Whether a Kenyan slum, Icelandic mountain or Californian airport, tell someone you’re English and it’s not long before they proudly tell you they support Liverpool FC. Their roll call of players is lost on me. Luckily Beatles Mania has had every shop and busker playing the Fab 4 these past three weeks in San Francisco. It’s like they’re a brand new band taking the world by storm for the first time – particularly impressive considering that 50% of the lineup’s dead.
After the typical ‘Who’s your favourite?’ conversation, things have generally gravitated towards a non Brit’s confusion as to why we love Oasis so much. It’s been tough to justify and the best I’ve done is to rank them second in the history of UK bands to Paul and John’s squad. It’s not a comfortable thing to say, for I adore Radiohead and many others too. By the looks of these stranger’s faces, it’s quite tough to hear also.
I quickly change topic slightly and turn the tables by asking why Coldplay and U2 are so popular out here. With that, bus journeys, flights or dinners conveniently beckon and conversations cease. Rock N Roll and attempts at it can sometimes create unexplainable oddities. I’ve yet to deliver a solid enough justification of Noel and Liam’s following, not one explanation of Chris Martin and Bono has ever been attempted and I doubt either case will be closed soon.