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.

Local flavor

One of the perks of working for a media company is that every once in a while, something really exciting passes across your desk. Friday was one of those times for me, when I was given an advance copy of the first major release by a local band, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's. Their name has been popping up around town for the past year or so (they played several nights of the Midwest Music Summit and a lot of dates at the now-defunct Patio), but I was never really that interested in seeing them. I kept envisioning a female-fronted ska band. Well, I'll happily admit my mistake on this one. The Dust of Retreat is one of the best albums I've heard in a long time. The music is bittersweet and gorgeous, and the first comparison that came to my mind was Bright Eyes without Conor Oberst's lisp. Aside from the usual guitar-bass-drums setup, the band also incorporates cello, keyboards, and trumpet, giving the songs a rich, layered texture that creates a surprisingly mature sound for a band that's only been together for less than two years. Dust has actually been released already on a small local label, but it's been remixed and remastered by Artemis and is slated to get a national release in March. MNSS is already touring the East Coast in support.

You can hear the album streaming at Margot's MySpace page, and read more about them in their official bio (not much help), AllMusic's bio (better), and NUVO, the local alternative weekly paper here in Indy (the most interesting read of the bunch). Me, I'm just excited. I had pretty much given up hope on the local music scene, but if stuff as good as this is coming out of here, maybe it deserves a second chance. I have a feeling big things are ahead for MNSS, but even if that's not the case, I'll keep listening. I mean, they named their band after a character from a Wes Anderson movie. Obviously, genius at work.

Other news from the weekend: Fox ran two hours worth of Arrested Development on Friday night as the "season finale". But as Kristin at E! Online reports, it might as well have been a series finale. Sucks that Fox had such little respect for this show that they put it up against the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and probably ran a total of two commercials over the month leading up to it. At least AD went out on a high note. I still hurt from laughing.

Later that night, the US men beat up on Japan in San Francisco. The final score (3-2, good guys), was in no way reflective of the game. Japan got two late goals after the US had started subbing out half of their starters. Granted, I'd like to have seen the Nats close out the game in a better fashion, but they had played 60 minutes of full-throttle soccer with their foot on Japan's throat, and it's hard to maintain that pace for an entire match. Great games again from Taylor Twellman, with a goal and two assists, Clint Dempsey, who was beaten down almost every time he touched the ball and still managed to score a classy goal, and Eddie Pope, who seems to be rounding into form after a long recovery from injury. For a game that was supposed to be a much tougher test after walking over Norway, the US still looked mighty impressive. And that's always a good sign in a World Cup year.

And finally, I guess the Olympics started. Yawn.

Blah

Gray winter days suck.

Batting .500

My trip through the filmography of Terry Gilliam is getting off to a bit of a rough start. I started out with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was as funny as I remembered, and set the bar rather high for the next movie, Jabberwocky, which I found to be thoroughly unwatchable. I lasted for about 45 minutes, determined to give it a try, but despite Michael Palin’s youthful enthusiasm, the film just couldn’t keep my attention. My only consolation is that I’m very likely not the first person to give up on this film before the end. I hope Time Bandits is able to hold my attention better than the last time I saw it. Otherwise, my Netflix queue is about to get a lot shorter.

Weatherwise, today was the first day of fall here. Cool, grey, and sort of rainy, and it smelled like the seasons are turning. That is, if your nose could get past the smells of rotten garbage and burning rubber that fill downtown Indy from time to time. Anyway, I celebrated autumn’s arrival by shopping at the grand opening of Indy’s first H&M. Needless to say, the arrival of the IKEA of clothing stores drew a large crowd of young women and gay men, but there were a few fellow straight guys browsing alongside me. The men’s section was somewhat smaller than I was hoping, but I still managed to find 1 or 2 (or 6) things to buy. The fact that it’s a block from work doesn’t bode well for my credit card balance.