Well, much to my surprise, the UCF Arena(UCFA) was a really surprisingly small venue for Oasis. I think it's capacity was probably about 4,000. All the better for me though, because it meant I'd be closer to the stage. We(being my sister Dawn and me) were seated in the 5th row of the front bleachers. Right in the middle and right in Liam's line of vision. We had a great view of the stage and were only about 30-40 feet away.
Well, the show lights went off at about 8:00 p.m. and Cornershop came on stage and went right into my favorite song of theirs, "Sleep on the Left Side." They got a really warm welcome by the crowd and even some teenybopper girly screams. Just like the Fairfax show, Tjinder Singh(the lead singer) was almost completely motionless at the mic and, just like the Fairfax show, he was wearing a red button up shirt under his trademark brown shirt. I think the thing I liked most about this band was their drummer. He was really up for it and produced some excellent beats. One thing different about from their set at Fairfax was that they had 3 video screens at this one, which showed the crowd images if: drawings of the band members, 1980's break-dance video footage, and lots of belly dancers. Cornershop's hit "Brimful of Asha" garnered a fair amount of cheers and applause, but Tjinder still was totally non-animated at the mic and had his usual sour look on his face. Right before The Shop's final song, the lights went completely out, when they came back on, I noticed a figure on the far right side of the stage. Turns out this was Noel. He played bass guitar(a Rickenbacker) for that song. Yes, the entire 15 minutes of it. While his bass playing skills were not incredible, his presence on stage made that normally unbearable song somewhat enjoyable. Well, after the song was done, Tjinder walked off the stage, followed by Noel and then the rest of the band. The appatizer was done, and the main chorus was about to be served.
There was about a 20 minute stretch in between Cornershop and Oasis' sets. During this time, the Cornershop roadies cleared their stuff from the stage. Also, Oasis' live mixers(the one's who control the sound levels at live shows) came up to the booth and set up shop. I had a really good view of these guys because was sitting only about 7 feet directly behind them. I knew they were Oasis' mixers because (1)One of them was wearing a Carlsberg jacket and (2)On the mixing board, there was a screen that flashed "LFC TOP, UTD SUK" (a reference to 2 English football teams).
Anyway, after the stage was all set up, the lights went off and Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" blared through the speakers. After about another 4 minutes, the familiar 'Be Here Now' opening music(which I think was played by the keyboard guy, so it wasn't pre-recorded) blared throught the speakers and Oasis walked out, waved to the crowd, went to their instruments and drove right into BHN. The crowd was cheering loudly, but surprisingly, there was very little movement among the people on the floor. This persisted throughout the entire show and seemed really strange compared to the Fairfax show where the guards were pulling people out the pit left and right. But this crowd was absolutely sedate compared to Fairfax. Only about 50 people on the floor actually jumped around, and when they did it was only for about the first minute of a song. Anyway, Oasis did a great job of BHN and got the crowd really excited, even though they didn't show it very well. Dawn and I were also really excited and that led to her getting a great idea. She thought that we should stand up and cheer for the band. See, there was nobody(in the seating area) within a 20 foot radius that was standing up, and she thought that if we did then we'd stick out like a sore thumb and the band would be sure to acutally see us. I thought it was a cool idea, but I was a little bit leary because I thought I'd be embarrassed if we were the only ones standing up. So, I said that I'd do it at the end of the song. So, when BHN came to a close, we stood up and cheered and yelled. I was trying to get Liam's attention in particular, she was trying to get Noel's. Unfortunately, I don't think any of them saw us then, but I knew that we'd get more chances to do it, so I wasn't upset.
Well, next up came "Stand By Me", but right before it started Liam looked up to the skyboxes and said, "Ooh, look at all the special people up there." I think that there were 2 or 3 people in there at the time, probably friends of someone who worked at the arena or something. Anyway, the lights were really nice during this song, purples, greens, and reds. The song went by really well too. During the chorus, after the words "...the way it's gonna be" Noel was gyrating all around, ducking down and kicking. Pretty funny, he's a pretty short guy. Also, I think it was during this song that Noel had some problem with his guitar. At one point in the beginning of the song, he just stopped playing, looked at his guitar, went over to the keyboard player and said something, looked to someone off stage, but then went back to playing. Weird. Anyway, when that one was done, Dawn and I stood up again and cheered. I stil didn't notice any band members looking back. Oh well.
Well, next up came "Supersonic", my favorite song. It went by really well. Noel changed around the intro a bit by playing a few F chords(or something like that) before going into the familiar opening. Nothing really special went on during the song. We didn't stand up after it because we forgot. That's it.
Well, after that came "Roll With It", but before that Liam looked like he was talking to some people in the front of the audience and got mad. He introduced the song by saying, "This one's called Roll With It you fuckers!" The audience was really excited for about the first 50 seconds, then got sedate. Again, hardly anyone on the floor was moving around. Quick comparison: the highest level of excitement at this show was the same as the lowest level of excitement(during Oasis' set) at the Fairfax show. Interesting. Well, again we forgot to stand up at the end of the song. Oh well.
I think it was right before the next song that Noel discovered that he could make some kind of helicopter-like noise with his guitar. He seemed amused by that for a while, then they went into "D'You Know What I Mean?" The usual helicopter blade white lights went all around the arena. One notable thing at the end of the song was that Noel held on to the last "Yeah" for a really really long time. I'm surprised he was able to hold notes that long, but I guess he's a better singer than I thought. Nothing else really special about this one. Again, we didn't stand up when it was over.
Next up was their oldie hit "Cigarettes & Alcohol". Noel really elongated the intro for this one by playing two notes over and over before going into that ever-famous intro. This got the crowd somewhat excited. One interesting thing about this one came at the end of the song where the band went straight into what seemed like a pre-arranged instrumental jam session. The only thing I really remember about it was that the drum beat was really fast and jumpy. It was pretty cool though.
Well, after C&A was done, the band left the stage and it went dark. Then Noel came out and sat on a stool with his acoustic(which is really an electric/acoustic) guitar in hand. Time for the always beautiful Noel acoustic set. He started out by playing "Don't Go Away". This got the crowd 'a screaming and 'a cheering and a lot of people were singing along to it. There were also a lot of lighters that went up into the air. Nothing else really special about the song. However, my sister and I did stand up and clap and cheer. Again, we were the only ones in the area who did. I don't know if Noel noticed us or not though.
Well, after DGA came to a close there was a girl to my right who was sreaming her head off saying, "Play Don't Look Back in Anger, Noel!!" Just thought I'd share that with you. Well, now we come to probably the most memorable, or at least the most unusual, part of the show. One of the guys from Cornershop walked up on the stage, sat down on the floor behind and to the right of Noel and picked up an electric sitar. Then Alan came up and went for the keyboard area where there was a bongo drum set. Noel then said(referring to the guy from Cornershop), "This is one of the guys out of Cornershop. He's gonna join me on this next song. How 'bout a big hand for Cornershop by the way." The crowd obliged. Then Noel started up the chords to "Fade In-Out", which came as a big surprise to me. The sitar player played the "Johnny Depp parts" of the song, and Alan played the bongos(he was actually really good on them, by the way). And so they played FIO. It was pretty faithful to the album version, except less "rocky". Also there was no primal scream from Noel. The audience received it rather warmly.
Well, after FIO, the girl a few feet to my right again screamed, "Play Don't Look Back in Anger! Don't Look Back in Anger!!" Also after the song, Alan and the Cornershop guy left the stage and Noel said something like, "This was written by John Lennon when he was really pissed off." He then proceeded to go into the classic Beatles' song "Help!" One interesting part was that Noel didn't go into a falsetto at all on the "...won't you please, please help me?" parts. He also played it a bit slower than the Beatles' version. It was really nice. We again stood up and cheered and again we were the only ones who did so.
Well, after 'Help', Noel left the stage. The girl a few feet to my right again yelled, "Don't Look Back in Anger!!" My sister and I were still standing up and she was yelling, "Noel!", a few times. After about a minute Noel and the rest of the band, minus Liam, came back up on stage. Right before he was about to start he said something to the people on the floor in front of him. It actually seemed like he was having a bit of a conversation, because he was talking for a long time. Unfortunately, I don't remember what it was about. Well, after he was through, he started up the Oasis semi-hit "Don't Look Back in Anger." much to the crowd's delight. Especially the screamy girl's a few feet to my right and my sister's(it's her fave Oasis song). Well, they played the song wonderfully and the crowd was singing along through the whole thing. When it was done, Dawn and I stood up and waved to get their attention. At this point Liam was walking on stage and he seemed to look in our general direction for a little while, but he didn't wave or anything, so I'm not sure if he saw us or not. So there ya go.
After DLBiA came the biggy, "Wonderwall", everyone was singing along to this one. As they've been during for all of the BHN tour, they played it all electric, which I think makes the song sound better than the album version. It gives it that "rocky" edge that'll liven the place up. Provided the place wasn't full of half-dead teens....or something like that. OK, anyway, the song went by beautifully and again, we stood up and clapped and waved at the end. Nice.
Well, next up came the perennial crowd pleaser "Live Forever" Now, during this song, I was really eager to get Liam's attention for some reason, so at certain points in the song when he wasn't singing, I shot up out of my seat and waved for him. Still no wave from him. Anyway, the lights during this song were really great because on the last "We're gonna live forever..."s, there would be some green spotlights aimed at the crowd that would go from the ground up, like something rising from the grave or something. I don't know, I guess you'd have to have been there. Anyway, at the end of the song when Noel was doing his closing solo, Liam was looking in our general direction, so Dawn and I stood up. This is the point where I think he saw me. I was waiving and pointing at him and he seemed to be looking straight at me. Now, I realize that he could have been looking at someone else around me, but I reasoned that he'd have to have at least noticed me 'cos I(along with my sis) was the only one standing up. Unfortunately, I didn't get the wave I was hoping for, so I can't be sure or not. Ah well.
Well, next on the list was "It's Getting Better (Man!!)", which got the crowd somewhat excited. Not too many people were singing along to it. Noel's build-up solo was absolutely perfect(I'm talking about the solo that he does right before the final batch of "It's getting better man"s). The timing was great. Great song. Again, at the end, we stood up and waved, and again we were the only people in our area who were doing so.
Well, at this point Dawn asked what song was gonna be next, and I told her that it was most likely gonna be "Champagne Supernova"(which, now that I think of it, may actually be her fave Oasis song). So, she really wanted to stand up and dance through the whole thing, so we both stood up through the whole song. I didn't dance though...just kinda clapped and moved a bit to the beat. Dawn was straight gettin' down though. HUH! Anyway, the song was played with it's usual perfectness. The lights were also cool here because as Liam sang "...gonna get away from the summer..." they turned from green to yellow and orange(summer colors). The closing solo was great too, with Alan going into that fast-beat pattern after a while, which got the crowd moving a bit. Noel was absolutely on too. Great solo from him. Liam looked over in our direction a few times during the song, which was encouraging. Dawn says that Noel was looking over too. Also encouraging. Great.
Well, after CS was over, the band said goodbye and left the stage. Then the lights came on and some people left, not too many though. After about 3 minutes, Oasis came back on stage to massive cheering, the lights went off, and they went straight into a rip-roaring "Acquiesce". Liam, obviously riled up, threw a few more "fuck"'s than usual into the lyrics of the song, but everything was groovy. Dawn and I were, again, standing up and, again, no one else was. The lights flashed Oasis logos all around the stadium too. It was real cool. It was the only song of the night that I sang along to the whole way through. After Liam got done singing his last bit, he punched the microphone straight on and left the stage. Before he did, however, he pretended to throw his tamborine out in the audience, then just laughed. After another minute of extra playing the song was over, although Noel was going off on a little solo of his own. While he was doing that, Alan(after setting down his drum sticks) and Bonehead(after taking off his guitar) left the stage. Guigsy then took off his guitar, wiped his face with a towel, and then threw the towel out in the crowd(I think). He then held up a sky blue and white scarf that had "Manchester City" printed on it as he walked off the stage. Then, after he was done with his solo, Noel took off his guitar, held it up over his head, then set it down. He then said "Goodnight!", and started walking offstage. At the middle of the stage, he bent down, picked up the tamborine Liam had dropped there and threw it out into the crowd. He then waved and left the stage. That was it. The lights came back on and people immediately started filing out. Great show!
Well, after the show my sister made a couple observations. First, she said their was only one person who attempted to crowd surf, and it was some teen who was wearing Manchester City FC pants, shirt, and socks. He also had a sky blue hat and was draped in a Manchester City flag. He apparently got pulled out of the "pit" while crowdsurfing and looked really upset. He then escorted to a different part of the stadium. The other thing was that she concluded that the band members must have seen and/or noticed us during the show. This was because, as I said before, we were the only ones standing up, and the lights were shining on us several times, and we were right at their eye level. Also, she apparently saw Noel looking in our direction several times, while I saw Liam do the same. That made me feel good. yeah yeah.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my review to some extent. I thank you for getting this far in it. If you actually read the whole thing, then I offer you special thanks. Um...that's it. Cheers.