Oasis

Having been elevated to the status of a national institution, it seems these are turbulent times for Oasis. With rumours filtering around the bars and pubs around Wembley that tonight's show will be their last amid more bickering within Camp Gallagher, not to mention lukewarm reviews emanating from what has been a technical fault-ridden tour, there's a climactic, almost funereal feeling tonight. When someone puts Blur's 'Song 2' on the jukebox in the pub beforehand, its impossible not to harbor thoughts about Damon Albarn and co's triumphant shows in the capital a week ago which not only usurped the current Oasis stadiumfest but also pretty much anything else you'd care to mention this summer.

The choice of supporting acts tells its own story. Indeed, the more cynical among us suggest that maybe they were chosen to highlight the headline band's influence and superiority. Certainly the days of choosing fairly ambitious openers like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Secret Machines seems to be a thing of the past, as Kasabian, Reverend & The Makers (who we gladly avoid) and The Enemy (yet another last minute cancellation - more of which later) almost reads like a 'Stars In Their Eyes' list of tribute acts in thrall to the headliners.

While Kasabian do at least possess an ounce of stage presence, they also have in their midst one of the most annoying frontmen I've ever had the displeasure to witness. What this means is that every song is punctuated with "Let's 'av it ya fuckas" while the unnecessary intro to 'L.S.F.' featuring Candy Staton's 'You Got The Love' would be sleep inducing if it weren't for the fact the rain makes us head for the sanctuary of the concourse bar instead. For all of Kasabian's protestations that they've nothing to do with "lad rock", it would be hard to envisage them getting a similarly ecstatic reception anywhere else in front of any other, more musically refined audience.

When Oasis take to the stage to the now familiar strains of 'Fucking In The Bushes', an almighty surge sweeps those of us on the hallowed turf in several, uncontrollable directions. Without further ado, DiS chooses to relocate to the safer confines of the seats with the rest of the press fraternity. Before launching into a rousing 'Rock And Roll Star', Liam Gallagher announces that the band aren't splitting up; "We've not even started yet" he declares. Subsequent mayhem ensues, and despite the torrential downpour, continues for the next two hours solid.

While their Goldsmiths reared arch nemesis may have produced a more salient return than anyone could have wished for, Oasis still retain a remarkable level of consistency that more than justifies their status as this nation's biggest stadium draw. Their no frills rock'n'roll might not win any awards in the originality stakes, but tonight's set is packed with hits spanning their fifteen year career, and even though the criticisms remain that their creative zenith has well and truly passed, as a live act in such surroundings there really isn't a more accomplished band on these shores at this present moment in time.

While the likes of 'To Be Where There's Life' and 'Waiting For The Rapture' proved to be the most forgettable couplet of the evening, Dig Out Your Soul material was rightly kept to a minimum, the six-piece (one-time Kula Shaker keysman Jay Darlington beefing up the sound here) instead preferring to delve into their illustrious past, 'Supersonic' and '(What's The Story) Morning Glory' both sounding particularly euphoric. When Noel launches into the opening chords of 'Don't Look Back In Anger', the crowd roar back in unison, so much so that Gallagher senior is the one standing back in awe, speechless as every single word from first to last is sang back at him. An Animal Collective gig this is not, and while it would be drastically unfair to compare the two, one could never imagine a band of their ilk being capable of inspiring such rabid devotion as this. He then goes on to dedicate 'The Importance Of Being Idle' to Tom Clarke from The Enemy, adding "There'd better be a fucking good reason why you're not here tonight". By the time 'Champagne Supernova' and a ten-minute rendition of 'I Am The Walrus' close the show, we're left in no doubt that whatever their detractors think - and there are plenty of them, most unforgiving due to the legacy of horrific bands who've formed in their shadow - Oasis still stand head and shoulders above the majority of their peers.

Photo by Gary Wolstenholme