Oasis - Live In Singapore Concert Review

Who: Oasis

What: Dig Out Your Soul Tour

When: 5 April 2009, 8pm

Where: Singapore Indoor Stadium

Setlist:

1. Rock 'N' Roll Star

2. Lyla

3. The Shock Of The Lightning

4. Cigarettes & Alcohol

5. The Meaning Of Soul

6. To Be Where There's Life

7. Waiting For The Rapture

8. The Masterplan

9. Songbird

10. Slide Away

11. Morning Glory

12. Ain't Got Nothin'

13. The Importance Of Being Idle

14. I'm Outta Time

15. Wonderwall

16. Supersonic

Encore:

17. Don't Look Back In Anger (acoustic)

18. Falling Down

19. Champagne Supernova

20. I Am The Walrus (The Beatles cover)

Oasis returned to Singapore once again, performing in front of a 9,000 capacity audience at the Indoor Stadium. The last time they were here was slightly more than 3 years ago (23 Feb 2006). In fact, the gap between visits for Coldplay is shorter than that for Oasis (Coldplay's last concert was on 10 July 2006). 

Nevertheless, despite the considerably short time gap, both bands still sold well - for Coldplay, about 11,000 tickets were sold out after only 5 days. While Oasis didn't sell out, they still managed to fill up the floor, with about 15% of the seats on the stands empty.

Having both concerts take place within 2 weeks of each other, it is tempting to compare them. After all, both bands hail from the UK, ALL their studio albums have hit #1, they have at various times been called "the biggest band in the world", and they can still command large audiences during economic downturns. And I have also watched both bands previously, 3 years ago. 

However, the Coldplay and Oasis concerts couldn't be more different. For Coldplay, the 2nd show was way better than the first (even though I remember the 2006 concert being solid as well, so that's saying something), whereas I felt that Oasis didn't bring anything new for their second time coming.

Not in the literal sense, as Oasis performed 6 songs from their latest album, Dig Out Your Soul, which is a fair proportion of the setlist. But more of the fact that it was Oasis as we have seen before - the same nonchalant stage presence, the same basic stage setup and lights, the same song arrangements - basically it felt like the same show, albeit with a slightly different setlist.

I was reading through my 2006 review and I realised that my comments for this concert is exactly the same as for that one. The highlight of the concert is still Noel singing The Importance Of Being Idle and Don't Look Back In Anger. Liam was still clapping at the end of songs. The only difference is that he looked much older and uglier this time, with a horrible buzz cut and sideburns, not to mention the trench coat.

Perhaps it was due to where I was seated (right upstairs because mine was the cheapest ticket)that the sound wasn't that great. It was quite muddy and definitely wasn't as good as Coldplay.

The Gallagher brothers have already said that they don't rely on gimmicks like sprinting up and down, doing big stage actions or thrashing guitars to spice up the show, but a little bit more interaction and swagger would be good. 

I think we've all been spoilt by Coldplay, who did 2 sets away from the main stage, among the audience. I know Oasis are Oasis, this is how they are and they don't give a damn about giving in to what people want. But people pay good money to be entertained, and I think they should put in a tad more effort to satisfy the audience just a little bit more.

Musically wise, the songs sound pretty much the same as the album versions. The best improvement was of course the acoustic version of Don't Look Back In Anger, which allowed Noel's voice to shine through, and for the whole stadium to sing along together while Noel took a break. It was damn cool to sing along with 9,000 other people. It's an anthem.

The new songs didn't really do it for me. I mean some of them were nice but they didn't make me appreciate them even more and make me want to revisit them. So it was down to the oldies to save the day.

As usual, they didn't do anything from the Be Here Now album, and only one track from Heathen Chemistry made it (Songbird). And they did without Some Might Say and Roll With It once more, but the biggest travesty has to be the omission of Live Forever. I thought they would close with that song.

Closing thoughts, I think I would have enjoyed the concert more if it was my first time watching them. They put on a decent show, nothing more. They went through the motions and did their thing the way they always did. 15 years since the release of their debut album, they have become veterans at the game, but sometimes a little reinvention is good - to win over new fans and retain old fans.