Big concerts have always freigthened me. A huge room filled with thousands of people is not something I am used to. I've only ever been to one other large concert in my life, and that was Depheace Mode at this venue in 1998.

Travis first came onto the radar in the States in 1997, with the album "Good Feeling", and was missed by most people. Suprisingly enough, when they opened their set with "All I Want To Do is Rock", most of those in attendance knew each and every word. As the song reached its climax, Fran, Dougie, and Andy didn't fit into any comfortable rock star molds and merely stand at their spots and play the song, but they moved around and felt the song. They were playing it like the room was filled with the uncoverted. They played like the fans needed convincing, and that is all part of their charm. "Good Feeling" was another crowd pleaser, and once they launced into "Writing To Reach You", the crowd went apeshit and did not miss a word when singing along. Their stage presence was admirable, too. When talking to the crowd, they weren't cocky, but very down to earth, telling stories like they were sitting at the pub with their mates. The rest of their set was filled with songs from the newest album ("As You Are", "Driftwood", "Turn", "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?", "Slide Show", and the superb "Blue Flashing Lights" which was higlighted by the lights going off, and blue, flashing lights coming on), and a cover by The Band ("The Weight"). The crowd treated Travis like headliners, and they deserved it. They put on the better show, and upstaged the headlining Brit-pop stalwarts. The most sublime moment of the evening was when Fran described songs as as being stars in the sky that serve as landmarks for memories in our life. It is quite true. I know what I am going to remember next time I hear "Driftwood". If a band is good enough to send Laini into an hour-long, glee-induced heart attack, then they must be THAT good.

Oasis, on the other hand failed to inspire me. There was once a day where they could do no wrong (well except for Liam), but these are different days. A lackluster fourth album that followed a lackluster third album caused me to lose a lot of interest. PLus, this set was filled with straight up songs containing no energy, but lots of stage presence. You can easily tell these guys are huge rock stars. The set was enjoyable nonetheless. The old songs they played were fabulous ("Don't Look Back In Anger", a rocked-up version of "Wonderwall", "Live Forever", and "Roll With It"). Yes, I was the guy shouting for "Country House" two songs before "Roll With It". The encore was the best point of their set. They came out and did "Hey Hey My My" by Neil Young and "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles, who incidentally, are responsible for Oasis' existence. To avoid traffic, I took off after that, with a smile on my face that was put there by Mr. Healy and company.