Well, it’s finally over… apparently. The pantomime dames that are Noel and Liam Gallagher have finally drawn the curtain on the self-appointed ‘biggest-band-in-Britain’ once and for all (although whether Noel can be tempted back once more into the breech is a moot point). Now seems as good a time as any to assess the legacy the band will leave behind, and, at this juncture, it doesn’t look too rosy.
When Oasis first arrived on the main stage of popular culture, I was just about the dead centre of their (supposed) demographic. 11 years old, white, male, northern – perfect. I was also struggling to carve out an identity in a Britain that, at the time, didn’t seem to have too much to offer. So, along came Oasis with Union Jack guitars and songs that were fairly easy to imitate and, like so many, I bought it hook, line and sinker. I’m not ashamed to say that I loved Oasis. I was an Oasis fan. I loved the bravado, the ‘us against the world’ rhetoric. I loved the volatility, the bickering and when Liam stuck his forks up at a camera. But, in the words of Saint Paul; “when I was a child, I spoke as a child”. That’s the problem, the brothers Gallagher have singularly failed to put aside childish things for over 15 years – and they weren’t exactly children to begin with! I mean, I have a younger brother and we used to argue and fight and say we couldn’t stand to be around each other – when we were children. To see two brothers in their forties still doing it is just embarrassing. Their resolute inability to change even slightly has meant they have faded, ungracefully, into ever increasing irrelevance and it is sad in every sense of the word.
The Grain 