I saw Oasis this past weekend in Toronto¹. The sound was okay and the band was great. It was amazing to hear Supersonic live again.

After doing a little bit of historical research, I determined it was my 5th time seeing Oasis. The first time was in 1995 at Hammerjacks, a small Baltimore venue that was torn down in 1997 to build a parking lot. I realize now that the Hammerjacks ’95 show was 1) the first show in the US for that album and 2) was a mere 8 days after the album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? was released. We saw them later on that same tour at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia. By the end of the tour they were playing arenas and even played a few shows with an audience of 125,000 people.

The 2025 ticket was a little more expensive than that first time ($12!!!).

I distinctly remember ‘arguing’ with a friend freshman year of college. His premise was simple: Oasis was a shit band with shit lyrics. He was wrong then just as he is wrong now. The lyrics may not be the deepest, Liam does not have a ton of stage presence, and the music definitely echoes other artists. All that misses the point. Oasis was always about the music, the sum total of it. Just like the show. The band was there to play music, and that’s exactly what they did.