Oasis at the Rose Bowl

May 31, 20262 Comments

I’m getting further behind with my posting, and really need to catch up. It’s a bit overwhelming when I have so many sketches, and want to tell lots of stories, but struggle to sit down and think as much this year. Let’s see I’ve got the whole of Fall 2025, including a trip to Oregon in October, and then 2026 started and I turned fifty, and went to England in February, and then since then I’ve just been busy, up to last weekend when we were in Montreal for the first time to watch the Formula 1. I really want to get to that bit so I might just jump around as I spend the next little while trying to catch up before the summer travels (for which I still haven’t bought my plane ticket). So let’s get on with part two of the previous post. After Supergrass in San Francisco, it was time to get back on the 90s trail and fly to Los Angeles to see Oasis at the Rose Bowl. I’m writing so far after the event now that I can hardly believe it is real. Certainly two days before it I had no idea that I would be going. I was still a bit jetlagged after my flight from London the weekend before. I left my crap hotel near Union Square, had an unhealthy breakfast at a diner, and went to SFO. Of course I sketched the plane ride. I was in my Adidas hoodie like a true 90s geezer (I did have a long sleeve black Adidas top back in 1995 that I wore for years until it got so faded and baggy). I was a bit apprehensive going on my won, despite all my recent solo travels, because I’d have liked to have been going to this gig with someone else, but I couldn’t get two tickets together, and my wife’s not really into Oasis. Still it was going to be an adventure.

I landed at LAX and took the FlyAway bus to Union Station, and caught the Metro out to Pasadena. It took a little while, LA is big. I really enjoyed my trip here the year previously, before I went to that conference in Riverside, when I spent the Friday night at the Scum and Villainy Cantina and spent all day Saturday at the Natural History Museum drawing dinosaur bones. That was a good trip, two years ago now. I like LA., there is a lot to explore, but it’s so big. Anyway I found my hotel, I was super lucky to get a room (or rather, my wife had found the room and we booked it on points). It being one of the biggest hotels near enough to the Rose Bowl, it was full of Oasis fans, and they had a big cardboard cut-out Liam and Noel that you could take photos with. I had someone take a photo of me but it turned out crap. I didn’t have a lot of time to settle into my room (the carpet was still damp from being cleaned just recently) before I had to leave and somehow find my way to the Rose Bowl. There had been Oasis fans on the Metro headed there early, and much of the hotel was already clearing out, it was like a mass exodus of adidas. I headed into Pasadena, apparently you had to go to a parking lot where there would be free shuttles to the Rose Bowl. It was a long walk and I had some ‘fast’ food on the way, but had to wait for half an hour for them to cook it. Pasadena is nice, pretty upscale, but I didn’t have time to check it out. I followed the bucket hats towards the shuttle buses, and found myself at the end of a massive long line. It reminded me of the one they had in London when the Queen died, even though it was nothing like that. It moved fast, and everyone was talking to each other in the queue, it was very convivial, and everyone was excited. They had loads of buses to fit everyone in, and on the coach it felt like the Magical Mystery Tour, heading off into the Pasadena hills. This was my first time ever seeing Oasis, ever since I first heard them back in 1994, and I was nearly there.

Rewind a little bit. I can’t say exactly when I first heard Oasis but I remember that early appearance on The Word playing Supersonic (because I used to watch The Word every week, Terry Christian and Mark Lamarr and Katie Puckrick and all that utterly mad 90s neon nonsense, it was an atrocious TV show that I kinda hated but kinda loved so would always watch. They didn’t register more than any other band playing on that mess of a show. Anyway I remember being given one of those compilation CDs in late 94, maybe for Christmas, probably one of those ‘Now! 1994’ albums, and it had Cigarettes and Alcohol on it. All the other 1994 music, your Suedes and your Blurs, and your bloody Wet Wet Wets and your Take Thats, I was like yeah fine, but what is this? The opening fuzz, the riff obviously ripped right off of T-Rex, and that loud scream of “Myyyyyy Imag-ee-na-ti-on” that instantly made me think of a hybrid of Lennon and Rotten, despite hearing all these things before in some way, I’d not ever heard anything like it. It was familiar in a strange way, it struck something with me (and it wasn’t the song title, I was into neither cigarettes not alcohol, and had no idea what the white line was supposed to be, presumably something to do with roads) but it just sounded like the bricks of terraced council houses and the park down the end of our road and the towers of the housing estate with piss in the stairwell. All very familiar to me. I sat in my bedroom that night and played it on repeat, over and over and over, strumming along on my guitar, getting the riffs wrong, and I still get them wrong but that’s ok. I had left school by this point and was in college, but it reminded me of this band I’d had at school. We were terrible and I couldn’t really play but I had this sound in my head that I could never get out of my guitar (because I didn’t own an amplifier), and this was it. I got their album Definitely Maybe and got hugely into Oasis, though I never picked up the clothes or haircut or that stupid laddish walk. In fact I was never into any of the laddish stuff that Oasis seemed to be about, I hated it in fact (I was more like Pulp), but was just so attracted to that sound, like it was personal to me. It is not everyone’s cup of tea and they were and are polarizing, but I couldn’t get enough.

I never got to see them live though. They were always in the magazines, and went from small to gigantic in the blink of an eye. I considered going to the massive Knebworth shows in 1996, but I didn’t want to sit on the phone in the hope I’d be lucky. Plus I worked at Asda on the weekend. One of my coworkers in the coffee shop there, I can’t even remember her name, but she went and came back telling me how amazing it all was. They all started to go a bit off in the years after that, their televised live gigs sounded awful, and then when I was in Belgium I got tickers to see them in France in 2000, a show that ended up being cancelled due to that Liam and Noel having a big bust-up in Barcelona. I was kind of relieved, partly because I didn’t want to finally see Oasis for it to end up being a bit shit, but also because I had absolutely no idea how I was going to go to this town in France and get back to Charleroi, being so utterly skint. So fast forward all these years, they break up for a long long time, and then announce these big 2025 shows. Again I did not fancy the whole nonsense of trying to get a ticket to see them at Wembley, especially after the whole ‘dynamic pricing’ business came out, so I was like you know what, I’ll leave it. And then a couple of days before LA, well it all happened in the end and so now I was in the Rose Bowl with thousands of other people in Oasis shirts, of all ages, and in the end it turned out to be absolutely brilliant, and well worth the wait. The Rose Bowl was an epic location, this is where the 1994 World Cup Final took place! Baggio’s ball still floating up there somewhere after his penalty miss. I was impressed to see so many football kits, from all countries and era, not just lots of baggy Manchester City shirts from 1995. I wore my 2018 Argentina away shirt, the black one which is classic. I chatted to a guy in a 1993 Umbro Brazil shirt who had actually been at that final in 94 right there. A guy sat in the row in front of me had the Portsmouth kit from the 2008 final. I spoke to a lot of people, I even stood in line for the t-shirts for about 45 minutes talking to this one guy originally from Britain who had been to both LA shows and we talked about London music venues from the 90s, he even remembered David Devant. He told me there were some laddish idiots in the crowd the night before getting over-excited, but on the whole the atmosphere on both nights was really chill. It was a fun evening. I caught the tail end of Cast, looking like old wizards now, playing Walk Away, reminding me of the end of the 1996 England-Germany penalty shootout.

Oasis came out and the big screen behind them hyped it all up so much, but in that Rose Bowl it sounded acoustically incredible, underneath a warm Pasadena evening sky. I live in California but this felt like being on the other side of the world somehow. They played all the classics, and we all sang along. 19 year old me was very thankful to 49 year old me. I played along to the guitar in my head, which always sounds so much better than the one in my fingers, and it was a long entertaining show that ended with a big firework display. I’m super glad I actually went. It took a while to get back; I stood in another long line waiting for the shuttle bus, but it was a line that was moving and people to talk to. I befriended (and sketched) a guy called Omar from Mexico City who had flown up for this show, since he couldn’t get tickets for the show in Mexico a week later, and I also chatted with a group of people from Ely in Cambridgeshire, I had a friend in the 90s who was from Ely and she was into Take That and the Spice Girls while I was into Oasis and Pulp, and we both used to talk about them a lot. The bus back took forever too, and everyone was chatting away to each other about the show, and about other shows they had been to. The bus dropped me off about half an hour’s walk away from my hotel so even though the show finished at 11pm, I didn’t get to my room until about 1:20am.

I flew back next day from Burbank Airport, yet another plane, and the terminal was full of people in Oasis shirts. I had to sketch the guy in the bucket hat fast asleep with his mouth open, sorry mate. I was pretty exhausted, it was a Monday and I was on vacation from work, but it was still technically summer so I knew the upcoming work week would not be too hard, unlike in a few weeks. As a way to close out the busy summer, this was a good way to do it, Supergrass and Oasis. As I write, it’s almost summer 2026 already, and the World Cup is coming up, sadly not at the Rose Bowl this time.

supergrass in san francisco

April 10, 2026Leave a comment

I’d been back from Europe for less than a week and I was off again, this time down to San Francisco to see a performance by the band Supergrass. I had been planning this for ages, and would be staying overnight in the city. I got into Supergrass back in 1995 when I was still just about a teenager, but in all those years I never got to see them play live. They were doing a special tour playing their first album I Should Coco, the mark its 30 year anniversary. Now is the real resurgence of the old 90s Britpop bands, coming back out and playing again; we saw Pulp for the first time in 2024, then they brought out a new album in ’25, but the big news comeback was the massive reunion tour of Oasis (another band I was well into but missed seeing live). I knew there was no chance I’d get to go to that tour, since it sold it out so quickly, and tickets were astronomically overpriced. Supergrass though was such an exciting prospect for me, I loved that youthful optimistic first album, but I was massively into their second album In It For The Money. My friend James in England (fellow Supergrass fan when we were at uni) saw them at the Roundhouse (and was standing next to James McCartney at the show) and had told me how good it was, that they also played a bunch of other classics as well as running through the album. So I was well looking forward to it. Then the night before leaving, I was talking to my wife and she said that, well you know Oasis are playing in Los Angeles this weekend, there are apparently still some tickets. Yeah, but I’m going to San Francisco to see Supergrass, I can’t do both. Why not, she says. We looked, there were still some good seats at the Rose Bowl on Sunday evening. Sure, but where would I stay at this short notice? Flights would cost so much, too days out. As it turned out, I had a Southwest credit from a cancelled trip to Vegas earlier that year (I had planned to fly down meet my friend in Vegas, who was participating in a big poker tournament, but he had to cancel due to illness). My wife was able to find a room at a nice hotel in Pasadena on points, and so I booked the ticker… this was going to be the big 90s Britpop weekend, Supergrass and Oasis, 19 year old me would be freaking out with excitement, and it only took me thirty years and a lot of mileage to finally see them. Sure I was still exhausted after the long summer trip but as they say, here we go.

I took the Amtrak down, sketching the view from the window. I planned to hang about in the city during the day before checking into my (cheap) hotel, and going to the show. I’d be getting up next morning to fly from SFO down to LAX, but as always I try to fit in as much extra sketching as I can, because there’s NEVER ENOUGH SKETCHING is there. I jumped onto the Muni, and headed out to the Inner Sunset area around Irving Street. I like it up there. I drew some of the colourful shops (and then didn’t even colour two of them in). Sketching in the bigger portrait format like this I tend to do larger drawings, and they tend to take a bit longer, and I tend to get bored drawing them. But I enjoyed standing out on this street watching everyone go by and drawing these buildings, I know I have sketched this row before (see how it looked in 2010 when that ‘Easy Breezy’ cafe was a placed called ‘Tutti Frutti’). This place must have a contract that when it becomes something new, it should still have a rhyming name.

I had some lunch in Crepevine on Irving Street, and sketched a couple of people chatting in my little brown book. I just liked the pinks and greens.

Later in the afternoon I went over to the Little Shamrock pub, opposite Golden Gate Park. I have sketched here before; they still have one of my drawings on the wall, which I did back in 2013. It is one of the oldest pubs in the city, established in 1893. I sat on one of the little benches outside and sketched in pencil, but regretted the pencil I was using and wish I’d drawn in pen. It’s this two-page portrait format, it seems like a good idea, then I get bored and impatient with it, the bigger size. Still it’s good to sit and observe. I was being observed by the people at the bar, who would occasionally come out to have a look.

When I was done, I came in for a pint. It’s cash only, I rarely carry cash any more. I do like the interior, there is a lot to draw and usually a good atmosphere, on a Saturday afternoon. I’ve never been in the evening. I sat and sketched this interesting little corner, and then turned and drew the bar area. I used my fountain pen this time. I think I was a little conscious of time, and unwilling to really dive into too many details. I still had to get back to Union Square and check into my hotel, eat something, then head to the Supergrass show.

So I did that. My hotel was the King George, and it was a bit crummy to be honest, the room was pretty grim. I was going to stay in the nice new hotel next to the Warfield, but figured I was not going to be there long enough to need anything nice. In hindsight I wish I had; the couple of blocks or so between the King George and the Warfield were, well very sketchy to say the least, classic Tenderloin. It did not feel very safe walking down there during daylight, and I’d have to come back this way after dark as well. A lot of very dodgy people hanging about, it’s not a great place to be by yourself. I got to the Warfield early; it’s a fantastic venue. I last went there in 2015 when we saw Noel Gallagher, and the acoustics were very impressive, like being inside a gramophone. A lot of famous bands have played here over the years. My seats were good. There were some Italians seated next to me; I was wearing my AS Roma shirt. The opening band were pretty good, I did do a quick pencil sketch of them singing about the A1 road in England (or maybe it was a song about European paper sizes, I don’t know). Then Supergrass came on, and I was 19 again. Well no, if I was 19 I’d have been pogo-ing about down in the crowd and not wearing glasses. They were really good, for being older (they weren’t very old when they first started so we’re about the same age; singer Gaz Coombes is a month younger than me, the drummer Danny Goffey shares my birthday but is two years older, the bassist Mick Quinn – not the former Coventry and Liverpool striker – was born in 1969 so he is ancient). We all look good for our ages I think. Supergrass had a lot of fans in San Francisco, mostly of a similar age to me. They played the whole of the I Should Coco album, including my favourite track from that, Sofa of My Lethargy, which I used to listen to over and over in my old bedroom in Burnt Oak. They stopped and started on a couple of tracks, maybe a bit out of practice, or maybe some of the album tracks are just well difficult to play live, they were really creative with their switching of time signatures and interesting chord sequences. This was live music though, man, and it felt pretty real, hearing these songs I only knew from my old CDs being played in real time. Watching the drummer put in a proper shift. It was great stuff. They played a few other classics, including Richard III, which I rocked out to in 1997, Late In The Day, and Sun Hits The Sky, which definitely had a different element to it as a live track. There were no fancy theatrics, just really good live music. They finished with Pumping On Your Stereo, which was never my favourite of their singles but had a fun video, and was a feelgood way to round off the show. Well enjoyed it.

I didn’t enjoy the walk back to the hotel. Market Street after dark was not somewhere to hang about, and there were plenty of spaced-out unpredictable people outside the venue. I took a slight detour away from Mason Street, which was dark and foreboding but was the quickest route to my hotel, and grabbed a chicken burger in Carl’s Jr a block away, though that was a fairly scary experience itself, like I was stuck in a scene from Blade Runner. When I finally got my greasy tasteless food, I left the grotty fast food place and headed towards the hotel. There’s an Irish pub on the way that I remember going to once (with my Mum, when we stayed down here years ago; she actually loved the Tenderloin), Johnny Foley’s, so I popped in to have a post-show beer and sketch. There was a band playing old 60’s numbers, they were really good. I sat at the bar and sketched it, while tourists from China came in and drank pints of Guinness next to me. It was then time to to go to bed, because I had a long day ahead of me on Sunday – Oasis in Pasadena.

Belle and Sebastian! At the Fox, Oakland

June 4, 2024Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, we went to see Belle and Sebastian! They were on their US tour and playing at the Fox Theater in Oakland, which itself is an amazing venue. I have sketched the Fox before, on my one trip to downtown Oakland back in 2021. Belle and Sebastian are for sure my favourite band (outside the Beatles), and they always give a brilliant show with an unpredictable setlist. Unlike most other bands they mix it up every night so you never know what songs you will get. I had a wishlist and almost all of them were played, even some I honestly didn’t expect. Here’s the setlist. I went with my wife and my son; it was my son’s first ever big concert so a big deal. Even though we were sat quite high up and far back, those were the best seats I could get, and it was a full house. The frontman Stuart Murdoch was entertaining as ever, a friendly story teller, and the band really played well, the sound carried around wonderfully. There’s nothing like a live gig to really feel the realness of a musician playing their instrument, playing songs that I’ve been listening to for so many years, and there they are right in front of me. My son’s a big Belle and Sebastian fan too, we both got t-shirts and got super excited when songs we love would suddenly come to life. My wife likes them too, the only other time we got to see them was when they played in Davis at the Mondavi Center in 2015 (how amazing that they played in Davis! Playing songs that reminded me of that first hot summer in Davis, cycling around with their new album in my head). I do listen to then a lot. They played Lazy Line Painter Jane during the encore, one of those early songs that made me love the band, and finished off with Another Sunny day, from their 2006 album The Life Pursuit, which brought me right back to that first year over here so many many years ago now. It was a fantastic concert, one that we couldn’t stop thinking about afterwards. I just want to see them again now! I wish I could see them in Scotland. I did my sketch of the venue in the little Moleskine before the gig started, so I could still see the detailed scenery, though not that well and I just wanted to draw quickly. I sketched them when they played onstage and added the paint in afterwards, mostly I just wanted to clap and sing along. Thanks for the great show!

The Pitzer Center…finally finished!

September 27, 2016September 27, 2016Leave a comment

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After more than a year covering its construction, preceded by several years sketching the old Boiler Building on this spot, then documenting its demolition, the Ann E. Pitzer Center is finally open. This is the new Music Recital Hall for the UC Davis campus, a state-of-the-art performance and teaching facility. This past weekend was the opening weekend of performances, and on Saturday evening I attended the Faculty and Students of UC Davis concert, choosing a seat near the back to not only get as good a view for a long-awaited interior sketch, but also to test the acoustics of this new space. They are very good. I drew most of the room before the performance started, and just added the performers of the first piece once they took to the stage; I spent the rest of the time just sitting taking in the beautiful music. Many of the performances were amazing, and so varied, a lesson in the history of music, but for me this first piece was the best bit. Members of the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra played “Crisantemi” (“Chrysanthemums”) by Puccini, and it was just beautiful, haunting, elegant. The music comes right back to me when I look at the sketch. That is the thing about sketching – you can show, and you can even demonstrate your feelings in the lines, but unless you were actually there, you weren’t there, and I wish you could hear the music I still hear when I see it. I enjoyed this event, and the shiny clean newness of the building. I must make an effort to see some more events there.

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I did get an outside sketch of the back of the building before the concert, though it was a little rushed, and the green grass a little forced.

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I did do another one on Monday in pencil, of the view with the tall Sproul Hall behind it. I wanted to get one last sketch of this view, as this was the same view from when I sketched the Boiler Building back in 2011.And for all that I like this new building, and the beautiful music that it will host from here onwards, this view made me a little sad to think about the old Boiler Building, crumbling, idle, full of cobwebs and rust. I loved sketching that old place. Looking at Sproul in the background, though, I think I’m better at perspective now…

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postcards of the hanging

Tag: concert

Oasis at the Rose Bowl

supergrass in san francisco

Belle and Sebastian! At the Fox, Oakland

The Pitzer Center…finally finished!