Oasis' Stockholm gig

I came home from Stockholm yesterday evening after watching Oasis' concert at Johanneshovs Isstadion, Hovet, with my comrades Pippo and Green. It was the second time I saw the band, but since we sat on the top of the stands, about 80 meters from the stage it was quite different this time. In Copenhagen, we stood quite close to the stage, which of course generated a very intimate feeling compared to the Stockholm gig. Live Forever was definitely (maybe) the best song in the set - it was almost religious when the 8000 rised and sang along to the "chorus".

Sadly, the new songs are simply very far from the class of the 90s, but some of them, like A Bell Will Ring and The Importance of Being Idle still work very well.

The set list looked like this, if I remember right:

1. Turn up the Sun DBTT
2. Lyla DBTT
3. Bring it on Down DM
4. Morning Glory WTSMG
5. Cigarettes and Alcohol DM
6. The Importance of Being Idle DBTT
7. The Masterplan WW/TM
8. Songbird HC
9. Acquiesce SMS/TM
10. A Bell Will Ring DBTT
11. Live Forever DM
12. Mucky Fingers DBTT
13. Wonderwall WTSMG
14. Champagne Supernova WTSMG
15. Rock n Roll Star DM

16. Guess God Thinks I'm Abel DBTT
17. Meaning of Soul DBTT
18. Don't Look Back In Anger WTSMG
19. My Generation LBLSL

(Albums: DM=Definitely Maybe, WTSMG=What's The Story Morning Glory, TM=The Masterplan HC=Heathen Chemistry, DBTT=Don't Believe the Truth, SMS=Some Might Say single, DLBIA=Don't Look Back in Anger single, LBLSL=Little by Little/She is Love single)

Songbird is most likely included to make Liam happy, because it just doesn't work live. At all. It is also sad that they don't play Supersonic at this tour, I would really like to see that one. Along with at least one song from 1997's questioned Be Here Now album. Preferably D'You Know What I Mean? or Be Here Now.

It is also quite bizarre that it was when Wonderwall was played that the atmosphere reached its peak. For the mainstream audience, this song is Oasis' most known one, but I would've guessed that most people at Hovet were the die hard fans, and die hard fans usually see Wonderwall as one of the weaker tracks from (What's the Story?) Morning Glory and dislike the Wonderwall hype.

The smallest surprise, except that Liam's voiced sounded shitty in the opening Turn up the Sun, was the reviews in the Swedish papers today and yesterday. The biggest Oasis haters in Swedish media were once again foaming at the mouth with rage. The tabloids' Markus Larsson (Aftonbladet) and Anders Nunstedt (Expressen) both graded the gig with 1 on a scale from 1-6. Without writing anything at all about the actual concert. It is quite remarkable how the reviewers' collective act. In almost all other countries, Oasis still get fairly good reviews and the journalists focus on the actual music when they give their opinion on the albums and gigs. Here, it seems like the writers of the different papers have an internal competition which is all about testing who can upset the fans the most.

This time, Markus Larsson at Aftonbladet won. Read his review, and note how he picks out the peak of the concert, Live Forever, as the opposite.

Reviews with links
Andres Lokko, Svenska Dagbladet
This guy was once smacked by Liam Gallagher in Stockholm. The review focuses partly on the music though, and is better than the tabloids'.
2/6

Markus Larsson, Aftonbladet
Bizarre, definitely the worst reviewer in Sweden. It is also interesting to note that on the same day, his paper graded a Darin concert 3/6.
1/6

Anders Nunstedt, Expressen
This guy is an old Oasis fan for a long time, but he changed his mind and this is just a joke. "This is personal", he says.
1/6

Johanna Paulsson, Dagens Nyheter
A more reasoning review than the others, not very positive though.
Dagens Nyheter are too cultural elite to use a grade system on their reviews.

Jesper Larsson, Stockholm City
The only positive Swedish review that I've seen.
3/5


To get a non-Swedish perspective on things, please read Norwegian Verdens Gang's review on Oasis' concert in Oslo earlier in the week:
Thomas Talseth
Quite different.
5/6

******

Celebrity watch
Most people who like Oasis are quite cool. This thesis was partly proven by the celebrities that I spotted at Hovet:

Fredrik Wikingsson
One of my idols. This guy, along with his friend Filip Hammar, are Sweden's most humouristic TV personalities right now. They are also setting the tone and jargon of the conversations of 2006. No surprise that he likes Oasis.

Mats Rubarth
One of the bigger profiles of Swedish soccer a couple of years ago. Not as common in media today. I am not particularly fond of him since he plays for AIK, but he is the kind of guy that you would love to have in your team. One of Sweden's coolest soccer players.

Rickard Olsson
More surprising to see this guy here. He has been the host of TV4's BingoLotto and SVT's Söndagsöppet.

******

Personal rank
Finally, I (the guy with the bizarre smile and MADE IN ITALY label to the right, pic from Hovet) would like to share my own personal rank of the songs:
1. Live Forever
2. Don't Look Back In Anger
3. Acquiesce
4. Champagne Supernova
5. My Generation
6. The Masterplan

Of the new songs, A Bell Will Ring was the best. Drummer Zak Starkey's finish of Mucky Fingers was also quite interesting.

And in all fairness...

Worst songs in the set:
1. Songbird
2. Guess God Thinks I'm Abel
3. Meaning of Soul

Wait a second, who was the guy that wrote those three songs?

(Photos by Olof Green)