Oasis/Ireland 2002

When “HEATHEN CHEMISTRY” was released in 2002, Oasis put more effort into promoting the album than ever before. As a result, the band’s aggressive stance on both TV and radio, as well as a large number of tours, became an extremely impressive period. When the album was released on June 26th, many of the live performances were broadcast on the radio, and it was also a very blessed period in terms of sound sources. Above all, they performed live with great enthusiasm, and combined with the audience’s enthusiastic response to them, they were at their peak, producing many great performances. Speaking of the most important sound source of this period, it would be the last day of Finsbury Park, but several gigs have been broadcast on the radio since then in July. In such a blessed situation, one thing that has been surprisingly overlooked is the Witness Festival held in Ireland on the 14th. Therefore, this time we will release the stereo sound board sound source that was overlooked on the 2002 tour at the same time as Yoyogi. The previous day’s T in the Park Festival, etc., was released on a press CD at the time (in conjunction with other performances) even though the broadcast was only about 45 minutes, whereas the Witness Festival’s Although the sound quality was better and the broadcast time was longer, it was a tragic broadcast in which no decent items were released. Although it is true that there was a drawback that only “Hello” was cut during the broadcast, the recording time is still much longer than T in the Park. Despite this, “WITNNESS – THE CHEMSITRY”, which was released on a press CD at the time, had three songs cut from the broadcast, and instead included an excerpt from the broadcast of the Dublin performance at the end of June, a meaningless edit. In that respect, “WITNNESS FESTIVAL 2002” was released although it had completely recorded the broadcast. In July 2002, which can be called an unbeatable period among the live sound sources of the “HEATHEN CHEMISTRY” period, among the stereo soundboard recordings of radio broadcasts that were made during that period, they were treated incredibly poorly. This is the Witness Festival. Unfortunately, there is no sign of new items appearing, and in contrast to Finsbury Park, which became popular as a masterpiece in 2002 and was reprinted and new items were created. You might say that it is a sound source that has been hidden in the shadows. Since then, Witness Festival hasn’t been reevaluated and time has passed, and I think it has been completely overlooked by people other than enthusiasts. The more you think about it, the less impressive the broadcast will be. In 2021, nearly 20 years have passed since this broadcast, and mania has finally given up. As mentioned earlier, in this broadcast, the flow of “Hello” from the opening BGM “Fuckin’ In The Bushes” was cut. Therefore, a maniac patched this part from the audience recording of the same day and uploaded the complete version of Witness Festival, which was unlikely to exist until now. Moreover, the person who did that work was the same person who created the soundboard and audience matrix version of the final day of Yoyogi, which will be released at the same time. The most used audience recording has a sound quality that is typical of Oasis’ outdoor recordings in 2002, and the quality is pretty good. However, the “Hello” heard here is interesting. It is a strangely laid-back performance compared to the performances of this period, including Finsbury Park, and it is a slightly unique performance that is impressive, so much so that you can guess that it was cut from the broadcast because of that. The subsequent broadcast itself has a good reputation among enthusiasts, and it is only during the strongest period of the 2002 tour, and the performance full of momentum is wonderful. One of the charms of the radio broadcasts from this period is that, unlike regular live albums, they had a more or less rough finish, but for example, Finsbury Park was a mix that greatly incorporated the excitement of the venue, and depending on the song, There were also parts where Liam’s and Noel’s vocals seemed to be overpowered by the performance. However, it is also a big attraction that their vocals are pushed to the front in the Witness Festival broadcast. Also, maybe it was because they had completed the big show at Finsbury Park, but when the encore “Force Of Nature” sung by Noel began, Liam came out even though it wasn’t his turn yet and spoke to the audience during the intro. Wow, it’s also fun to see Noel bursting out into laughter after speaking at the ending of “Don’t Look Back In Anger,” giving a good sense of freedom. There are times when Liam seems to be in pain towards the end of the concert due to continuing to sing at full throttle in the high-spirited atmosphere that started in July, but it is unique to this time of year that he still manages to get through it with his vigor. . As expected, the performance on this day was exceptional, full of ambition and energy that can only be seen in July, and the way the performance seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye was impressive. Still, the sound quality is excellent with a stereo sound board. It is surprising that such an excellent sound source has been overlooked for a long time. Fairyhouse Racecourse, County Meath, Ireland 14th July 2002 STEREO SBD Disc 1 (49:55) 1. Hello 2. The Hindu Times 3. Hung In A Bad Place 4. Go Let It Out 5. Columbia 6. Morning Glory 7. Stop Crying Your Heart Out 8. Little By Little 9. Cigarettes & Alcohol 10. Live Forever 11. Better Man Disc 2 (37:46) 1. She’s Electric 2. Born On A Different Cloud 3. Acquiesce 4. Force Of Nature 5. Don’t Look Back In Anger 6. Some Might Say 7. My Generation 8. Wonderwall (outro) STEREO SOUNDBOARD RECORDING