>Last night Ottawa was given the rare opportunity to truly rock out as Canada’s national capital hosted Matt Costa, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, as well as the big ticket, Oasis.

Matt Costa was the first to open the show. He was good enough as the first act, but his style of folk-rock has not only been heard before, but I found it a bit tiring. One of the many reasons I actually avoid this genre of music. Musical preferences aside, Costa still put on a solid show, and I imagine this was probably a highlight for any of his hardcore fans in the audience.

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals was a different kettle of fish. I thoroughly enjoy Ryan Adams’ folk-country-rock hybrid, his album Gold happens to be one of my favourites from this genre, so I was not only looking forward to him as the opening act, but was anticipating the opportunity to hear stuff by him that I had not before. Of course, I did not actually know before going into the show that when he plays with The Cardinals, it is more of an electric show. That was okay though, because Adams still put on a killer set along with the rest of the band. There were a couple of quieter moments during their forty five minute set, including the band playing “When the Stars Go Blue”, which is not only one of the best slow songs that I have ever heard, but quite possibly my favourite Ryan Adams song. Overall, I while I was a little let down that it was not a stripped down set by Adams, he still surpassed my expectations for his act. Ironically, it was Adams I wanted to play folk, and he went for something completely different. Good on him though.

Oasis. This was an excellent show. I think some critics will consider the Dig Out Your Soul tour a bit on the safe side. The band has opted to go for more known tracks from their previous outings, the crowd pleasers and the safe bets. Personally, I do not mind. A safe Oasis show still managed to contain every song I had ever hoped to see live. What really surprised me was the actual staging of the show. I expected this huge spectacle considering the massive egos that are Liam and Noel Gallagher. The show itself was a rather small affair. The band. Big speakers and four screens. A few pre-shot videos, but for the most part, the screens displayed the bands; incredibly ironic considering some of the personalities in that band.

The set list itself well “safe” by some people’s standards, still managed to cull from the band’s complete discography, hitting on both hit singles as well as fan favourite tracks. For me, a highlight was definitely “Lyla” during the main set, a song that I do not have any real attachment to. They closed the main set wisely with “Wonderwall”, and came back with an encore that featured an acoustic version of “Don’t Look Back in Anger” as well as “Champagne Supernova” and their cover of The Beatles classic, “I Am the Walrus”.

All in all, Oasis completely exceeded my every expectation of what they would be in a live show. In fact, considering they are one of the bands I adored the most as a teenager, and have continued to be a fan of, they did a much better job of highlighting not only why I was a fan all those years ago, but also why I remain a fan of them today. That magic was at the show last night in spades; a feeling that sadly The Smashing Pumpkins could not manage to emulate last year.