Flashback: Oasis at Melarkey’s, Sacramento (Sep 27, 1994)
Oasis at Melarkey’s Setlist (Sep 27, 1994)
setlist courtesy of setlist.fm
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The Definitely Maybe Tour was a concert tour by English band Oasis in support of their hugely successful debut album Definitely Maybe. The tour, which spanned the UK, Europe, Japan, the US and Canada, included 143 shows over a period of several months in 1994 and 1995 amidst 10 different tour legs.
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Surprisingly, many Americans were among the 62,000 fans at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium to see the historic event, because they didn’t think the two brothers, Noel and Liam Gallagher, would be corrigible with each other by the time they land in America.
John suggested I should re-run Oasis at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco (April 13, 1996), which was a fine tour – but at the point in time, the band was massive thanks to their mega-hit song “Wonderwall” had taken over the radio airwaves. Oasis, in 1996, were on top of the world.
I’ll do one better, as I previously mentioned, I have seen the band two years prior, in 1994, at Melarkey’s, in Sacramento.
Let me set up this story for you. In the early 90s, I was already well on board into British Rock (which would later be known as Britpop). I was into Blur, Pulp, The Auteurs, and, of course, Sleeper (as far back as 1993). Naturally, this new band called Oasis came onto the scene with their explosive 1994 debut single, “Supersonic”. I was already familiar with the band before their single came out, as they were regularly being featured in the NME and Melody Maker weekly music papers.
Oasis’ songs were unapologetic rock and roll. Lyrically, Oasis didn’t hold a candle to The Smiths (which Noel had expressed was some of their inspiration), but Noel’s lyrics just sounded good against the aggressive guitar sound. The songs just sound so good, and there was no singer that sounded like Liam’s exaggerated pronunciations.
By the time the band released their debut album, Definitely Maybe, I knew Oasis was going to take over the world. Definitely Maybe is one of the few albums that I can listen from start to finish. That’s a rare thing, as every album had one or two bad songs, not Definitely Maybe. That entire debut album had nothing but hits.
That summer in 1994, I was working at KFSR 90.7 FM with my friend Melinda (RIP), and we had arranged to interview my new favorite band Oasis when they were doing a small promotional tour that September (I didn’t officially get my FCC Radio license until 1995). We had a few options to see them (Los Angeles, San Francisco or Sacramento), we had chosen the city that would have the least amount of people: Melarkey’s in Sacramento, California.
It proved to be a good choice, as when we got there for soundcheck, the band was casually just hanging around the city. Liam and Bonehead was sitting outside; fans were just walking up to them. No securities, they weren’t famous in America… at least not yet.
I long-lost the cassette tape with my interview with Liam. I’ve lost that photo of Liam and I. What I will forever have is my fond memory of the whole event: I could not literally understand Liam’s thick Manchester accent.
One of my questions that I asked Liam, and I assumed he wrote Oasis’ songs (remember this was kind of pre-internet) and asked him about the songwriting process. I think Liam got offended by it. I only remember that answer, “I’m the fooking singer.” I should have put two-and-two together, because we saw the soundcheck – and guess who was doing all the work? Noel. He sang and played the guitar. I don’t recall any of the other band members checking their instruments either!
After the interview, I got the entire band to sign my CD. Noel refused to sign it. Noel was a true artist. He doesn’t do autographs. His PR person basically forced him to sign my album. That did leave a sour taste in my mouth about Noel, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the band’s music.
We spent the rest of the day walking around the city and then came back to the venue when the concert started. We didn’t see the opening band (Melinda didn’t care for them), and we didn’t stay for the full show, because it was a two-hour drive back to Fresno, and we both had to work in the morning. I think we left when they played “Live Forever”, which I thought could be a good single (and it was eventually a hit single).
The best part is on the walk back to Melinda’s Toyota, I spotted a personalized license plate that read: “MOZ FAN”. We both recognized that this car belonged to a big Morrissey fan, so Mel decided to write a little hello note to leave on their windshield. While we were writing, the owner of the car showed up. As it turned out, the car belonged to Nicole Garrison, the owner of the Morri’zine (a long running fanzine dedicated to Morrissey and the Smiths). It was cool, we had met another hardcore Morrissey fan and we exchanged contact information. She would later show up to one of our Morrissey Birthday Party, in Fresno. I’ve long lost contact, but, man, those were the days.
Yeah, we did see Oasis again in 1996 (as regular fans) and have followed their musical career until their end in 2009, and I still love the band. It would be nice to see them in 2025, on their 30th anniversary of Definitely Maybe… but seeing as their entire tour is sold out (and at astronomical prices) and at very limited three USA venues (nowhere near Jacksonville!), it is just not possible to see them now.
Still love Oasis, I am very happy to see them back together again.
