OK... Lemme start by rephrasing my original post...

I have no personal grudge against Oasis. I've got friends that love 'em, but Noel's(?) singing is at a pitch that personally aggravates me - nothing against his singing, just against what it does to my head.

k?

Now... as to the 'aggressive and negative energy' at the shows...

Sadly, this is an element at almost EVERY "alternative" show these days. The recent round of violent shows dates back to the '70s and the punk rock scene - though I should note that while it started there, what happens today is not what happened then.

The original 'violence' people saw was from the slam pits, pogos and other various vagaries of the punk scene. It was violent, but for such a supposed anarchic scene, it was very ORDERED violence. If someone falls, you pick them up. If someone's being crushed, you make room and get them out. If someone's hurt, you make sure they get help. I've been on both sides of this - at the Ramone's (big name New York punk band, to those not aware) farewell show in Los Angeles, I went down several times in 'the pit', and was immediately helped up by the dancers and spectators. I also helped out a young man who'd had his leg broken in an unfortunate accident. However, odd as this may sound, this is expected at these shows (OK, maybe not the broken leg. That's the first major injury I've seen in 10-20 years worth of shows). It's rather like extreme sports - you know you're doing something dangerous, you understand the risks, and you help out your fellow participants.

Now... fast forward to the '90s, when 'punk' became trendy again...

One thing not many will argue about is that when a smaller subset gets absorbed by the larger mass of 'popular culture', the fine points and details of why things are done, and the etiquette and conduct suffers for it. The punk scene was absorbed, and unfortunately, suddenly every single teenybopper "punker" decided that the way to be cool was to dive head first into "the pit" and start hurting people, to be a "cool punker". As the trend shifted, these kids decided that the "pit" was still cool, and as most 'alternative' bands (of which Oasis is one) draw from this crowd for their audience, the audience brought the misbehaviour with it. The result tends to be large audiences intent on trying to get up on the stage or as close to it as possible (an accepted practice amongst some bands on the punk circuit), attempting to start HUGE 'mosh pits' without the courtesies in the original forms (I got trampled a few times before I swore never to go in a pit again), crowd surfers, and all sorts of other abberations that popped up.

*sigh* Where's the "get back on to the point" key on this thing, anyway?

I think the point of all this (besides a hopeful window into where some of this comes from) is that I don't blame the band in situations where someone is hurt, any more than I'd blame '60's psychadelia bands for ODs at their shows. It's become an unfortunate part of the subculture, and nothing the bands say or do will have much effect on it until it plays itself out.

M