify playlist to keep me busy.

I went with my friend Sara to see Oasis at the Hammerstein Ballroom during the “Be Here Now” tour. There’s three things I remembered:

#1. The band was awesome.

#2. The band was loud as hell. I remember all the old people (well, old to me at the time) running away from the stage once the music started.

#3. The Fun Lovin’ Criminals opened. Every European band touring New York around that time seem to have them as their openers and I could not escape these dudes.

After the jump, let’s catch up with some videos of both brother’s new projects. Continue reading

Monday: Viva Brother @ Black Box (Wexner Center)

A hundred years ago, or so it seems, Andy – the local Sony college rep at the time – called me and said, “I’m heading to Cleveland to see this new band from the UK called Oasis. They’re playing at the Grog Shop. Want to go?” In the pre-internet days, I couldn’t go online to see what this band was all about so I asked, “Who would you compare them to?” Andy said, “Kind of like Pearl Jam. Not the way they sound, but the way they just blew up over night. They won’t be playing places like the Grog Shop very much longer.” As a Pearl Jam fan, I was intrigued but then I heard a very non-grungy Oasis single and decided it wasn’t worth a trip to Cleveland to see this new band.

Here we are in 2011. I don’t know if this new UK band Viva Brother is going to blow up like Oasis and Blur in the U.S. Not too many bands really have that capability these days but I’ll be damned if “Darling Buds in May” isn’t my pick for “Best Song of the Summmer (2011 edition)”. I might even say it’s my favorite single of the YEAR if I really think about it.

I’m calling this a “Don’t Miss Show”. I’m saying this might be one of those “I saw them when they played in a really small venue” shows. I’ve been wrong before, but I don’t want to make the same mistake I made by missing Oasis in their infancy.

Viva Brother and 1,2,3 play Monday night at the Black Box on the Mershon Stage at the Wexner Center. Tickets are $12 and the show starts around 8pm.