Indulging in the seductive lies of nostalgia often means that rough edges are taken from the brittle pages of the good old days, especially when it comes to stories emanating from the realm of rock’n roll and the self-congratulatory celebrations of each generations’ hey-days.
However, no matter if you hold Oasis in high esteem or not, it was quite something when in August 1996, they incarnated on two nights at their creative and non-chalantly youthful peak in front of an audience comprised of a combined total of a quarter of a million people.
On the back of the band’s quick ascendency and the success of their Definitely Maybe (1994) and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (1995) albums, even twenty-five years on what has been stunningly captured back- and onstage and told through the lens of photographer Jill Furmanovsky, portrays the essence of two glorious gigs.
While I already liked last year’s cinematic Knebworth documentary, the book holds its own as it not only captures the fleeting sensations of one of the last grand gatherings before the dawn of the internet age but portrays the band highlighting all the aspects that made them unique, i.e. the melange of great musicianship, love for music, absurdity, exaggerated swagger, and trademark cheekiness along with an audience that is visibly thrilled to experience something that must have felt bigger than the mere cultural event it was.
Framed and contextualised by essays and first-hand accounts, including ones from Noel Gallagher and Alan McGee, Oasis Knebworth is an opulently illustrated coffee table book that should excite both aficionados as well as the uninitiated.
