Oasis - Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, Netherlands - Thursday 22nd January 2009

I went to see the same band in the same venue the previous night, and was delighted to get the chance to see a decent band for 2 nights in a row. Heineken Music Hall doesn't take cash inside the venue, you have to buy and spend tokens instead. Having only a €20 note the previous evening, I had no choice but to buy loads of tokens - and no choice this evening but to exchange all of those tokens for beer. What a shame! There seemed to be many more Brits in the venue this evening (even thought it was emptier than last night), and so the atmosphere seemed much more pro-Oasis, and much more intoxicated. It was a very friendly crowd though, which suggested that smoking rather than drinking was the order of the day for the Brits in Amsterdam.

On reflection, last nights gig was a decent show, but just fairly standard for Oasis. They come along to these shows with a poor support band, and playing the exact same set that they have been playing for a few months, all over the world now. Even they must be bored with doing the same every night, and it feels a bit like they are short changing their fans. So, I was expecting to be underwhelmed this evening. But, I was pleasantly surprised. The Oasis set was excellent from the start, and I must confess that I will never fail to be excited when Fucking In The Bushes is playing on an empty stage in front of me.

Liam Gallagher was much more up for the show, and on form, than he was the previous evening. His voice sounded much improved from the beginning, and also got better and more snarling as the show went on. But more than all that, his banter made it a totally different, and much more enjoyable show than before. He dedicated Slide Away "to all the lesbians", which got a huge cheer; Morning Glory "to all those that have seen us the last couple of nights. And witnessed some shocking vocals, I apologise"; and Ain't Got Nothing "to all the homosexuals", with some very funny comments afterwards - "you might think you ain't one, you might not look like one. But they're out there".

The band were on form apart from that, Rock N Roll Star and Supersonic in particular were incredible sounding. Even though they played quite a tired set, one that I had heard 4 times before, and as recently as last night, it still finished too soon. Wonderwall and Supersonic to finish the main set just left you wanting more, and the encore was a great way to round off the evening. Liam introduced I Am The Walrus by saying "this is definately the last song. You've been fantastic. Nearly as good as us." - and he wasn't lying - Oasis were absolutely excellent, and much better than the previous evening. They may be unimaginative (no, really, they are), but they can still put on a great crowd pleasing show.