Oasis & Ryan Adams Preview Upcoming Albums in Vancouver

The once scarily prolific Ryan Adams hasn't put an album out in a while, but that didn't stop him and his band the Cardinals from hitting the road with Oasis or from presenting a stirring set in Vancouver's huge GM Place. Adams stuck mostly to songs from 2005's Cold Roses and points forward, including a handful of new tunes that resulted in lengthy jams with his air-tight band. Liam Gallagher watched "Everybody Knows" and "Off Broadway" from the side of the stage and Adams mentioned that coming up after him was "one of the best bands in the world." The best? Fellow Mancunians the Smiths, he said. "They must put something in the water there," he said, before exiting on "Easy Plateau."

Photo Gallery: Oasis Live at the WaMu Theater in Seattle.

Oasis took the stage with their trademark swagger, blurring the line between cockiness and contempt. The band dropped in a healthy dose of Definitely Maybe in between the more recent (but less infectious) singles like "Songbird" and "Lyla." When the hit list arrived (with the buzzsaw that is "Morning Glory"), Noel taunted the audience with, "That was what you wanted, right?" For the remainder, they balanced old sing-alongs with new tracks from the upcoming Dig Out Your Soul, which were hungrily absorbed if not totally accepted. After spitting "Wonderwall," Noel cautioned the next was their last (he lied; they returned with "Champagne Supernova" and "I Am the Walrus"). When the crowd booed Oasis' departure, Liam snarled, "Don't you fucking boo" as he exited with the same swagger.

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals Set List:
"Peaceful Valley"
"(New Song)"
"(New Song)"
"Mockingbird"
"Bartering Line"
"Off Broadway"
"Cold Roses"
"Shakedown on 9th Street"
"Cobwebs"
"Everybody Knows"
"Easy Plateau"

Oasis Set List:
"Rock & Roll Star"
"Lyla"
"The Shock Of The Lightning"
"Cigarettes & Alcohol"
"The Meaning Of Soul"
"To Be Where Theres Life"
"The Masterplan"
"Songbird"
"Slide Away"
"Morning Glory"
"Ain't Got Nothin"
"The Importance Of Being Idle"
"Wonderwall"
"Supersonic"
"Don't Look Back In Anger"
"Falling Down"
"Champagne Supernova"
"I Am The Walrus"

Related Stories:
• Oasis To Pay Tribute to John Lennon on New Album
• Oasis' Dig Out Your Soul Gets Release Date, Warner Distribution
• Ryan Adams Talks His Huge Catalog, Skakeboarding

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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