[Photos] Oasis @ GMU Patriot Center

As you well know if you are my friend on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, Saturday was my big night. After chasing them down for three or four years, I finally got to shoot the Noel and Liam in all of their (seemingly disinterested) glory at the Patriot Center. The cherry on top is that I also got to review the show for Washingtonpost.com (thanks guys!). Much like the concert, the review is OK, but not my finest work. Luckily there were other people people there reviewing the show, so you can read Dave McKenna's fair-handed mainstream media review or perhaps Chris Klimek's pretty spot-on casual fan review (with more photos from yours truly).

I wanted Saturday night to be pure euphoria, and for songs 2, 3 and 4, it was. But after I shot my three songs and put my camera gear away, I never got back to those heights, probably because I am a jaded old fuck that can't even enjoy his favorite band anymore. Who knows? I talked to a few friends who were also at the show and they all loved it, which is great to hear. I was also happy to see an almost full venue! D.C. hearts Oasis.

But that's not to say I didn't enjoy the show, because I did. "Don't Look Back In Anger", which has never been one of my favorite Oasis songs, was performed acoustically sounded brand new and shiny. "Falling Down" was totally mega, as was "Shock of the Lightning" and "To Be Where There's Life", one of the few songs in the set where Liam really went for it on his vocals.

It was a real thrill to finally be able to shoot Oasis. I had to drink a beer during Ryan Adams' set to calm my nerves a bit (and I never drink when I am shooting). I regret not taking some wider angle shots, but I was so focused on getting great shots of Liam and Noel I kind of threw my normal process out the window. The stage was really high and they had a wall of floor monitors on the lip of the stage, so the narrow photo pit kind of limited what I was able to do. But I got some good stuff and I ultimately walked out of the venue one happy camper.

But most importantly, I got to stand about 6 inches from Liam!

Here's hoping that rumor of a Spring tour with Weezer turns into reality.

Read the reviews:
Mine (with photos) for Washingtonpost.com's Post Rock blog.
Chris Klimek for Dcist (with more photo by yours truly!).
Dave McKenna for the Washington Post.