Photos and Review by Max Stewart
It seems like bands from the 90s are having a major resurgence. Maybe it is the Zoomers / Tik Tok generation realizing that the vast majority of their music is vapid and they are looking back to a time when music was fun but also full of substance… or maybe Millennials are all reminiscing on a simpler time where cell phones and internet discourse didn’t dominate the day. Either way, we are here for it.
When Garbage and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds announced a co-bill, it felt like a perfect yin and yang of FM rock radio of the 90s and beyond. Oasis was a bit more major-scale oriented, upbeat singles while Garbage had a more goth-inspired, down-tempo vibe. Both had the hits, but they were very different. So together it made for a unique blend of songs both new and old at Alpharetta’s Ameris Bank Ampitheatre.
After a rousing set from Canada’s Metric to start the evening, Garbage performed a flurry of their hits, with singer Shirley Manson at the forefront. She is no-doubt the focal point of their shows, with her jaw-dropping style and mesmerizing stage presence. Songs like “Special” and “Stupid Girl” sparked immediate nostalgia, and proved the band continues to be in tip-top live shape. The drummer is actually famed record producer, Butch Vig, who recorded the biggest album of the 90s (Nirvana’s Nevermind) and even Smashing Pumpkin’s Siamese Dream a few miles away from the greater Atlanta venue. Manson seems like someone you just want to be friends with, and their performance proved why the band is one of the most loved from their era.
Noel Gallagher may be one of the best songwriters in modern rock, having penned the majority of the songs for Oasis, including many in which he sang lead (“Don’t Look Back in Anger”) or harmonized / sang alongside his brother Liam (“Roll With It”). His solo outfit, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, has been an opportunity for him to flex different musical muscles while still maintaining the magical spark of his unique penmanship. His latest record, Council Skies, is a very strong effort and has one of the best of his modern releases, “Easy Now.”
His headlining set in Greater Atlanta started out with a flurry of new tunes, with “Easy Now” being one of the best, alongside some of his other solo songs “AKA… What A Life”. The songs were certainly well-received amongst a crowd that had Union Jack shirts, Manchester City soccer kits, and even one fan in the front who had a shirt that said “Oasis Knebworth 2025” (per latest reunion rumors circulating online). Gallagher was also proudly displaying a cutout of Manchester City F.C.’s manager Pep Guardiola, who recently led the team in winning both the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.
When he began playing Oasis songs to end the set, it was something special for casual and hardcore fans alike. As someone who recently was in the UK and visited the famous Sifter’s Records in the Gallagher’s hometown of Manchester, I was delighted to hear deep cuts like “Going Nowhere”, “The Masterplan” and “Half the World Away”. I am also convinced that “Little by Little” is a late career Oasis song that is criminally-underrated and should have been a much bigger hit, at least in the States.
The downtempo version of “Live Forever” was an amazing rendition, allowing the entire audience to join in and sing together in the night sky. I was sitting behind a family of four with the two teenage daughters belting the lyrics throughout the night, it was a touching moment to see these songs transcend generations.
Arguably one of the best anthems of the past 30 years, “Don’t Look Back in Anger” was the highlight of the night and one of the many high-water marks of Noel’s writing career. Thankful for these musical legends who continue to create great music and perform for the masses, and we do not see an end to fans revisiting the great music of 90s anytime soon.
