Oasis at Fairfax '98

Oasis' second appearance at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia was easily the best concert I've been to. But then, it's the only one I've been to. Still, by anyone's standards, it was a great show. Below is my very detailed account of it from before the start to after the finish. Enjoy.

We(being me, my older sister Dawn, and my friend Ryan) arrived at the Patriot Center's parking lot at around 6:30 p.m. after taking several wrong turns on the highway out to Fairfax from Washington, D.C. The first thing I noticed as we drove into the parking lot was that everybody heading into the show looked to be between the ages of 13 and 18. I don't know why this surprised me, but for some reason it did. Anyway, we got out of the car and followed the crowd of people towards the Patriot Center(which serves as a basketball arena for George Mason University when not hosting concerts). Outside the north entrance were Patriot Center(which will now be called PC since it's to much of a hassle to write out every time) security guards who were checking people's pockets and handbags to make sure that nothing illegal(i.e. tape recorders, guns, drugs, etc.) was being taken into the show. I was a little bit nervous at this point on account of the disposable camera I had tucked away in one of the pockets of my Adidas jacket, but the guard who felt my pockets and felt the camera through the jacket mistook the camera for a portable phone and let me pass unfettered. Once we got in the building we headed straight to the floor of the stadium to make sure we got good seats. The floor was about one fifth of the way full when we sat down, so were were pretty close to the stage and would only get closer when the everybody stood up. As I looked at the stage, I noticed that a Union Jack was hung on a sort of riser on Noel's side and a Manchester City Football Club poster was hung up on the other end on another sort of riser.

Well, once we got seated it was about 6:45 so Ryan and I decided to go get some food before the show. On the way to get food I noticed a souvenir stand where I stopped and looked around. I bought a t-shirt (a grey one with pictures of blue boxes on the chest and the Oasis logo in the center), stickers(one of a bunch of multi-colored Oasis logos, one of the cover of the BHN album, and one of the Rolls Royce in the pool), and pins(one of the "new" Oasis logo which is a red circle with two blue cresents around it, and a picture of the globe with the Oasis logo in the center) all of which costed me $27. After that we went to get the aforementioned food. As we were walking to one of the stands, we saw several groups of kids(mostly girls) running around screaming "W-H-F-S!" which is the radio station that sponsored the show. I also noticed and was really jealous of a kid wearing a Manchester City FC jersey. Anyway, i got a hot dog with extra cheese and a box of Butterfingers. After that, Ryan and i walked around the stadium while I ate. We saw a group of girls(who were with one guy in a dress, dressed like a Marilyn Manson fan, Goth, Vampire, whatever you want to call them) running around with a big sign that had WHFS and Oasis written on it. They were going crazy sreaming and all that. Incredibly annoying. Anyway, we walked around for a while and then decided to go back and sit down.

When we got back down to the floor entrance, but were stopped at the gate by two fat, ugly PC security idiots. They told us that we couldn't go into the floor because it was too crowded there. At this point the floor was about two-thirds of the way full. I said "What??", but the didn't hear me because he and the other dude were letting some girls on the floor. He then turned back to me and said again that we couldn't go in there. At this point it was really mad and said "What?? O.k. you just let these girls in but we can't go in.", to which he responded "Hey. You were told that you wouldn't be allowed acces to the floor again." I said "No we weren't, no one told us that." So he said "Hey. Talk to him." and pointed to the other guard, who had been listening to what I was talking about. I turned to him and before I could get a word out he said "You can't get in here." and gave me a mean look. At this point Ryan was trying to get us to leave and try another floor entrance, but I was too mad. I told the first guard that I had a friend waiting for me down on the floor and he said "It doesn't matter. The floor's too full." So i tried to get my sister's attention in the hopes that she would get them to let us in(she is a lawyer, after all). She saw me, but was talking on her cell phone, so she didn't come over right away. Anyway, Ryan managed to pull me away from the guards and we went back up to the stadium entrance level. We walked around to the oppposite side of the stadium where there was a different floor entrance guard. She let us in the floor area without a word. We went back to look for my sister in the crowd but couldn't see her. We then looked over at the idiot guards and saw that she was talking with them. We then walked over to her and then back to where we had been sitting before. She said that she argued with them and agreed with my sentiments about them. But then we sat down and all was forgotten and forgiven.

Well, as it turned out when we went back to sit down, two guys who looked to be about in their 30s had taken our "seats". We told them that we were sitting there and they agreed to make room. We spent a few minutes just chatting with them. Apparently one of them was a friend of a friend of my sister's. Our main subject of discussion was how we were going to manage to push our way to the front of the floor(rather ironic, considering what actually happened, bit I'll get to that later). By the way, all during this time, they were playing some songs over the PA system, mostly Beatles. I thought the bass was a bit too high. A problem that seemed to be corrected by the time Oasis came on(but that's a bit later on in this story).

[Here's where the action starts] At around 7:50 some people at the front of the floor started standing up. I think it was because Cornershop's(the "support band") roadies finally got done setting up their chimes and sitars and all that. Well, monkey see, monkey do, that caused everybody else to stand up. And since everyone was standing up now, a lot more space was created, and since there was more space, the crowd rushed to fill that space. So we wound up being a good 5 feet closer to the stage. At first it was a little crushing, but then people got settled and I got a little more space. About five minutes later a section of the lights went out, then the other section. Then the stage lights went on. All the excitement of that caused everyone that had brought cigarettes and a lighter to light up, filling the air(almost immediately) with the pleasant smell of cig smoke which was present throughout the show.

Well, after a few more minutes the drummer and guitar player for Cornershop came out on stage and got to their instruments. The crowd went pretty mad for them, probably because they were just waiting to see someone show up. Then one of the sitar players came on in his "trademarked" red shirt. Then the band started their song "Sleep on the Left Side"(which kind of reminds me of the Sugar Ray song "Fly"). Then the lead singer, Tjinder Singh(I think that's how it's spelled) came up and started singing. I don't think his mic was turned up high enough because I could barely hear him over the sound of all the other instruments. The crowd was cheering pretty loudly and were getting into the song somewhat. At this point, the only room I had was the space that my body was taking up. It was also during this song that the first of many crowdsurfers was hoisted up. Ironically, when he fell, his feet went right into my head, which was wonderful. At the end of this song, Tjinder said something to the effect of "I want whoever's throwing pennies up on stage to please desist." They then went into their next song which was unrecognizable to me. One thing I noticed about Tjinder was that he stayed in the exact same spot through their entire set and looked straight into the mic when singing. The only times he moved was when he got his guitar on and when he got a drink of water. Anyway, the third song was "Brimful of Asha" which was the most noticeable to the audience. Everybody seemed to know the chorus(in case you don't, it goes 'Brimful of asha on the forty-five'). After that song, the attitude of the audience(at least around where I was standing) was relatively warm. Unfortunately it just went downhill from there. I think it was a combination of (1)No one knowing the words to the songs, (2)Many of the words to the songs being in a different language, and (3)People's anticipation to see Oasis that caused a lot of people to start hating Cornershop. The rest of their songs just stated sounding the same as every other one in their set. The coins were hitting the stage like OJ hit Nicole(yeah, i know, bad joke, so sue me). The lowest point for everyone(myself included) came on the final song that had a 4 minute drum beat at the end that never seemed to end. Once that song ended there were two types of people in the audience: type A who were clapping because their set was finally over(it probably lasted about an hour, all told) and type B who were screaming and flicking the band off in both the English and American manner. That was the end of Cornershop, as far as Fairfax was concerned.

Well, after Cornershop's set was done, the lights in the stadium came back on. For some reason this prompted a group of 13 year olds, standing right next to me, to take off their shirts and pose for their friends for a couple snap-shots. Weird. Anyway, this was where things got a bit hairy for me. See, for some reason, when the lights came on, there seemed to be less room than during C-shops set. This alone caused me to feel crushed enough. But then people started trying to form a mosh pit before Oasis came on stage. We were right in the middle of being pushed back and forth by a bunch of drunken...um...kids. Anyway, it was at this point that my sister saw someone fall down. This scared her enough to suggest that we at least move to the back of the floor or go to the seats. I agreed since I was kinda nervous(O.k. I was scared, I admit it). So I agreed. Well, there were literally no seats available in any good area, so we headed to the back of the floor where it was much more peaceful. I could see well enough, so I was satisfied with this seating arrangement. It was a lot less stressful than being in the front of the floor. I did feel a twinge of regret, but what's done is done and there was no way we could have gotten back to the front even if we wanted to.

Well, everyone on the floor was starting to go crazy with anticipation. That was when the shoes and vinyl record covers started flying up into the air, and then back down into someone's head and/or neck. After about 15 minutes of waiting, the moment of truth arrived. Or so we thought, for a moment. Some guy in sweatpants and a really weird hat and carrying a teddy bear came out and said: "Well, I was just backstage talking with Noel, and there was one word he said over and over." he then held the bear up to the microphone, and then squeezed it or something, and it said "fuck" a few times. He then went on to talk about some other musicians who were going to be playing in the Fairfax area in the next couple months. Then he warned us not to throw stuff on stage because "Oasis will walk out." He then left the stage. Then someone with an English accent came on over the PA system saying how we'll all have a fun time as long as no one throws stuff on stage or shines any lights at the band. It was then that the stadium lights went off and the stage lights on. Thin Lizzy's classic song "The Boys Are Back in Town" came on over the PA system signaling that Oasis was finally ready to start the show.

All of a sudden, the background music to the song "Be Here Now" came on incredibly loud. The crowd went absolutely mad(as in, excited). All of a sudden Alan, Guigsy, and Bonehead came out and went straight for their instruments. I think Alan was wearing a blue shirt, Guigsy a pink one, and Bonehead a brown one. This caused the crowd to go madder than before. Then out walked Liam followed by Noel. Liam had on a light tan shirt and glasses(possibly presription), Noel had a green shirt on. This caused the crowd to be(yeah, you guessed it) mad as hell. All of their shirts, with the exception of Alan's, were the button-up type. Once Noel got his guitar on he went right into the opening of BHN. While he was still playing the intro, Liam went to his mic and yelled "Are ya mad fer it!", to which the audience responded by some massive cheering. Now for a few notes about the lighting and the overall sound of the show: Liam's mic and Noel's guitar seemed to be right at the proper levels. Unfortunately, I think Bonehead's guitar was down a bit low. Guigsy's bass was just a tad low in the first half of the show, but seemed fine by the second half. Alan's drums were perfectly fine. One thing about his drums though was that everytime he hit the kick drum(which he wound up doing quite often) I could feel the vibrations in my chest. That's how loud it was. Still, it was cool. The lighting at this show was absolutely fabulous. It seemed to be cordinated with the music almost perfectly. The colors for most of BHN were yellows and oranges and a few reds. Very nice. I took the first of all of my 27 photos during this song.

Well, right after BHN came to a close, Noel started up "Stand By Me". The colors of the lights changed to blues, reds, and purples. Despite the fact(well, actually it's my opinion) that this song was played near-perfectly, I think it was probably the most forgettable part of the show. Probably because it was played it bit too fast and that hardly anyone in the audience seemed to know the words to it. I thought it was just fine though. However, the front of the floor looked like hell. Security people were pulling people out left and right. I was now a little more glad that we left when we did.

Well next, to the extreme delight of the people on the floor, came "Supersonic". As soon as Alan started up the oh-so familiar drum pattern, everyone was cheering madly. Noel kind of changed the intro up a bit by playing a few B and E chords(I'm only kinda sure these were the chords) before he started the oh-so familiar riff. This was one of Ryan's favorite songs from the set, despite his favorite album song being "D'You Know What I Mean?" The excitement level in the front of the floor during this song was possibly the highest it was during the entire show. One thing I noticed about the back of the floor was that hardly anyone was pogo-ing up and down like everyone else was. I bet that doesn't happen at any of their England shows. Ah well. Anyway, the song was played as it usually is live. Not much more to say in fact. Oh wait, the lights during the song were almost all red. So there you go.

Well, after Noel's extended ending solo was done echoing through the PA system, Noel stepped up to his microphone and said, "Uh, I've just been told to tell you that the people up here at the front are being crushed...so just chill." It was then that I finally felt good about my decision to move to the back of the floor. Well, after a little mini-soundcheck, Noel started up the familiar chords to Ryan's least favorite song "Roll With It". The lights showed greeen and yellow line patterns on the stage and bright white lights into the audience during this song. This song did an excellent job of keeping the energy level way up at the top by getting everyone jumping around half-crazed. "So much for the people at the front who are being crushed.", I thought to myself. Well, Ryan actually wound up liking this much louder and livelier version of RWI(when compared to the album version). It finished with a flurry of kick-drum beats from good ol' Alan that probably made everyone's heart skip a beat or two.

Well, next up was the powerfully anthemic "D'You Know What I Mean?". For this number, the lights went dark and there were images of spinning helicopter blades going all around the stadium. The opening was absolutely killer. It got everyone really into the song. It was a lot "rawer" here than on the album, but what it lacked in sound detail, it made up for with sheer energy(or something like that). Well, it went by alright, with no hitches or anything, so I guess that's it.

In between DYKWIM and the next one, Noel said "This one's an old one...off our first Album." With that he started up that T-Rex riff which is now known primarily as being the one that serves as the intro to "Cigarettes & Alcohol" This came as a minor surprise to me because I thought they had dropped it from their set. Well, they apparently haven't and they played it for all its worth at the PC that night. Not too many people knew the words to the song, but everyone defintely caught the vibe and the place went mad. Now, apparently Liam through his tamborine into the crowd during this and one other song during the show. Both times, my sister told me that he'd thrown it into the audience right after he did it, but I never saw him do it myself. Apparently, though, the first time he did it, he threw the tamborine right around the area where we had been standing for the Cornershop set. I don't know if this is true or not, but it had me worrying anyway.

Well, after they were done hitting the cigs and alc, the entire band went off stage. In a few minutes, a stool was set down in the middle of the stage. A minute later, Noel came out, sat down and was greeted by a round of cheering. "Yes! The acoustic set is back!", I thought to myself. He was handed an acoustic/electric guitar, did a little practice strumming, then went into "Don't Go Away". At first, I couldn't tell which song he was going to do. It sounded a little like Slide Away, but a little not. Once he sang "Cold and frosty morning..." I figured it out. I think the lights during this song were purple. Also, there was a circular video screen suspended from the ceiling. On it was projected the image of one of those old 70's glitter balls. Yet, somehow, it seemed absolutely right that it should be there. This was the first song of the show that I actually sang along with. Everyone else in the stadium seemed to be following my lead, which was cool. Well, the song went on just fine and beautiful. All the bits and pieces were there. Nice.

After Noel got done with DGA, he went into another chord progression on his guitar that was also sounded a bit unfamiliar to me. Turns out that he was playing "Cast No Shadow", which was another surprise. It sounded really nice. Everyone was singing along, except during the high "priiiiiide..." parts. It didn't seem like too many people wanted to give those a try, except for me. Also, for the last half of the song, Noel changed the lyrics around a bit so that he was singing about himself. He sang stuff like "What's in my hands...", "As I walk along an open road...", and "Bound with all the weight of all the words I tried to say..." and so on. Well, othere than that there's not much to say other than that the song went on without a hitch.

Well, after CNS was over Noel changed guitars and said, "This one's an old one. It's called Whatever." Everyone in the audience was cheering, especially me because (1) It's my favorite song and (2)I didn't expect it at all. Actually, no one in the audience did. Anyway, Noel started playing the intro, but stopped about midway. Then he said, "Or it would be if this guitar was in tune. It's so hard to get good help." Well, after a little re-adjustment, Noel was ready to give it another try, and it apparently met with his satisfaction. Well, the song was absolutely beautiful(as it usually is) and Noel closed it with the usual "Octopuses Garden" bit that illicited a massive cheer from the crowd. The song went by flawlessly. Except for one problem. Someone threw a coin up on stage it hit Noel's guitar dead on. Well, Noel didn't stop playing or anything, but after he was done playing. He gave the front section of the audience a mean look and said, "You're all lucky I'm in a good mood."

Well, apparently he was because he switched guitars again and went into his last solo number "Heroes". But not before saying, "This one's for people who come to concerts and behave themselves." Well, it wasn't as loud and electric as it is on the "D'You Know What I Mean?" single, but that was probably the point. Noel sung it beautifully, as if it really meant something. It was a rather pleasant way to close his acoustic set.

Well, after "Heroes", Noel left the stage for a bit and then the rest of the band, save Liam, came on stage. After a little tuning, they went straight into "Don't Look Back in Anger"(which happens to be my sister's fave song). Well, this got the front of the floor area back to it's jumping and pushing routine rather nicely. It during this song that Ryan pointed out to me that the guy standing right behind us was hittin' the reefer. I found this a bit strange because we were standing really close to the area where the lights were controlled. As such, there were about half a dozen PC guards around. Yet they didn't seem to care. They must have been really into the show. It was also during this song that I actually started singing along out loud.

After "DLBIA" came to a close, Liam came on stage and Noel switched guitars. It was then that he went into the famous opening chords of "Wonderwall". This sent the audience into seventh heaven. Everyone(and I mean everyone) was singing along to this song. One note of interest: the song was played with all electric guitars. This gave it a more "rocky" edge. It kind of turned it into a "Live Forever" type song. The lights during this song were blue/green. I tried to get some decent pictures during this song, but was unable to because of a girl who was sitting on her boyfriend's shoulders about 15 feet in front of me. She was completely blocking out my view of Liam. Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything about it, so I didn't. Fortunately, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the song too much.

After "WW" came to a close, the band went right into "Live Forever". As usual, a lot of cheers were brought on by the intro. Lots of people were singing along to this song as well. Um...other than that, there's not much more to say because they played it like they usually do. Nothing terribly special. Sorry.

After "LF" ended and after a bit of tuning, they went into "It's Getting Better (Man!!)". Very few people were singing along to this one. My guess is that only half of the people who attended the show actually owned Be Here Now. Actually, the crowd seemed to be the most lethargic during this song. Even though, the excitement level was still really high. Now, according to my sister, it was during this song that Liam threw a second tamborine into the audience, but this time further back into the crowd. I, of course, didn't notice it, but I guess it could have. One more thing, at the end of the song, they didn't sing as many "It's getting better man!"s as they do on the album version of this song(which is something like 30 times). The ending was a little bit more compacted than the album version.

Well, after "IGBM" ended the video screen came back down and Noel started up the opening notes to "Champagne Supernova". This got everyone really excited. Lots of people were singing along to this song as well. One quick note: this song has become my favorite of their live songs because I absolutely love the finale of it. The part I like the most is when, after Noel has been doing his closing solo for a while, Alan changes up his drumming pattern from the typical military-style drumming to the breakneck punk-style drumming. That's my favorite bit. Unfortunately, hardly anyone in the crowd seemed interested in it as much as me. I guess it was because by that time, Noel had been doing his solo for a while and people were kind of tired. Ah well. I thought it was great. On the video screen during this song, there were all sorts of fireworks and explosions shown. Also, something that looked like an actual supernova(I guess). There was also a lot of people in the audience with their lighters lit. Big surprise there. One more thing, it was during this song that I noticed this girl standing to the left of me who was repeatedly bumping into me because she was doing some crazy kind of dance/moshing type thing. Very annoying. Anyway, there was (of course) massive applause from the audience after this song ended.

Well, after "CS" was done, the band hurriedly left the stage and the lights in the stadium went on. Surprisingly, a lot of people were already leaving. I knew there would be an encore so I wasn't going anywhere. Well, anyway, after about 3 minutes, the lights went back off and Oasis came back on stage to some more massive cheering. They were getting ready to play when they noticed all the people leaving. Noel and Liam were both yelling to them saying "Hey! Were not done playing yet. Get back here!" It was probably the funniest part of the show. Ha ha ha! Anyway, some people started coming back, but I'm sure some left thinking the show ended after "CS", but I didn't really care. It was then that they started up "Acquiesce". Right as Alan's drum came in at the start of the song, there were video projections of the Oasis logo going all over the stadium. There were lots of yellow, orange, and red lights too. Everybody was gettting into the song, even though only about 1/4 of the people there knew the words. I could see that there was lots of moshing up at the front. Lots. I'm still surprised that no one got seriously hurt at the show...at least as far as I know no one did. Well, they played the song with it's typical "rockiness" and rough singing. I finished up the film during this song too, which was pretty good luck because I hadn't been keeping track of them. Um, I guess that's about it. After they were done Noel said "Good night!" and the band left. The lights came on and people were once again filing out of the stadium. I stayed for a bit thinking they might do another encore of "All Around the World" or "Fade In-Out" but it didn't happen. Once I saw the roadies cleaning the stage, I decided it was time to go.

So, we went back into the parking lot and got in the car and started driving home. But then we were talking about the show and the band and somehow we decided to go back and wait for the band to leave so we could maybe see them. So, we drove around the stadium to find out where their tour busses were. We found them(and a lot of other fans) waiting outside of the Southeast side of the stadium. We got out and went to wait there and try to find out where the band's tour bus was(as there were several different busses and vans out there). Well, we waited for about 15 minutes when a middle-aged guy and his two little sons(I'm guessing they were his sons, of course) came up and said something to Ryan. Anyway, Ryan and the guy started talking. It turned out that the guy was a big Oasis fan and has gone to almost every one of their concerts here in the U.S. He apparently knew what the band's "schedule" was after a show beause he said they'd probably stay in the stadium for an hour or so, then go straight to their busses and leave(since they had a show the next night). Well, when we found that out we decided to leave since it was getting colder and all, so we left.

Well, in summary, we all had a great time and all agreed that the show was rockin! After having gone to that show, I now want to go to every other Oasis show, but unfortunately I don't live in a dream world, so I can't. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed my little report(if you read it all). Cheers!