Critiquing Oasis

[Petcha]

A few yrs ago Springsteen fans were moaning about Ticketmaster using dynamic pricing for his shows. Some thought ‘man of the people’ Bruce would surely do something about it if he knew what was going on. But when asked he said nothing more than ‘out of my hands, buddy’. Which, as we all know, was bollocks, and from someone like him that did come across as hypercritical.

But that’s one thing we can’t level against the Gallaghers because, one thing that’s never been in any doubt, is that the main thing they ever cared about was getting rich. I clearly remember Noel after their first flush of success boasting about how many million he had in the bank. It’s the main reason the likes of the Sun loved them, cos here was two working class lads totally in yer face about making shitloads of dosh. Proper aspirational, that.

So it’s not so much a case of them being honest working class lads made good (money) and if you don’t like them then you’re a snob. It’s about your attitude to musicians whose artistic ambitions start and end with becoming rich and famous. If you share their values - and clearly lots of people do - then you’ll probably defend them to the hilt and open up your wallet. And that’s fine. But that’s really all they’re about.

Pearl Jam took it all the way to a Senate hearing iirc. And lost. It was a bizarre thing seeing them sitting in front of these suits in DC. The band dressed. Well. Like grunge stars. But they tried.

Pearl Jam: Taking on Ticketmaster

The Seattle rockers may have lost in court, but the fight against the ticketing giants isn't over

www.rollingstone.com

The saga dates back to early ’94. Committed to paring hidden costs passed on to concert fans and emboldened by their newfound status as America’s best-selling rock act, Pearl Jam laid down guidelines for their upcoming tour: $1.80 service fees clearly spelled out on $18 tickets. Ticketmaster was used to charging concertgoers a service fee that was two or three times that amount with fees on top-dollar tickets reaching as high as $18 – and a showdown of Goliath vs. Goliath was set.

Pearl Jam quickly abandoned their tour plans, and after being prompted by Justice Department officials, they filed an antitrust complaint against Ticketmaster, triggering a federal investigation into the company’s alleged monopoly. (Although it was the Justice Department that had approached Pearl Jam, it was often wrongly reported that the band initiated the complaint.) Pearl Jam claimed that Ticketmaster, after scooping up its competitors, abused its marketplace dominance by collecting sky-high service fees and signing exclusive deals with major concert venues, leaving consumers and artists with no other alternative. (Approximately half a dozen small regional companies scramble for the 30 percent of the market that Ticketmaster doesn’t command.)

 

[Dr. Furface]

Pearl Jam took it all the way to a Senate hearing iirc. And lost. It was a bizarre thing seeing them sitting in front of these suits in DC. The band dressed. Well. Like grunge stars. But they tried.

Pearl Jam: Taking on Ticketmaster

The Seattle rockers may have lost in court, but the fight against the ticketing giants isn't over

www.rollingstone.com

Fair play, and a long time before the advent of dynamic pricing too.

 

[Petcha]

Fair play, and a long time before the advent of dynamic pricing too.

They lost millions by cancelling that tour in protest and were presumably hoping their peers might hop on board but nobody did. And ticketmaster are still at it.

 

[Elpenor]

It is the market, therefore cannot be questioned

Also among those waiting was the government minister Lucy Powell.

The leader of the House of Commons bought two tickets for Manchester in July for £350 each.

She told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Eventually I got through and bought a couple of tickets for more than I was expecting to pay."

She said she did not "particularly like" surge pricing, but added: "It is the market and how it operates”

Bands urged to oppose dynamic pricing of concert tickets after Oasis ‘fiasco’

Fans who queued online for tickets to see Gallagher brothers’ shows found price had almost trebled

www.theguardian.com

 

[Dr. Furface]

Robert Smith told them what to do with their inflated fees and declined surge pricing. You see, they can if they care.

The Cure’s Robert Smith convinces Ticketmaster to refund ‘unduly high’ fees after fan anger
The Cure’s Robert Smith convinces Ticketmaster to refund ‘unduly high’ fees after fan anger

 

[BigMoaner]

Amazes me how easy people can be ripped off. Surge pricing can go fuck itself. I was angry that my football club that is shit is now 40quid a ticket so surge pricing can fuck off.

 

[Elpenor]

Does surge pricing mean I will get paid three times my normal salary if it’s a busy day at work tomorrow?

Thought not

 

[Lotte]

All the endless layers of class politics projected onto them are not really much to do with them in the final instance. Liam is utterly gross for the homophobia he has at times displayed though.

Yeah, that's what people like Price are trying to point out, but the anti-woke crowd conveniently ignore that and just whine on about how he's a miserable 'non-binary flump' (™Mumsnet) because he has stupid hair and wears eyeliner. Like, sorry for not liking it when a famous person goes on about how people like me are disgusting.

All the 'if you hate Oasis you're classist' crowd never seem that bothered about classism in the music industry today. I don't see GB News complaining about how stacked the deck is against working-class musicians, and how if you don't have the money or connections, you're faced with a massive hill to climb. If Space were a new band now, the chances of them making it would be even lower.

The Masterplan pisses over everything post-Be Here Now. I've been on an Oasis B-side kick recently and the title track, Underneath the Sky, Acquiesce and Half the World Away are all up there.

 

[Lotte]

In the same piece, she also says, "One thing Oasis never did is sneer at their fans, or (wealth aside), pretend to be any different from them."

Not sure if that´s true, since Noel is on record as saying that he sends his kids to a posh school, because he´d rather have them spending all day with the offspring of Russian oligarchs than coming home talking like Ali G. Is that what they call "keeping it real"?

Yeah, Oasis never sneering at people is an absolute lie. They did it all the fucking time, they were constantly slagging people off, and yes, Noel did say that he didn't want his kids talking like Ali G.

 

[hitmouse]

If I were to criticise any other band I would expect examples of their music as defence. The only defence ever offered to a criticism of Oasis is 'you must be a snob'

There's also a really funny example of nearly-but-not-quite-defending Oasis' music in that Ellen piece:

It’s also conveniently “misremembered” where Oasis “come from” creatively. Not just Manchester, but also “Madchester” and acid house, a groovy, inclusive, 80s/90s ecstasy-blitzed dance-rock-pop fusion scene, all whirling around the Factory Records nightclub, the Hacienda. A gigantic melting pot of influences and genres (house, funk, soul, hip-hop), it produced acts such as the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, and the Inspiral Carpets. When I interviewed the latter, Noel was working as a roadie for them.

Having been a roadie for Inspiral Carpets once is a bit like making exciting music yourself, right?

 

[BigMoaner]

There's also a really funny example of nearly-but-not-quite-defending Oasis' music in that Ellen piece:

Having been a roadie for Inspiral Carpets once is a bit like making exciting music yourself, right?

Noel was always well into acid house and still is apparently. Shame it never rubbed off properly on his music

 

[Lotte]

I guess there was Setting Sun. Which is better than anything Oasis did post-Be Here Now.

 

[BigMoaner]

Not going to go on about bloody oasis but…imagine you’re at a festival in say 1994 and you’d never heard of oasis. Strip them of all context in your mind. Suspend all beliefs. It’s night time. The next band who comes on is called “Doughasis” and this is them, this is the tune they play:



I still think people would be blown away in the main.

 

[Voley]

I guess there was Setting Sun. Which is better than anything Oasis did post-Be Here Now.

He did that song with Goldie, thinking about it, too. That wasn't that great imo, but I liked the Chemical Brothers one.

 

[BigMoaner]

Nothing convinces me we've actually progressed in this world. Just go back to the days of popping into Andy's Records and buy a real ticket, or sit on the phone ready with your card details and a reasonable chance of getting one.

There’s a lot of truth in this.

 

[Santino]

I guess there was Setting Sun. Which is better than anything Oasis did post-Be Here Now.

Except that it just sounds like a knock-off of Tomorrow Never Knows.

 

[Lotte]

That's why I like it.

 

[Elpenor]

Not going to go on about bloody oasis but…imagine you’re at a festival in say 1994 and you’d never heard of oasis. Strip them of all context. It’s night time. The next band who comes on is called “Doughasis” and this is them, this is the tune they play:



I still think people would be blown away in the main.

Happy to go along with this, while I didn’t see Oasis in 1994 but did see what was then a little known band called The Stereophonics in 1997, near the bottom of the indie stage at V festival. They weren’t ever really my thing, but as a dross indie band they had miles more presence and energy than the other dross indie bands on that stage.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Yeah, that's what people like Price are trying to point out, but the anti-woke crowd conveniently ignore that and just whine on about how he's a miserable 'non-binary flump' (™Mumsnet) because he has stupid hair and wears eyeliner. Like, sorry for not liking it when a famous person goes on about how people like me are disgusting.

All the 'if you hate Oasis you're classist' crowd never seem that bothered about classism in the music industry today. I don't see GB News complaining about how stacked the deck is against working-class musicians, and how if you don't have the money or connections, you're faced with a massive hill to climb. If Space were a new band now, the chances of them making it would be even lower.

The Masterplan pisses over everything post-Be Here Now. I've been on an Oasis B-side kick recently and the title track, Underneath the Sky, Acquiesce and Half the World Away are all up there.

The Masterplan should have been their third and final album release.

Even What's the Story was bloated. The effort and energy that fuelled the first album was already depleted. They had nothing to write about and Noel never grew or developed his songwriting. The reviews for it were negative on the whole, but the universal appeal was strong; it was the second fastest selling album in british history and sold 345,000 in its first week, spent 10 weeks at number one on the LP charts. They were a band that couldn't move on with their sound, and they trod the same path over and over again. Not in a good way like The Ramones or AC/DC, who had a formula that they could tweak occasionally, and keep fresh because Noel wasn't creative enough to do that. He just kept churning, and his solo stuff is the same. Even when he tries to do 'disco' it sounds dull and lifeless. By the time they had Zak Starkey in the band and were doing 'My Generation' as part of their set they were already a heritage act churning out the hits.

I do think brit-pop was basically indie going large. There were tons of post new wave indie pop guitar bands around before, and mostly inspired by 60s pop music, with some punky edges. I remember the indie charts on the Chart Show playing plenty, from The Las, Primal Scream, even Psychic TV's Godstar and on to the 'Madchester' bands. Oasis just happened to be the one of many that became the most popular and succesful.

As for the whole Rave scene, I think many people were going to raves at the weekend and listening to indie guitar music through the week. I straddled both. I took Es and danced Thursday to Sunday and listened to guitar based music through the week. There was crossover. Blur's Girls and Boys was remixed and was a big tune in clubs, and then The Chemical Brothers, Death in Vegas and other dance producers embraced Oasis and The Charlatans/Happy Mondays/Primal Scream etc for collaborations.

 

[Monte]

So my other half somehow managed to bag two tickets for £100 each. They seem to already be priced at £1000 on the reselling sites. Cash out now while there's all this hype or wait till closer to the time?

I personally have no interest in going really,

Gift them to some genuine fans that were unable to get tickets and bank the good karma.

 

[BigMoaner]

it's weird isn't it, we are basically watching the live scamming of a nation with these ticket sales.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

it's weird isn't it, we are basically watching the live scamming of a nation with these ticket sales.

It's the same with hotels, flights and train tickets. It's a rotten practice.

 

[Voley]

My accommodation for the Cardiff gig will be fun. Only thing vaguely affordable is a room in a hostel above a dnb club open till 3am. Ready-made after party.

I'm of an age where a cup of tea and a decent kip might preferable if I'm honest but the next cheapest room was a really shit looking Airbnb that the bloke wanted £300 for. 300 quid for a single bed for the night ffs.

 

[tommers]

My accommodation for the Cardiff gig will be fun. Only thing vaguely affordable is a room in a hostel above a dnb club open till 3am. Ready-made after party.

You won't be able to sleep until 3am anyway cos you'll be so hyped and whatever.

 

[Voley]

You won't be able to sleep until 3am anyway cos you'll be so hyped and whatever.

I am genuinely excited about this, you're right. It must be over 20 years since I last saw them.

 

[ddraig]

My accommodation for the Cardiff gig will be fun. Only thing vaguely affordable is a room in a hostel above a dnb club open till 3am. Ready-made after party.

I'm of an age where a cup of tea and a decent kip might preferable if I'm honest but the next cheapest room was a really shit looking Airbnb that the bloke wanted £300 for. 300 quid for a single bed for the night ffs.

How many of you going/needing to stay?

 

[Voley]

How many of you going/needing to stay?

Just me.

 

[Elpenor]

When I go to Cardiff for rugby I once stayed in Gloucester - lateish trains back from Cardiff. But matches tend to finish earlier than gigs. Some mates have stayed in Newport at Coldra Court and cabbed it back.

 

[Voley]

I think it's gonna be carnage coming out of the stadium with 75000 others and this place is literally 500m away so there's that. I won't have to bother about transport.

Plus dnb till 3am.

 

[ddraig]

I think it's gonna be carnage coming out of the stadium with 75000 others and this place is literally 500m away so there's that. I won't have to bother about transport.

Plus dnb till 3am.

Right in the thick of it there, party/carnage (every weekend) street