The only way this might have been OK is if it was the Gallagher who smashes watermelons...

A big “Get well soon” to Noel Gallagher, who has a possible broken rib and ligament damage after some jackass ran out of the crowd and shoved him onto his monitors during a show in Toronto on Sunday. To Noel’s great credit, he came back out with the rest of the band and finished the show after a brief delay before seeking medical attention, but what the fuck? There's a big difference between jumping onstage to promote your political views (anybody remember the “Soy Bomb” guy?) and jumping onstage to try to hurt somebody because you’re drunk and sad that you have a tiny penis. And Canadians call us the belligerent ones...

As fair punishment, security should have just thrown the guy in an interrogation room and let Liam go all Dark Knight on him.

Falling Down

New Oasis. Noel singing lead. My day has been officially made.

Fall Music Preview

Lots of potentially great new music coming out this fall. Here’s a list of what I’m looking forward to (I’ll continue to update as I find more info):

8.19
The Verve, Forth
The reunited Manchester outfit’s first album since 1997’s Urban Hymns. They’ve been playing new songs on tour this summer, and early buzz is good. Even if Forth is only half the record Hymns is, that would still make it a quality reunion album.

8.26
Matthew Sweet, Sunshine Lies
I’ve heard a couple tracks on his MySpace page, and I can’t tell if they're rough mixes, or if his production is that raw. His last few albums have been hit or miss for me, so I’m hoping this one will be more along the lines of In Reverse or Kimi Ga Suki, and not another Living Things.

9.12
[UPDATE] Metallica, Death Magnetic
I can’t decide about this one. It’s hard for me to get excited about a new Metallica album since their last few have sucked so hard, but the word is that they’ve returned to their roots for this one, tapping into some ...And Justice For All-type riffs. That sounds good... after all, Justice is the album that made me love these guys in the first place, but then again, it’s hard to forget how bad St. Anger was. I think I’ll give this one a listen before I drop any cash on it.

9.23
Kings of Leon, Only By the Night
Their last one, Because of the Times, was such an amazing leap forward, I’m interested to see if this is more of the same, or if these four Southern boys keep pushing their sound.
[UPDATE] If the first single (now playing on their MySpace page) is indicative of the whole album, I’d say they haven’t strayed too far from Because of the Times. I’m good with that.

Mogwai, The Hawk is Howling
Same here. I liked Mr. Beast a lot, and Mogwai’s the type of band that sticks with what works. Fine by me.

9.30
Ben Folds, Way to Normal
On the other hand, we have Ben Folds, coming off the underwhelming Songs For Silverman. I’m hoping he can get back to the fun of Rockin’ the Suburbs on this one.

10.07
Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos, Animal! & Not Animal! (2 separate releases)
No idea what to expect here, although I do know the excellent “Broad Ripple is Burning” will be on one of these.

Oasis, Dig Out Your Soul
It might suck, but I’ll still play the shit out of it. Easily worth it for the two or three Noel-sung songs that are sure to appear, like [UPDATE] the newly-released “Falling Down”. I'll buy it on the strength of that song alone.

11.18
U2, No Line on the Horizon
Early word is that U2 are “very, very pleased” with this one. Bono is happy, and just in time for the holidays. Looks like we’re in for 7 years of peace and prosperity the world over.

(Most of these dates come from Metacritic.com)

Live Forever

Oasis rolled through town tonight for a show at The Murat, and in an hour and 40 minutes they managed to prove the old salt about mellowing with age. Interestingly, most of their setlist came from either from their latest album (Don't Believe the Truth) or their first (Definitely Maybe), while sprinkling a few hits (Champagne Supernova, Wonderwall, Don't Look Back in Anger) and some rarities (Acquiesce, The Masterplan, an acoustic Songbird) in between, closing with a rousing cover of the Who's "My Generation". Some things were exactly what you'd expect from an Oasis show: Liam and Noel's stage banter was unintelligible; Liam's vocals were rough; Noel-sung songs got a big crowd response. But some things seemed out of place: Liam and Noel joked with each other and seemed to be enjoying sharing the stage; and Noel sang a lot of songs without a single jealous crack from Liam (I think). Aside from the guy behind me who apparently has never been introduced to the concept of singing on key, it was an enjoyable show, but not spectacular. I still maintain my belief that the band would be better in many ways if they dumped Liam and Noel became the lead singer. A few years back, that wouldn't have seemed so far-fetched, but with the kinder, gentler Gallagher brothers I saw tonight, I'm afraid Liam will be around until their third Comeback Tour. Like the song says, he seems likely to live forever.

...and Double Blah

Not much happens in this town in the winter. Now that the holidays are past and the Colts are out of the playoffs, we've sort of descended into a city-wide malaise. Despite some weirdly warm weather, it's been pretty gray and crappy here, and it seems to be sucking the energy out of everybody. I've definitely been feeling the effects. Work has been kind of shite lately, and I've been doing a lot of reading and sudoku, as well as little projects around the apartment. I'm finally getting around to framing some posters I bought last year, reorganizing my cabinets and closets, and replacing some household necessities like towels and pillows. The excitement just keeps coming.

Not much to report on the pop culture front. I did get some good tickets to Oasis's show at the Murat in March, and both Matisyahu and Sigur Ros are playing here in February. If I'm lucky, I'll make it to all three shows. Otherwise, I'm very slowly working through my Netflix queue and list of movies to see in the theater. I want to try to see some of the major Oscar flicks in the next few weeks. I've already seen Walk the Line and Syriana, so it looks like it's true crime and gay cowboys for me!

Um... I probably won't ever repeat that.