Live Review

Oasis – Slane Castle, Co Meath

• 25th Jun 2009

Amongst the horror stories that emerged after Slane this year it would be easy to forget that a gig took place. Yes, it took a while to get home (nothing new there) and yes a small portion of the massive crowd did some bold things (nothing new there). It has to be remembered that Slane is essentially a wealthy person’s back garden in the countryside and not Croke Park. If you want an event-free concert and a seamless journey home may I suggest giving Slane a wide berth.

And so to the music, our own boys The Blizzards managed to scramble themselves on to the undercard of another big gig and played an acceptable set that will neither win nor lose them any fans. Glasvegas, armed with a decent debut and some cracking singles promised more. Ultimately their music is better suited to smaller venues than the vast surrounds of Slane. Even “Geraldine” sounded a bit anaemic and lost. The first band to really get the crowd moving were Kasabian. They divide a lot of people, their brand of swaggering psychedelica tinged indie either excites or irritates. Fact is however they are an excellent live band and they played a storming set. After a typically dodgy second album, offerings from their new album sounded great, “Fire”, “Underdog” & “Vlad the Impaler” all getting a great reaction from the swelling crowd. An incendiary version of “Club Foot” and “LSF” were other highlights.

The Prodigy tore things up and whooped the crowd up into a frenzy with a set that interspersed the old and new. Their reputation as one of the most exciting live bands remains intact and should be seen by all at least once.

After two great support acts it was over to Oasis to close an enjoyable day. What followed was a set that had many highlights but also slipped into the mundane on occasions. Oasis are musically streets ahead of where they were when they released ‘Definitely Maybe’ and ‘What’s the Story…’ but it is the songs from these albums that predictably stand out in the live arena. They kicked things off with a storming version of “Rock & Roll Star”. “Cigarettes and Alcohol” & ”Supersonic” followed sounding mighty with Liam on top form. His voice has taken some punishment over the years but it sounded better than in recent gigs. It was older brother Noel who stole the show however with the great but rarely played live “Half the World Away”, “The Importance of Being Idle” and of course, “The Masterplan”.

New material was clapped politely but sounds better on CD than live. An encore of “Don’t Look Back In Anger”, “Champagne Supernova” and “I Am The Walrus” brought a close to an enjoyable (if a little nostalgic) playlist. All in all it was a great day out in a great natural amphitheatre to watch music. Oasis, the band that provided the soundtrack to the teenage years of most in attendance, didn’t let the massive crowd down. Kudos to Kasabian and The Prodigy for a great job supporting and upping the ante. And then for the journey home…