- Music
- 12 Mar 01
The Gallaghers are being upstaged on their American tour by Travis. Report: STUART CLARK
OASIS MAY be the headliners, but it s Travis who are receiving the plaudits on their current trawl round the American theatre circuit.
Travis, the up-and-comers of Brit pop, outperformed Oasis at a sold-out Radio City Music Hall in New York, is the verdict of US trade bible Billboard. The venue s large size robbed Travis songs of some of their intimacy, but the quartet more than made up for it with solid musicianship and one hummable melody after another.
As for Oasis, the band s first New York-area gig in more than two years came off like another day at the office for the Manchester five-piece. Liam, in particular, barely moved at all over the course of the 16-song set, save for leaving the stage altogether while Noel sang fan favourites such as Don t Look Back In Anger .
That s tame stuff, though, compared to the assertion that they re, dangerously close to becoming the very artists whom they once mocked: using past glories as a crutch and showing little or no concern for how to get back on their feet.
To add insult to Mancunian injury, hundreds of fans at their Chicago Theater show walked out as soon as Travis had finished.
Down south, in particular, it s Travis who ve been selling most of the tickets, reveals a tour insider. The Oasis camp laughed it off at first, but it s obvious now that they re not best pleased. The real pisser, as far as they were concerned, was when The Man Who leapfrogged over Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants in the American charts. It rather spoiled their biggest British band in the world buzz.
As things stand at the moment, Travis are at number 135 on the Billboard chart, with Oasis nine places below them at 144.
Of less immediate concern to the Gallaghers is the tongue lashing they ve been given by AC/DC.
To call them a band would be being polite, says Malcolm Young in response to rumours that they might be gigging together. I d want to know what the promoter would be paying we d be needing to see plenty of zeros on there.