Oasis w/ the Soundtrack of Our Lives @ Chicago Theatre
8/20/02

In case you’ve forgotten, after hours of Radiohead have moaned
their way through your speakers, there is such a thing as being too
analytical. And if you live by the idea of constant musical
progression, you’re setting yourself up for loads of
disappointment. Only the Flaming Lips, for the record, have gotten
better all the time, solely providing solid evidence that growth is
always good. And since none of us are the Flaming Lips, sometimes
things are better left the same.

So as Oasis rolled into Chicago on Tuesday, you’ve had to hope
that nobody was expecting electroclash. Recently, they’ve become
scapegoats for all things stagnant in rock ‘n’ roll, feeling the
wrath of angry cynics who urge them to grow out of the pub rock
balladry that has secured their legacy. So while Thom Yorke puts on
his best Aphex Twin imitation and makes records about the Ice Age,
Noel Gallagher has become a bit of an underdog, seemingly trying to
retain the mass approval that was previously spilling out of his
pockets.

Rest assured, the sold out crowd in attendance was indeed “mad
for it,” making tonight’s support, Sweden’s the Soundtrack of Our
Lives, the real underdogs in this case. They hit stride two songs
in with “Infra Riot,” from 2001’s Behind the Music, then continued
to turn out one psych-prog nugget after another. You heard snippets
of the Cult, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Love and early Pink Floyd
in their 40 minutes, with “Sister Surround” finally yielding a
standing ovation. It’s impressive and timeless stuff.

And even though Soundtrack clearly upped the ante, you knew
Oasis was up to the challenge. Here’s a band that has followed Neil
Young and Primal Scream without blinking an eyelash and most
importantly, without losing their dignity. They set the tone with
“Hello,” claiming “it’s good to be back,” then carried on with
their business-as-usual set, heavy on the new record, Heathen
Chemistry, and short on surprises.

In many ways, the new songs come off best. “Better Man” finds
Liam, Noel and Gem Archer all on vocals, vowing to “be a better
man” over swirling, Second Coming guitars, while “Born On A
Different Cloud” extends to psychedelic frenzy and “Hung In A Bad
Place” takes the Stooges “No Fun” and spruces it up with frantic
keys from Jay Darlington.

In an unexpected turn, Noel begins the encore alone, airing a
song he vowed to never play live again. It’s a bluesy, seductive
“Wonderwall,” clearly influenced by the Ryan Adams live version
Noel had been raving about. As a full band, Oasis never could get
it right, but it appears their theme song has been rejuvenated. If
there is a theme to the night, it comes two songs in as Liam sings
“I get up when I’m down/I can’t swim but my soul won’t drown.” And
as “The Hindu Times” screamed its good vibes at everyone, it was
then that we realized Oasis had come to cheer us up.

It’s a bad, bad world out there, but the band isn’t set on
reminding us of that. So perhaps Oasis really has found their
niche, serving as bearers of better things to come. “We will find a
brighter day,” sang Liam during “Some Might Say,” and somehow it
was too easy to believe him.

Oasis tells us that after all the heartbreak, sadness,
loneliness and catastrophe, everything is going to be alright at
the end of the day. And when “My Generation” concluded the evening,
you were left with that sense of fragile happiness, realizing the
swagger is back in your step for the long and winding road that
lies ahead.

Now that’s progression.