Oasis is a dream come true. In the last couple of weeks, R.E.M. was tired, Bowie bombed, Natalie Merchant bored and Mariah Carey dissed her fans. As if to the rescue, the Gallagher brothers and their band Oasis were a cool relief in a musical wasteland.

On the second stop of its latest tour, at the Roseland Ballroom, in support of its just- released sophomore effort "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?," this Brit band has tempered its famed punk hard-shell attitude with a-most friendly openness that created a stage rapport with both longtime fans and newcomers at Wednesday's show.

Like the new disc, it was easy to enjoy the Roseland concert for the sometimes breezy Beatle-esque melodies, for the poignant ballads that had the fans singing along, but mostly for the rock 'n roll.

The music Noel Gallagher has created for "Morning Glory" is truly a sonic bloom in comparison to his so straight-edge plunk that made Oasis' first recording "Definitely Maybe," the fastest selling debut CD in the U.K.

Gallagher hasn't matured, thank goodness, but he seems willing to bounce traditional pop conventions off a punk wall of sound. It isn't a new concept, but oasis does it as well as the Offspring or Green Day.

At the concert's mid-point, Gallagher gave the rest of the band a break so he could perform a mini-set of acoustic guitar as he sang. The set's quiet tone was distinct from the rest of the show.

On the new disc, "Morning Glory" is a towering piece of electric rock. But in concert, the acoustic segment Gllagher's rendition of an ode to reconciling the desire of dreams with life's reality made the raucous crowd listen with attention.

Gallagher's brother Liam is the better singer, yet onstage he's slightly stiff. Dressed in black, Liam leaned into the mike with his hands folded behind his back as if he were ice skating. He concentrated on keeping his vocals on target through the 90 minute set and hit a concert high on the pop/rocker "Roll With It"

In spite of or maybe because of his effort, his voice was ragged by the show's end, sounding parched and scratchy as if he needed a last drink.

Alan White, Oasis' new drummer, was fine throughout, although his back beat was a little too far in the back at times. He also allowed the band to drag on the tune "Cast No Shadow."

The crowd proved calm where the mosh pit mael-storm usually swirls, maybe because the audience seemed predominantly British. Or maybe because Oasis music isn't conducive to slam dancing and head surfing. At any rate, the patrons there were actually polite to each other.

It was weird, wonderful and a concert of which Roseland and Oasis should be proud.

New York Post; 13 October, 1995
author: Dan Aquilante