high flying birds

Once or twice a year, really not much more than that, I get to a live music event. Usually these are small, low-key. I don't even always know the name going in - last year's Dick Prall show I went to with Allison is a prime example. Occasionally it's a bigger name - Florence + the Machine with some of the Smelts is one of those rare occurrences. It's one of those things that Conrad and I diverge a little on: I play music constantly and have a reasonably broad range of tastes. Conrad would prefer that we stick with Enya played soothingly most evenings. I joke, a little - his tastes aren't that narrow, and I have introduced him to recorded music and live performances that he's enjoy a good deal. Still, concerts are not a regular thing for me or us.

Enter Bridget.

Bridget is sort of a Terraceite. That is, she lived there for a period of time, and it's from that part of the mid-90s that we know each others. In fact, she's a Wisconsinite, now living in Milwaukee. We've been in touch for several years now and have had a couple of meals together up there and down here. Early this year, though, she contacted me to let me know that Noel Gallagher, formerly of Oasis, would be playing in Milwaukee. Would I like to come up? My vacation balances wouldn't permit a midweek show, but the Chicago concert was on a Sunday, there were tickets, and she was willing to come down. Hooray!

Oasis has a particular place in our shared experience. In 1995 Air Canada opened a new route from Vancouver to Chicago, and offered a low introductory price with connections from within BC to Vancouver for a small amount more. We kind of joked about it in the wake of my bosses booking a trip to Chicago, and then after seeing While You Were Sleeping, we resolved to make a trip up around the Thanksgiving (real Thanksgiving, not the USian one) weekend. I ended up buying the What's The Story CD in Madison on our whirlwind 48-hour drive across the state and back again, and that music recalls to me that trip and a golden autumn weekend in Wisconsin. No wonder I romanticize the state!

At the start of April, then, Bridget hopped a train on down to Chicago, got settled in to our spare room, and then she, Conrad, and I headed to Oh Fusion with a bottle of good BC Pinot for a sushi dinner.

We left Conrad after dinner, got on the El, and headed up to the Riviera Theatre.

Found seats upstairs in the balcony. Readied ourselves for the show.

The opening act was called Mona. They had attitude and volume. I couldn't understand a word they sang, but it was somewhat catchy. I haven't followed up to buy any tracks, however. Bridget and I enjoyed the people watching around us (lots of folks in their forties, like us, a curiously large number of young people) and began counting the beers consumed by the guy in front of us (5 of his own, and I think he helped his girlfriend with hers).

And then the main event.

People always talk of how great a singer Liam Gallagher is, but I sometimes found him too overwrought. The songs where Noel was lead singer were sometimes more palatable for the singing. Sunday Morning Call comes to mind. I'd bought the album (and I should correct myself - it's Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, not Noel Gallagher, but who are we kidding?), and found it fine. Just fine. A bit dull and needing some edge. But fine. The songs were mostly familiar to me, though not enough to sing along.

Mid-set, the band cleared off and Noel was left alone with an acoustic guitar with which he launched into Supersonic. THIS was what a lot of the crowd really wanted, judging my the singalong that resulted. Me? I was giddily singing along to one of my all-time favourite Oasis tracks, too.

But that was it for the main set - from what I could tell, there were people down front hollering for other Oasis songs, and he told them they'd have to go home and put a CD on. I think that was the exchange - he sang well and clearly, but his banter was terribly muffled and mumbled. Which leads to the problem with the concert: I could have stayed home with Conrad and Bridget, had a bit more wine, and listened to the album and had just as good an experience. Noel didn't connect well with the audience, in my opinion. The renditions of the songs were quite faithful, which is a good and bad thing - sometimes the live show is a chance for mixing things up or trying new takes. This didn't really have that, and while I didn't miss it, I also felt like the renditions were maybe too faithful. Ah well. That's me wanting to have my cake and eat it, too, right?

Noel saved one more Oasis song for the encore, and it was another doozy: Don't Look Back in Anger. The crowd tried to applaud the band back onstage for a second encore, but it was over, and Bridget and I were left to an enjoyable mile or so walk home to critique the performance and think on when we can meet up in the future again.