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Liam Gallagher has praised Oasis's new drummer Chris Sharrock for his drinking capabilities.
Gallagher said that he admires Sharrock, Oasis's fourth drummer, for drinking Stella and not being a "lightweight".
"It was cool when we went out the other night," the frontman is quoted as saying. "Chris didn't chew me ear off, he let me speak. He drinks Stella and he's not a f**king lightweight. He can handle his beverages and he can play the drums."
Gallagher added that he does not care about Sharrock's previous attachment to Robbie Williams's live band.
"F**k the Robbie Williams thing," he said. "F**k Robbie. Chris was the only thing that was good about that clown."
via L4e / source: digitalspy.co.uk / photo: Live4ever.us
As another year ends and 2009 looms, we wondered if you've all been paying attention for the past 12 months.
In amongst all the political, environmental and economical changes around the globe, there has been a great deal of celebrity tittle-tattle to report about.
From pop pregnancies, marriages and splits to high and low notes, it has been a rock 'n' rollercoaster ride of fun, horror and giggles.
But will you be the party animal or the party pooper when it comes to the quiz to end all pop quizzes this year? Put down your eggnog and switch off the TV, for it's time to test the old grey matter.
Here we go...
1. He started the year under house arrest and left a Paper Trail at the top of the charts. Name the rapper. a. Diddy b. Lil Wayne c. T-Pain d. T.I.
2. And what's his real name? a. Cliff Richard b. Cliff Dive c. Clifford Harris d. Sean Combs
3. What are the names of the Jonas Brothers? a. Kevin, Nick and Joe b. Sting, Andy and Stewart c. Peter, Paul and Mary d. Joe, Nick and Steve
4. Who played alongside rocker Jimmy Page in the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics? a. Britney Spears b. Beyonce c. Leona Lewis d. Madonna
5. Who Kissed A Girl? a. Britney Spears b. Katy Perry c. Leona Lewis d. Natasha Bedingfield
6. Who won the Brit Award for Best International Female Solo Artist a. Gwen Stefani b. Leona Lewis c. Kylie Minogue d. Jennifer Lopez
7. What was significant about the release date of Britney Spears' new album, Circus a. It was her youngest son Jayden James' birthday b. It was her wedding anniversary c. It was her 27th birthday d. It was Halloween
8. Who did Ashley Simpson marry in 2008? a. Pete Wentz b. Joel Madden c. Nick Jonas d. Benji Madden
9. Who hosted this years MTV's Video Music Awards? a. Britney Spears b. Jimmy Kimmel c. Russell Brand d. Justin Timberlake
10. And who was the event's big winner? a. Britney Spears b. Christina Aguilera c. Mariah Carey d. Natasha Bedingfield
11. Duran Duran played at the wedding reception of this multi millionaire? a. Flavor Flav b. Flavio Briatore c. Fabio d. Steve Bing
12. Coldplay reached number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with which album? a. Viva Las Vegas b. Living La Vida Loca c. Viva La Vida d. Vauxhall Viva
13. Which pop icon celebrated her 50th birthday this year? a. Kylie Minogue b. Janet Jackson c. Madonna d. Sheryl Crow
14. Which stunned duo won the Oscar for Best Song? a. Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart b. Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale c. Glenn Ballard and Alanis Morissette d. Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova
15. What is Kid Rock's real name? a. Robert Ritchie b. Rich Roberts c. Kid Rock d. Robert Smith
16. Which surfer dude had a massive hit album with Sleep Through the Static? a. Eddie Vedder b. Matthew McConaughey c. Jesse McCartney d. Jack Johnson
17. Name Guns N' Roses long awaited comeback album a. Turning Japanese b. China Syndrome c. Chinese Democracy d. Shanghai Surprise
18. He was fired from Slash's Velvet Revolver and reunited with his old band after a spell behind bars. Name the rocker. a. Axl Rose b. Scott Weiland c. Joe Elliot d. Scott Staap
19. And name the act he reunited a. Stone Temple Pilots b. Def Leppard c. Guns N' Roses d. Creed
20. Kid Rock's worldwide number 1 hit All Summer Long samples which two songs? a. Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird b. Sweet Home Alabama and Werewolves of London c. Werewolves of London and Freebird d. Stairway to Heaven and Freebird
21. Who had the original hit with Werewolves of London? a. Warren Zevon b. Cat Stevens c. Sir Paul McCartney d. Joe Jackson
22. What made Oasis cancel a handful of British and Northern American tour dates in 2008? a. The Gallagher Brothers fell out b. Liam Gallagher broke his toe c. Noel Gallagher was attacked on stage d. Not enough tickets were sold
23. What do Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus have in common? a. They both dated a Jonas brother b. They recorded a song together c. They both front Disney shows d. Their real first names are Destiny
24. She won 5 Grammy awards, but was unable to attend the show so performed via satellite. Name the singer. a. Hilary Duff b. Amy Winehouse c. Duffy d. Jessica Simpson
25. AC/DC skidded back into the charts with which highly anticipated new album? a. White Ice b. Ice Ice Baby c. Black Ice d. Slippery When Wet
26. Which Queen of Soul recorded her first Christmas album in 2008? a. Tina Turner b. Beyonce c. Aretha Franklin d. Diana Ross
27. Which punk icon now fronts an ad campaign for Country Life butter? a. Johnny Rotten b. Billy Idol c. Mick Jones d. Henry Rollins
28. 24 Hours is the latest album from which Welsh singer? a. Duffy b. Aled Jones c. Catherine Zeta Jones d. Tom Jones
29. Which heavy rockers released their 9th studio album Death Magnetic in 2008? a. Metallica b. AC/DC c. Nickelback d. Pearl Jam
30. And name the frontman of this group a. Eddie Vedder b. James Hetfield c. Chad Kroeger d. Angus Young
31. Which country star fathered Nicole Kidman's daughter Sunday Rose? a. Toby Keith b. Brad Paisley c. Keith Urban d. Kenny Chesney
32. What song did Justin Timberlake retire during an October show in Las Vegas? a. Cry Me A River b. Bye, Bye, Bye c. SexyBack d. Rock Your Body
33. What U.S. city do The Killers call home? a. Las Vegas b. Los Angeles c. New York d. Seattle
34. She announced her retirement at the Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee, and her pregnancy weeks later - when she decided to bounce back. Name the Sri Lankan pop star. a. Leona Lewis b. M.I.A. c. Estelle d. Pink
35. Mariah Carey married which rapper/actor? a. Nick Cannon b. Chris Brown c. T.I. d. Usher
36. Which soul star was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2008? a. Aretha Franklin b. Whitney Houston c. Natalie Cole d. Diana Ross
37. This rock supergroup performed for the last time at New York's Madison Square Garden on 7 August. Name them. a. Led Zeppelin b. Duran Duran c. U2 d. The Police
38. Which rock icon celebrated his 60th birthday at the beginning of December? a. Ozzy Osbourne b. Robert Plant c. Roger Daltrey d. Roger Waters
39. Which Take That star became a dad for the second time in November? a. Mark Owen b. Gary Barlow c. Jason Orange d. Ronan Keating
40. Which singer/actress portrays R&B legend Etta James in new movie Cadillac Records? a. Jennifer Hudson b. Kelly Rowland c. Beyonce d. Whitney Houston
Answers:
1. d 2. c 3. a 4. c 5. b 6. c 7. c 8. a 9. c 10. a 11. b 12. c 13. c 14. d 15. a 16. d 17. c 18. b 19. a 20. b 21. a 22. c 23. a 24. b 25. c 26. c 27. a 28. d 29. a 30. b 31. c 32. c 33. a 34. b 35. a 36. c 37. d 38. a 39. a 40. c
Former HELLOWEEN heavy metal singer Michael Kiske recently spoke to Roadie Crew magazine's Thiago Sarkis about Kiske's favorite albums of 2008. Michael's choices for the best albums of the year include the new Oasis disc, his comments follow below.
* OASIS' "Dig Out Your Soul":
Kiske: "When it comes to the legacy of THE BEATLES, no one beats OASIS. They are not the most original band in the world, and they know it, but they are in fact able to write songs that could truly be written by THE BEATLES, and that's a lot of fun to hear.".....
The Oasis lead guitarist dumped his holiday wishes on rollingstone.com recently.
"I'd like an iPhone, a laptop, a new haircut and a Christmas card that didn't say (bleeping) "Noel" on the front. That would be (bleeping) nice. Just one year. I always get this (bleep), right. And people go, "Did you get my card?". And you go "I dunno, which one was that?". "Oh, you must've seen it. It had Noel written on the front". "Really, and how many of those cards do you think I get?" That's right. All of them..."Oh, there's a card with my name on it, brilliant! That's from my parents. I'll thank them again for that. (Bleeping) pair of idiots".
via L4e / source: Chicago Red Eye / thanks @ L4e member MD
From Noel Gallagher's official Tour Diary on oasisinet.com
So that's that then. What a tour! Been to Vegas twice. Carried Ricky Hatton's belts out. Met David Beckham. Met Sly Stallone and that guy that says, "Let's get ready to rumble!" at the big fights.
Seen a great Beatles tribute band. Got shit-faced with Ricky in 2 different countries. Watched Tall Scratch set a new world record for speed dj'ing. Hung out with a Sex Pistol and an ex-Smith. Met up with old Russ' in Vegas. Seen De La Hoya get his face smashed in. Got more shit-faced with Ricky. Witnessed an actual miracle in the Playboy Bunny Club. Gasped at the glory of the mountains out in the big country. Froze at least one of my bollocks off in the arctic wastelands in the middle of nowhere. Met up with our old hippy brothers, The Black Crowes. Dj'd at a couple of radio stations. Seen Neil Young and we smashed it at the Garden.
Purchased: 1 Organ. 2 amps. 6 fx pedals. 2 pairs of trainers. 1 pair of jeans. 2 scarfs. 1 leather jacket.
Bought a book on The Who and read a book by that Jack Kerouac. Listened to a lot of cosmic space music from the cosmic juke-box. And fell in love with one truly great, great album (seriously - buy that 'Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble' record. NOW! Do it NOW!)
Now then. Been lost in the city for the last few days. Lots to tell. Where do we start?
Neil Young was fuckin' awesome. Outrageous even. The last true living legend. 63 years of age and he fuckin' smashed it. He finished his set with not one single string left on his axe! NOT ONE!! Immense.
Snowing again here. Had a sore head yesterday. Proper drink the night before. At the Beatrice Inn. Nice gaff. Typical NYC bar though. Pitch black. Strange people. Very tall.
I met a guy. French he was. Comes up to me and sez in a perfect Inspector Clouseau accent, "Do you remember me? We met in Camden town 15 years ago. I asked you for a light and you punched me in the throat and said, 'Go and fuck yourself, you fuckin' tourist!!' You don't remember?"
My missus is in town. Done a bit of freewheelin' round the Village yesterday. Got serenaded with Stevie Wonder's "Just Enough For The City" by a homeless (pretty good version actually). Shopped a bit for various kids.
Met up with Cool Prophet and Tall Scratch. Few drinks in the hotel bar and bedways.
Just leaving town for Philadelphia. 2 more gigs and that's it.
Looking forward to getting home. City are in crisis. They need me.
Demon seeds have always made the best rock stars. The Patriot Center's Saturday night double bill of Oasis and Ryan Adams was packed with bad actors and stunning musical moments.
Image was everything when Oasis broke out of Manchester, England, in the early 1990s. Singer Liam Gallagher's drunkenness and brawling with guitarist/brother Noel helped the band whup its less tabloid-friendly rivals, Blur, in the two-band battle for U.K. pop supremacy.
But Oasis hasn't stuck around this long because of its tabloid antics. Now it's about the songs, and Oasis rolled out a bevy of beauties for the packed Fairfax arena. The singalongs on oldies "Lyla" and "Don't Look Back in Anger" gave the venue a soccer-stadium feel. The melodic guitar wash of "Morning Glory" and "Champagne Supernova" still typify the Manchester sound.
Not that the boys are all grown up. Noel lamented that D.C. isn't the "murder capital of the world" as it was during his group's earliest visits to the area. And Liam, dressed like John Lennon in beat-up fatigues and sunglasses, was aloof and obnoxious, occasionally to a delightful degree.
Before the set-ending cover of Lennon's "I Am the Walrus," Liam told the crowd, "You've been great!" But before anybody could be fooled into thinking he's become a good guy, Liam added: "But not as great as us!"
Like many rockers before him, opener Ryan Adams wants to be Neil Young. Unlike the rest, he's got all the tools.
For 50 minutes, Adams stood in front of a cartoonishly oversize Fender amplifier reproduction (the same prop Young used on 1979's "Rust Never Sleeps" tour) and sang songs that were at once sad and beautiful and noisy as all get out -- much sadder, more beautiful and noisier live, in fact, than on record. For "I Taught Myself How to Grow Old," Adams, backed by the Cardinals, wore out his guitar strings and wailed in a Youngish falsetto. ad_icon
Adams's addictions and oddball behavior get as much attention as his musical brilliance. On this night he was annoying whenever he wasn't singing or strumming, and he babbled nonsense and giggled like a stoned college kid between every song.
"This song is about my favorite dune buggy," he mumbled before his recent gem, "Natural Ghost," which isn't about a dune buggy. But then the music started, and, oh boy, the world was a better place.
They should've called it the 2008 Tour of Emotional Well-Being. British rockers Oasis and American singer-songwriter Ryan Adams - famously mercurial personalities all - wrapped up a twofer tour Saturday night at the Patriot Center with nary a temper tantrum, brawl, argument or audience-member expulsion.
Mr. Adams, clean, sober and rightly proud of it, evinced a somewhat odd, giggly new high-on-life persona while onstage with the backing band the Cardinals. He was given to much digressive, while-we-tune-up banter that co-guitarist and comedic straight man Neal Casal gamely tried to rescue.
Yet the band, effortlessly, telepathically tight, erased any impatience in the rafters when it got around to the songs.
Its excellent new album, "Cardinology," got near-exclusive set-list love - from the mesmerizing, incantatory "Cobwebs" to the Meters-meet-Neil-Young funk of "Fix It" to the silly rocker I have tried but failed to resist, "Magick," whose lyrical hook ("What goes around comes around") has been driven into the ground - by my rough count - by Michael Jackson, Lenny Kravitz and Justin Timberlake.
No matter. That which is Cardinalized becomes timeless.
Mr. Adams apparently is so pleased with his current musical best buds that he all but ignored his pre-Cardinals existence. "Come Pick Me Up," that sublime, "Heartbreaker"-era ballad of betrayal and resignation, was the evening's lone treat from the back catalog.
To be sure, the Cardinals had only about an hour's worth of time onstage before they were ushered backstage and into Christmas break.
After the reset, headliners Oasis crashed into the spotlight with the bracing first song from the-first album, "Rock 'n' Roll Star."
Lead singer Liam Gallagher, wearing an Army surplus shirt and brandishing and biting a tambourine (he did everything except shake it) seemed to be in a constant state of agitation, frequently consulting the crew about stage monitor volume.
But a goosing of his brother's backside on one particular walk toward the mixing board made it clear Liam was as playful as he was pouty.
Noel Gallagher, the band's lead guitarist, chief songwriter and occasional singer, alluded to Oasis' longevity by mentioning that when the group first visited the Washington region 15 years ago, the city was the "murder capital of the world."
Now you're not anymore," Mr. Gallagher said. "What happened?"
The '90s, that's what.
With a new drummer (Chris Sharrock) and keyboard utility man known as the Shroud, Oasis has rather improbably shaken off its identification with that particular decade.
Unabashed plunderers of classic British rock, Oasis has, by stubbornly sticking around, seen talk of derivation and originality mostly melt away.
If they're not geriatric heroes themselves by now, the brothers Gallagher have lasted at least long enough to symbolize for fans that long-ago era in which people bought CDs.
The band's latest album, "Dig Out Your Soul," is a surprisingly solid and assured effort, with the Noel dictatorship having benevolently broken down to let in contributions from guitarist Gem Archer, bassist Andy Bell and brother Liam.
The latter tried out his Lennonesque "I'm Outta Time" on Saturday night and struggled to find the song's pitch.
Other new songs, including the lively first single, "The Shock of Lightning," fared better. "Waiting for the Rapture," Noel's rewrite of the Doors' "Five to One," was thunderous.
The Patriot Center's near-capacity audience was, well, rapturous at Noel's revelatory acoustic rendering of "Don't Look Back in Anger," singing the chorus, at Noel's urging, in collective harmony.
Performances of "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova" were reminders of why Oasis' 1995 album, "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" was greeted with such enthusiasm.
The set-closing cover of the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" - bolstered by 10,000 koo-koo-ka-choos - recalled all the perturbation about source material.
In 2008, it's all water under the critical bridge: Oasis, a non-transcendent band with workmanlike chops and better-than-average songwriting skills, is here to stay.
If you're not OK with it, the Gallaghers are past the point of caring, if they ever did.
As Liam told Saturday's crowd, with characteristic snottiness: "You guys were great - but not as great as us."
Arrogant lads, gorgeous melodies, and a sing-along nation 20,000 strong.
Before Wednesday night's show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Liam Gallagher's contemptibility had just about slipped my mind. After all, it had been seven years since I last saw Oasis live.
It didn't take long for him to get back into my bad graces. The weirdly annoying rooster strutting, the Fonzie collar-flipping, the impassive stares into the audience, the sneering "fooks." Oh yeah, I remember this guy -- he's the arrogant bastard from Oasis.
If Liam were in almost any other band, he would be utterly unbearable. Instead, as the lead singer for one of the few remaining acts that can reliably pack an arena with rabid fans ready to sing the deep cuts, he's oddly compelling -- the embodiment of what makes Oasis interesting. These droogs write soaring, stomping, galvanizing rock songs. It's the songs that truly make their show worth checking out. Liam's passive-aggressive posturing is as much as these guys put out in terms of performance. Standing in one spot is to Oasis what scissor kicks were to David Lee Roth. But even though much is made of rock music as performance art, Oasis's set is a strong argument that, in the end, the music matters. "Wonderwall" and "Lyla" would've sounded awesome played by a troop of monkeys.
Instead, Wednesday night, those songs were played by five Brits in moptops -- and they sounded great. There's a line in the gorgeous "Don't Look Back In Anger" in which Noel sings, "So I start a revolution from my bed." On it's own, it sounds preposterous. Sung by 20,000 people, it sounds something like fact. Similar sing-alongs arose on "Champagne Supernova," "The Masterplan," and "Slide Away."
As pure pieces of rock'n'roll songcraft, those songs (among the band's best) are undeniably impressive -- full of fuzzy, descending chord progressions, crashing drum fills, psychedelic guitar breaks, and always gorgeous melodies, all delivered at full volume. And if newer tracks like "The Meaning of Soul" and "The Shock of the Lightning" didn't inspire mass chorales, they didn't send people streaming for beer either.
Though he might not have shown it, I suspect that even Liam was satisfied with that reaction.
Appreciate the huge group that showed up to say hello at the Pre Madison Square Garden L4e Party the other night. It's so good to get to know some of my loyal readers. Sorry I couldn't take time to talk to every single one of you but I hope you enjoyed the jukebox singalongs and souvenir t-shirts , till next time !
best webmaster
madferit!
PS: Rina , I'm holding your cap for you, email me please.
It�s debatable who has fared worse in the continued effort by Oasis to break big in America � us or them. Ever since the early �90s splash with the masterpieces �Definitely Maybe,� and its even better follow-up �(What�s the Story) Morning Glory?,� both the band and the fans in Philadelphia have had a rough go of it.
For the latter, the only opportunity to see the lads live has been a series of shoddy radio festival appearances with sets lasting well under an hour and consisting of only a few songs.
In 2001, on the �Brotherly Love Tour� with the Black Crowes, at the then Tweeter Center when its show clocked in at just less than 45 minutes. The following year, sold-out show at the Tower Theater was �postponed� a few days prior after singer/songwriter Noel Gallagher and bassist Andy Bell were involved in a car accident. That show was never rescheduled.
For the band, there�s the succession of critical disasters, beginning with the underrated but overproduced �Be Here Now� a decade ago and unenthusiastic reactions to each subsequent release.
Responses have ranged from indifference to head shaking as Noel and his brother Liam have continued with their over-the-top antics even as the group�s popularity has continued to decline, especially Stateside.
From the requisite Kinks-like squabbles between the siblings, to the slagging of nearly every artist who has blown up over the past decade, to the complete revamping of the band line-up, Oasis started to verge on the edge of becoming a parody of itself.
Thankfully, the tide has finally turned.
First came the 2005 release of its most critically acclaimed record in years, �Don�t Believe the Truth,� a rollicking, tuneful disc which at times recalls a cocksure strut ten years gone, something that�s been sorely missing from the Oasis repertoire. A handful of U.S. dates were announced, culminated with a stop in Philadelphia, and for the most part received rave reviews.
The trend has continued this year with the stellar �Dig Out Your Soul� album and its supporting tour, which touches down at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden tonight, one of only 11 North American dates.
The perpetually quibbling brothers Gallagher; Noel and Liam, have kept their fists down and energy up, with the Oasis looking and sounding the tightest they have in years.
Songs like the new single from �Dig Out Your Soul,� the swaggering rocker �The Shock of the Lightning� to Britpop classics like �Wonderwall� and �Champagne Supernova� are sure to make this one of the final do-not-miss shows of 2008.
And yeah, it�s in Camden, which is a hassle and a half to get to at this time of year with the ferry not running, but what�s worse; fighting bridge traffic or maybe taking a chance on the PATCO line; or battling holiday shoppers at the mall the Friday before Christmas?
Oasis it is!
via L4e / source: Daily Times / Photo: Live4ever.us
Three years ago, I found myself on the Staten Island Ferry; drunk as the wait for a late-night New York City subway train is long. I had just left the Oasis concert on the Across The Narrows festival, hardly remembering any of it, owing primarily to the availability of too much free booze. For me, my memory of the "Don't Believe The Truth" era is as a result, a swirling confusion of emotional chaos better described as the "landside" the Gallagher brothers sing about in "Champagne Supernova." So last night, at Madison Square Garden, I decided to reclaim my Oasis concert experience by refraining from too much partying.
The result was total appreciation of watching a musical group at its most daringly professional and completely in control of its audience. Just as the Gallagher's approach to life has supposedly sobered-up, the experience of their music is similarly more clear. There are those who complain that Liam's vocal delivery these days seems belabored, as if he's constantly catching his breath. But from the perspective of the life long fan, and equally perpetual skeptic, his singing seemed more like an outright assault on the audience, and most certainly in a good way. The high points of emotion of the concert certainly came from the audience singing back at the band during "Wonderwall" and "Slide Away" moments. But the true revelation of what kind of group this now has become, came during the songs from the new album, specifically, the plodder "To Be Where There's Life." This song, one that even I, as a massive Oasis fan, dismissed as being "dull" or going nowhere, positively destroyed my sensibilities in its live incarnation. When the instrumental portion of the song takes over briefly, just prior to Liam snarling "Dig Out Your SOUUUUUL!" the subtle aesthetics, of the band positively killed.
Though my love of the band's personality sometimes colors my objective opinion of their music, it's hard not to hear the pathologically confident tone of Liam and Noel's life philosophy in their live delivery. Even years later, there are teenagers at their concerts, kids the age I was when I first heard "Morning Glory" screaming their heads off and hugging one another just when Liam moves a finger. All the while, these guys can casually break your heart with a "Masterplan" or a "Songbird" thrown in here, there, and everywhere.
In short, they do it for themselves, but if you open up yours ears a little bit, you can hear the same Noel Gallagher who wrote "Rock N Roll Star" when he was sell-all-your-clothes dirt poor. The self-belief of this band has made them more than just a good live act, but something more. Oasis reminds us, that like a certain syrupy political slogan, that "yes we can."
And they'll do it all while standing perfectly still.
Stature can say a lot. At last night's Madison Square Garden Oasis gig, opener Ryan Adams, never known as the quiet, non-effacing type (what with all the tumblr dice he used to roll online) left the banter to his Cardinals guitarist Neal Cassal, positioned himself decidedly out of the spotlight (except of course when he was, literally, spotlit), and more or less put in a shift. A Cardinology-heavy set (with a nice version of "Fix It") elicited some "woo's" from the early-arrivals; a shambolic take on "Come Pick Me Up" prompted the lady in front of me to pole dance on her boyfriend in the Credit Suisse fleece. While their psych-country sound certainly reached the luxury suites of the Garden, the Cardinals seemed non-plussed by the venue: You'd hardly think anyone was watching them.
Oasis' Liam Gallagher, on the other hand, prowled the Garden stage as if he was about to take part in a title fight, occasionally breaking off from the stoic frontman bit to pantomime jerking off at someone up front who was offending his delicate Manchester sensibilities, or to acknowledge some members of the armed forces in attendance by asking if they were "gay boys."
Liam's barely-literate-git routine has always been an essential counterpoint to his incredibly effective voice. When someone so coarse beautifully elongates the syllables in "Wonderwall"'s "there are many things that I'd like to say to you, but I don't know howwwwwww," it sounds all the more longing when you know the source.
Last night, however, as a result of some Dylan-esque re-imagining of catalog, or perhaps a lifetime of cigarettes and alcohol, Liam sang in clipped, abbreviated measures. The Oasis frontman backed away from the microphone abruptly, seemingly to catch his breath--this, evidently, has been a problem lately.
The band seemed equally labored. The first half of the set relied on their recently released Dig Out Your Soul, offering a driving "The Shock of the Lightning." After asking the crowd if anyone had attended the previous night's Neil Young concert, Oasis launched into a Crazy Horse-esque version of Definitely Maybe favorite "Slide Away." This signaled the sing-a-long portion of the evening: an acoustic take on "Don't Look Back in Anger," in which the more in-form (vocally) Gallagher, Noel, hardly needed to sing at all, thanks to crowd participation; a rockier than usual "Wonderwall" and a snarling take on "Champagne Supernova," the reaction to which caused even Liam to stand back and appreciate.--Chris Ryan, Village Voice NY
BACK WITH SNARLS AND SINGALONG HITS
You may not be familiar with the music criticism of one Daniel Sullivan, of Pickering, Ontario, but it was he who offered the most withering assessment of Oasis this year. During a September concert by the band in Toronto, Mr. Sullivan found his way onstage and then, from behind, shoved and knocked over Noel Gallagher, one of the two rambunctious, often disagreeable brothers who form the band�s core.
Oasis would finish the show, but Mr. Gallagher was hospitalized for several days, and the band canceled some tour dates, including what was to have been a relatively intimate show at Terminal 5 in New York City in September.
Even for Oasis, longtime troublemakers in Britain, this was an extreme response, never mind that the Gallaghers have styled themselves as the sort of louts more than ready to take on all comers. As public figures, the Gallagher brothers, Noel and Liam, need antagonists. Perhaps that�s because, as a band, Oasis has actually become quite temperate, as displayed during its sold-out show at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
As ever, the band was dour to watch. When he sang, Liam leaned up and into the microphone, left hip jutted out. When not singing, he�d smugly stare down the crowd as the rest of the band finished a song. Noel, several feet away, stared mostly down at his guitar.
But when the band explored its catalog there were frequent reminders of why unpleasantness has never held it back. �Wonderwall� and �Champagne Supernova� inspired boozy singalongs. �Lyla� was transfixing and refreshing, a primer on harmony, and on a rancorous �Cigarettes and Alcohol,� Liam came alive like a schoolboy at recess.
On the three occasions when Liam left the stage to let Noel take the lead, the band lightened considerably. With the sneering brother gone, Noel�s penchant for gentle, Beatle-esque melody � on �The Importance of Being Idle� and �The Masterplan� � was both calm and alluring. After one of these stretches Liam returned to the stage to announce, �My kids have just fell asleep,� and it was tough to tell if he meant it as a statement of affection or as a slight to his brother.
Oasis recently released �Dig Out Your Soul� (Big Brother/Reprise), its seventh album and one of its least inspiring. Apart from �Waiting for the Rapture,� which featured enthusiastic, rigorous drumming by Chris Sharrock, the new songs here, especially �Ain�t Got Nothin� � and �To Be Where There�s Life,� were limp, and the guitarist Gem Archer and the bass player Andy Bell looked visibly bored playing them.
Ego isn�t much of a musical cushion, after all � the band�s traditional closing cover of the Beatles� �I Am the Walrus� was bloated � and as time passes, the Gallaghers risk becoming little more than the sum of their pot stirring. Noel, in particular, has had a pugnacious year, taking shots in the press at the young British band Kaiser Chiefs (fair enough), the unoriginality of the soul music producer Mark Ronson (less so), Coldplay (too easy) and Jay-Z�s headline appearance at the Glastonbury festival (shamefully retrograde).
But here it was Liam who couldn�t resist a little rabble-rousing. He pointed out a pair of men in the crowd wearing formal military attire and said, tauntingly, �Gay boys, yeah?� During �Supersonic,� in between verses, he barked back and forth with an audience member, accompanying his words with notably uncouth gestures. Even though it felt pro forma, he was itching for a fight, perhaps to give the show some meaning.
Jon Carmanica / NY Times
O, BROTHER, THEIR ART - WOW!
OASIS singer Liam Gallagher and his guitarist brother Noel oozed pure cool throughout a tight two-hour gig at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
For all their bratty brotherly brawls and notorious backstage band unrest, under the lights at the Garden, Oasis projected a presence that was hip, snarky and occasionally lively. While this tour hasn't killed everywhere it's been, here in New York, the house was packed.
And when Liam posed the question, "Anyone here from England?" the cheers were so loud you'd have thought he was giving away free servings of bangers 'n' mash.
At this performance, Brits and Yanks alike were warm to the material from the band's Beatles-esque new disc, "Dig Out Your Soul." The audience was especially boisterous during the performance of "The Shock of the Lightning" played early in the set.
Yet it was the old, time-tested songs - such as a near perfect "Don't Look Back in Anger" and a perfect "Wonderwall" - that were clearly the songs for which the fans lusted.
Add the anthemic sing-along "Champagne Supernova" to those, and you had the Oasis trifecta.
Like Neil Young - who earlier this week closed his Garden show with a cover of "A Day in the Life" - Oasis obeyed the new MSG rule that all events end with a Beatles song. They played a blistering, manic version of "I Am the Walrus.
They brought it all : the swagger, the attitude , the hits and the sing alongs. Brit Rock legends Oasis performed a 'Supersonic' show to the sold out Garden in New York City last night. More reviews to follow.
See the full gallery shot by Live4ever.us exclusively on Metromix.com
From Noel Gallagher's official tour diary on oasisinet.com
Disaster struck last night. The fuckin' bus broke down. 4 hours kip was all we got 'til we ground to a halt in the middle of nowhere. Pitch-black and snowing sideways. Me, Tall Scratch and The Shroud had to pile on Romeo Dread's bus. Nightmare. I can safely say, "I bet that's never happened to Bono".
Didn't sweat it though. We're on the way to NYC, baby, and Neil Young's playing tonight. Can't wait. I fuckin' love that cat (and I'll tell him as much if we get to speak to him later).
Warrant Out For Man Accused Of Attacking Oasis Guitarist Noel Gallagher At Virgin Fest
A Pickering man accused of attacking Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher at the Virgin Festival back in September is now the subject of an arrest warrant, after he failed to show up at a scheduled court appearance Tuesday.
Daniel Sullivan, 47, was charged with assault following the onstage brouhaha that saw Gallagher being shoved into a monitor during the band's festival-closing performance on Toronto's Olympic Island.
The attack occurred as the British rock band took the stage and began performing their hit song Morning Glory. Sullivan allegedly jumped through the barriers and onto the stage, tackling Gallagher mid-tune. Noel's brother Liam threw a punch at the attacker as security moved in and took the man into custody.
The guitarist suffered a broken rib and ligament damage in his fall, but the band gamely finished their set. They were forced to postpone the final Canadian date in their concert tour, however.
It's still not clear what motivated the attack.
Footage of the incident was caught on a cell phone camera and posted on YouTube
Doors to the Arena open at 6:30pm. Matt Costa will kick off the show at approximately 7:30pm followed by Ryan Adams & The Cardinals*. After a brief intermission Oasis will take the stage.
Directions
Madison Square Garden is located on Seventh Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets
By Subway: 1, 2 or 3 (Seventh Avenue Lines), A, C or E (Eighth Avenue Subway) to 34th Street/Penn Station. Also B, D, F, N, Q, R or Path to 34th Street/ Avenue of the Americas (one block walk)
By Train:
Long Island Railroad, New Jersey Transit, or Amtrak to Penn Station.
From Westchester/Connecticut: Metro-North to Grand Central Station, subway shuttle to Times Square to 1, 2 or 3 subway trains downtown one stop.
By Bus:
From Northern Manhattan/Upper East Side, M4. From Upper West Side/Harlem, M10 south. From Downtown/West Side, M10-north. From other Manhattan locations, any North-South bus to 34th Street and transfer to M34 or M16. Disembark at Seventh Avenue. From Northwest Queens, take Q32.
By Ferry: Take the New York Waterway Ferry to Midtown
Garages The below parking facilities are located near Madison Square Garden, but please note that we have no affiliation with nor do we endorse any of the garages listed.
Meyers/Indoor 325 West 34th Street between 8th & 9th Avenue Kinney/Outdoor 305-313 West 33rd between 8th & 9th Avenue Kinney/Outdoor 109 West 31st Street between 6th & 7th Avenue Meyers/Indoor 230 West 31st Street between 7th & 8th Avenue Kinney/Outdoor 340 West 31st Street between 8th & 9th Avenue Kinney/Outdoor 33rd Street between 7th & 8th Avenue
Restaurant Guide Play by Play Inside the Garden (Entrance at 7th Avenue) Mustang Harry's 324 Seventh Avenue at 28th St.L4e Preparty 5 - 8pm Mustang Sally's 324 Seventh Avenue at 28th St. Nick and Stef's Steak House 9 Pennsylvania Plaza (33rd St. b/w 7th & 8th Avenues) Seven 350 Seventh Ave at 29th St. Tir Na Nog 5 Penn Plaza (b/w 33rd and 34th Sts. on 8th Avenue) Tupelo Grill One Penn Plaza (33rd St. b/w 7th & 8th Avenues) Local West One Penn Plaza West (33rd St. b/w 7th & 8th Avenues)
Security
Madison Square Garden's first priority is the safety and enjoyment of our guests and employees. They ask that you arrive early, allowing extra time to enter the facilities. All packages, including briefcases and pocketbooks, will be inspected prior to entry. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
American Porches , Charles Manson and Space Rock for Xmas
From Noel Gallagher's official tour diary on oasisinet.com
Got that organ. Very fuckin' cool. Had to go to the guy's house to get it. Don't think I've ever been to an American's actual house. Can't remember being anyway. They do like a flashing, garden-bound x.mas decoration over here, don't they? They love the old Stars'n'Stripes too, eh? Every fuckin' house has got one on the porch (just in case one forgets where one is)!
Watched a couple of great documentaries about a couple of unsavoury American characters of the late 60s, early 70s. 1st one was about Jim Jones and the People's Temple (Google him, I can't be arsed explaining who he was).
The other one was about Charles Manson - whose bullshit, hippy rhetoric about revolution, free love and sex orgies reminds me (funnily enough) of my mate Russell Brand!
Great films though.
Talking of greatness, if you're wondering what to ask Santa for x.mas, ask him for an album called "A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding In Your Mind (Vol 1. Space Rock)". It's a compilation album by someone called "The Amorphous Androgynous" (I'd hazard a guess that's a made-up name). I've had it on in the dressing room for a month now. It's one of the best things I've ever, ever heard. Go and find it NOW! It'll blow your tiny little minds.
In a bit.
GD.
P.S. Did you see that Arab slinging his flip-flops at Georgie-boy-Bush? Genius. Reminded me of what it's like playing "The Barra" in Glasgow!
LONDON, Ontario - Just in case there were any lingering doubts, Oasis still knows how to make an entrance -- and an exit.
The Gallagher brothers -- singer Liam and chief songwriter and guitarist Noel -- and their Oasis mates had both for 7,200 fans last night at the John Labatt Centre.
"This is definitely the last song -- you've been amazing," shouted Liam Gallagher who had been in full cheerful sneer most of the night. "Have a good Christmas . . . I am the Walrus," he said to complete the introduction to the magnificent finale of an extended encore.
A blazing revisit to the Beatles' classic had the fans ooing and wooing along with the chorus, completing a finale including two singalongs led by Noel (The Fans' Choice) Gallagher and a terrific Champagne Supernova with Liam back at centre stage and his brother soloing with power.
That was the exit.
The entrance by Oasis wasn't half-bad either.
Rock N Roll Star, as in "Tonight, I'm a rock n roll star," was the first song. That followed a crazed voice over the sound system saying "this is not a drill" and a huge blast of lights setting the stage for images of band and visuals on the video screens. Not bad as these things go was black-coat-clad Liam arriving at centre stage in full sneer.
I'm a rock star to I am the Walrus proved to be a journey worth waiting for.
That first insolent stroll -- and the cheers for Noel Gallagher's first solo of the night a few minutes later -- meant the years it took for the 1990s' powerhouse British rockers to play London were over.
The show was originally set for early September. But an on-stage attack on Noel Gallagher at a Toronto concert put the Oasis rocker in hospital with broken ribs and other injuries. The London date was postponed until last night. A Toronto area man was charged after the attack.
In a touching display of brotherly love between the oft-feuding Gallaghers, Liam attempted to come to Noel's aid -- even if Noel later derided his brother's attempt.
The brothers and Gem Archer and Andy Bell, who both joined in 1999, are touring to support the Manchester band's latest album Dig Out Your Soul (Warner). A touring drummer and keyboard player were in last night's lineup.
Dig Out Your Soul provided songs such as Ain't Got Nothin', Waiting for the Rapture and I'm Outta Time -- which had a lovely fadeout -- to the main set. The new album's Falling Down was there for the encore with Noel Gallagher singing.
The biggest hits were the Oasis trademarks including Morning Glory, Wonderwall and Supersonic. It didn't appear that the Manchester mates were doing anything special around the mid-set (What's the Story) Morning Glory? Oasis was playing the 1995 hit when Noel Gallagher was attacked and shoved into on-stage monitors.
The Gallagher brothers do bring something special to the art of talking on stage.
"Thank you very much. Good evening, London. How is everybody," asked Noel Gallagher early, breaking the Oasis code of silence sweetly.
Liam was characteristically unsweet. "How are (we) doing? We're all all right," he answered his brother.
"You're one of the . . . ugly lady birds," he said pointing to somebody in the audience.
Near the end, he sweetened up too. "This one's for you . . . because you're the one that's happy," he said, pointing somewhere else, to introduce Champagne Supernova. Liam even gently lobbed the tambourine he uses as a security blanket to a fan late in the show.
So that was Oasis -- still masters of the sweet and sour stage manner and with a songbook that rocks on and on.
Matt Costa opened. Second on the bill was Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, who used songs from their just-out Cardinology (Universal) in the early going. Last night, the effect of all the excellent noise from the Cardinals -- guitarist Neal Casal, drummer Brad Pemberton, pedal steel player Jon Graboff and bassist Chris Feinstein -- was mesmerizing. Adams is Adams, a Leonard Cohen for our time with a faster, wilder version of Tom Petty's band to keep him on track. Cardinology's Magick was the driving finale to their 50-minute set. But then the entire night was magical.
However, Gallagher said he was unsure when the album would come out, hinting that he would release a solo album ahead of new Oasis material.
"I'm gonna take a bit of time off after this [the 'Dig Out Your Soul' tour]. I think I might do something for myself, maybe," he said.
The guitarist also let slip how much he wants to hear Guns N' Roses' 'Chinese Democracy', despite the negative reviews the album has garnered.
"I've not heard it. I've read the reviews, and judging from the reviews I know I'm gonna fucking love it," Gallagher said.
"I love preposterous records, and anything that took 17 years [to make] is obviously fucking ludicrous. I'm dying to hear it. I already know I'm going to like it."
From Noel Gallagher's offical tour diary on oasisinet.com
It seems like I'm saying this a lot recently, but - fuck me - there's nothing going on at the minute. NOTHING.
Played Detroit last night. Got a day off today (in Detroit). It's a Sunday. Utterly soul-destroyingly dull. So dull in fact that I actually bought something off that ebay last night. A vintage Gibson organ. Very fuckin' cool. Gotta go and pick it up today at some fella's house. Thinking on..that should be quite exciting! Going to a real American person's actual house? Well, there's fuck-all else to do.
I'm currently watching some of that American Football. The New York Jets-V-The Buffalo Bills, in fact. I like it.
I'm one of the few Mancunians who actually understand it. It's a very simple game made extremely complicated by mathematics. For example, it's currently 14-3 to the Jets. It's 14.26 in the 2nd. The Jets have the ball on the 22 and it's 3rd down and 8. Erm..sorry?
After an attack by a hooligan in September, you might expect the Oasis guitarist to be more careful than usual when he plays London, Ont., tonight. Then again, he's not one to worry, Brad Wheeler writes
Before sitting down with him, if I had to describe Noel Gallagher.
I might have said something like "quotable British rock star" or "the talent half of the battling Oasis brothers" or "the bushy-browed Wonderwall writer."
I would probably have added that he fancies a pub session now and again, that he's a blokey football fan, that he picks the Beatles over the Stones, and that even though he's the band's guitarist he's a far better singer than his testy sibling Liam.
After meeting with Gallagher though, "unfussy, polite and unworried" would be attached to the full assessment. And, sure, I'd stick with "bushy-browed."
On the morning before Oasis played Toronto's Virgin Festival in September, Gallagher tended to the media.
The Manchester superstars were talking up their seventh studio album (the blues-stomping, psychedelic Dig Out Your Soul), and the headlining festival set on the city's Olympic Island would showcase the new material. "I have no idea who puts that stage up, or where those lights come from or how it all works," said
Gallagher, no micromanager. "It's not something I sit and analyze. Somebody else organizes it, and they point me to the stage. I just get up there and I do it. And I go get drunk and do it again the next day."
Until I mentioned it, nobody had told Gallagher that Liam wouldn't be fulfilling his share of interviews that day. "Oh, is he not feeling well," he asked, his voice dripping with something other than sympathy. "Well, he better be brilliant tonight hadn't he?"
Gallagher suspected his younger brother, bunked at another hotel, had over-socialized the night before. As it turned out, it would be Noel's condition, not Liam's, that mattered.
As we all know now, Oasis's performance was wrecked outrageously by a hooligan who violently charged Noel from behind on stage, sending the guitarist tumbling awkwardly into a bank of stage monitors, damaging his ribs in the process. It was a brutish, shocking incident, as YouTube videos show so clearly. After an interlude, the band finished its set in a subdued manner. A few gigs were cancelled as a wincing Gallagher recuperated.
The band has since resumed performing, including a concert tonight at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ont., where, you might imagine, the slapdash Gallagher will pay more attention to security details than usual.
When Gallagher referred to being pointed to the stage, he was responding to a question on the rock 'n' roll grind, and the balance of family and professional life. He finds it easier than you might imagine to deal with the double routines, choosing to separate them, rather than straddle the divide.
"On the last night of the last tour, the very next day, when I get back to England, I'm just the guy who's got two kids then," Gallagher, 41, explains. "I spend time doing the things you would imagine a dad with a young family does."
And then, after a year or two of puttering, dad puts his songwriting hat on, which is the initial step back into the rowdy music life. Eventually an album is written, recorded and released, and then the pipes call. "My family knows," says Gallagher, dressed sensibly in jeans and a windbreaker. "Like now, for instance, I'm in a band and I'm on the road. And that's the way it's going to be for the next two years."
That's the way it has been since 1994, with the release of Oasis's breakthrough debut Definitely Maybe, continuing with the fellow mega-selling (What's the Story) Morning Glory in 1995 and Be Here Now in 1997. Asked about the pressure to produce material that measures up to those early albums, Gallagher says he doesn't feel it, that any monetary concerns were taken care of with Morning Glory. "If I wanted to take five years off after this record, I could do it easily."
If Oasis, notorious for its wild ways and sibling rivalry, were to break up, Gallagher still wouldn't fret. "If the worst was going to come, I can always pick up an acoustic guitar and do a gig anywhere in London," he says, not to boast. "I could sell out Albert Hall like that," he says with a dry snap of his fingers. (Okay, now he's boasting a little bit.) Noel did tour without Liam while promoting the band's rockumentary Lord Don't Slow Me Down in 2006, and he recently said he wouldn't mind seeing the four band members pursue their own projects after the current Oasis tour.
As of now, after a slate of European dates in January and a Japan tour to follow, Oasis is scheduled to launch its biggest-ever tour of open-air stadiums in Britain in the summer, closing with a pair of concerts at Wembley Stadium in July.
Gallagher has his music career and his domestic life, the two rarely meeting, even though Oasis typically breaks for a week for every three on the road. "I'll still be in rock-star mode," he says, referring to the monthly furloughs. "You can't be all things to all people all the time. You can't be on the road and try to be a good dad and a responsible adult."
Irresponsibility these days, as Gallagher tells it, runs mostly to drinking and related capers - "there's nothing else to do" - but not to the heavier stuff. "I've done all that," he admits, with a wave of his hand. "It would be quite sad if I was into drugs. I mean, what would you have done if your parents were into drugs when you were growing up?"
I had no answer, but I suspected Robert Downey Jr., in town at the time for the Toronto International Film Festival, might. Before I could suggest we ask the actor about all this, Gallagher, whose morning glory used to be cocaine, continues with what might wryly pass for a public-service announcement to school children. "There comes a point when you've got to grow up, you know what I mean? I'll leave the drug-taking to the youth, and get on with it."
If Gallagher isn't indulging in hallucinogens himself, Dig Out Your Soul is awash with psychedelic moods, starting off with the acid-rocked Bag It Up, with lines about freaks rising up through the floor and heebie-jeebies in hidden sacks. Gallagher describes it as "the Pretty Things vs. Pink Floyd on glue"; I would counter with "the White Stripes take a Magical Mystery Tour." Beatles influences abound elsewhere, from a guitar riff scalped from Helter Skelter, to a taped John Lennon spoken-word clip, to the Revolver-era existentialism of To Be Where There's Life.
On the whole, it's the most produced album the band has put out, with fade-ins, fade-outs and lavish, hazy textures. For all of that, the group's leader takes little responsibility. "It was great fun, but I'm not one for experimenting," says Gallagher, who does not own a computer (or even a driver's licence, for that matter). "I don't really have the time to sit around all day and make things sound like airplanes taking off. I'm not interested in effects pedals or anything like that, but, luckily for me, other people are."
Gallagher acknowledges and dismisses the material's spiritual bent in one fell swoop, pointing out that the lyrics of Waiting for the Rapture, The Nature of Reality and the album-closing mantra of Soldier On were written independently by himself, bassist Andy Bell and Liam, respectively. "We seem to have made a record with the most cohesive thread to it, and yet it all happened by accident.
"If I were to go away and write an album that I thought had a common thread to it," Gallagher continues, "for one, I'd pick the wrong thread, and two, I'd lose it after about three songs."
Non-conceptualist Gallagher acknowledges Dig Out Your Soul isn't the style of record Oasis fans have come to expect. He guesses the next album will be more "song-y" and melodic. "I write rock 'n' roll pop music that tends to be accessible to a lot of people," he says. "When I pick up the guitar, I'm not trying to challenge myself and write space jazz or anything like that."
Nor would anyone wish him to. Oasis fans would settle for a wistful singalong like Don't Look Back in Anger or the grand ballad Wonderwall. They'll probably come, either on a solo album or the next record from Oasis, don't worry. Gallagher himself isn't.
Oasis plays the John Labatt Centre in London, Ont., tonight at 7.
Attack aftermath
Noel Gallagher doesn't look back in anger. The concert tonight by England's Oasis in London, Ont., makes up for a show postponed from September, after the rock-star guitarist was attacked on stage at Toronto's Virgin Festival. Recovered from the blindsided assault, Gallagher recently commented on the incident publicly, saying that he actually didn't remember much about it. "I was just playing away in my own little world. I had my back turned, and the next thing I know it was total chaos all of a sudden."
Gallagher insisted he had no hang-over effects from the attack, physically ("It was two months with three broken ribs and five bruised ones") or mentally ("I'm not that fragile upstairs"). The alleged assailant, Daniel Sullivan, a father of three from Pickering, Ont., is scheduled to be in a Toronto court for a hearing tomorrow.
"Tonight," Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher sneered into the microphone at the Palace of Auburn Hills Saturday night, "I'm a rock and roll star."
That he certainly is. Gallagher was put on this planet for the express purpose of being a rock and roll star, and he remains a fascinating, antagonistic, combustible presence on stage. But within the confines of a more-than-half-empty arena -- the reported attendance for Saturday's concert was 6,200, but it looked to be even less than that -- do we need to shift the definition of what constitutes a rock and roll star?
The economy has certainly taken a toll on local rock and roll shows; the black curtains that section off the upper deck have become a fixture at shows at the Palace. But even at the height of its popularity in the mid-90s, Oasis couldn't sell out the Palace, so why was it playing the venue now?
The empty seats dampened the mood in the room, and Oasis didn't go out of its way to heighten the crowd's spirits. The band members tend to be rather aloof on stage -- guitarist Gem Archer and bassist Andy Bell pretty much just stand there, as does Noel Gallagher, the band's songwriter and leader -- so eyes tend to fix on Liam, who seems ready to storm off the stage at any given moment. He creates an odd dynamic with the audience, whether blankly staring down members of the crowd or proudly standing with his back to them, but damn if he doesn't do it with iconic style. To paraphrase M.I.A., no one on the corner's got swagger like Liam.
Even that tends to wear thin, however, and it wasn't enough to carry the show through the laborious sections of Oasis' one hour, 45-minute set. While new song "Shock of the Lightning" fits in with the band's most explosive material -- it will likely remain a fixture long after touring behind the band's current album "Dig Out Your Soul" is finished -- other new offerings dragged, including "I'm Outta Time" and "Waiting for the Rapture."
The opening suite of "Rock & Roll Star," "Lyla," "Shock of the Lightning" and "Cigarettes and Alcohol" kicked off the evening on a high, but the band droned its way through sluggish renditions of "Morning Glory," "Supersonic" and the crowd favorite "Wonderwall." Luckily, "Champagne Supernova" cut through the clutter, soaring to the great highs it does on record, while closer "I Am the Walrus" -- an Oasis standby for years and years -- delivered in typical fashion.
The brothers Gallagher were in amiable spirits, with Noel lightly chiding a fan for throwing a shoe on stage and Liam pantomiming sexual acts to several crowd members. But you couldn't shake the feeling the show would have played better in a smaller setting, as Oasis' arena days seem to have long since expired.
Openers Ryan Adams and the Cardinals were, too, dwarfed by the size of the Palace, though the band's electrifying one-hour set hit all the right notes. Half the material came from the band's recent "Cardinology," and the set shifted comfortably from bluesy country ("Two") to swirling rock (a ramped-up "Off Broadway").
Adams, who is as famously testy on stage as the evening's headliners, joked around with guitarist Neal Casal, with the free-flowing conversation ranging from Journey's Steve Perry to a 1989 Cinderella show at the Palace to the days when the Detroit Pistons were known as the Bad Boys.
Check out some more L4e fan reviews from last nights gig HERE
via L4e / Source: detnews.com / photo: L4e member samersarhan
Have you ever had the experience of getting a truly annoying but irresistibly catchy tune stuck inside your head?
The popular name for this phenomenon is an �earworm.� Renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks (best known for being portrayed by Robin Williams in �Awakenings�) writes about it in his recent book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, and he summarized his thoughts in an interview with Wired magazine. Oasis returns from Britain with a new album and a new tour.
�I can�t help wondering if the incidence of earworms and musical hallucinations is higher now, with background music in every public place,� Sacks said. �You can�t go to a restaurant without music, and they get offended if you ask them to turn it off ... The brain is very sensitive to music; you don�t have to attend to it to record it internally and be affected by it.�
In other words, pity the poor soul who catches a snippet of Britney Spears' "Womanizer" and then can't get it out of his or her head. Thankfully, a friend of mine has come up with the perfect solution when such a song is stuck on auto-repeat in your brain: Just sing "Champagne Supernova" by Oasis instead. It's also insanely catchy, but as my buddy says, "it isn't quite sticky enough to get lodged in your head, so once you've gone through the refrain and the chorus, not only is the prior earworm gone, so too is 'Champagne Supernova.'
"They must have had this in mind when they wrote it," he adds, "because what's a supernova, after all? It's a violent, intergalactic explosion that irradiates everything within its constellation. And champagne? Kills brain cells off faster than a Michael Crichton book. Put the two together and any other song doesn't stand a chance in your head. Then, just like its namesake, it disappears and all is right in the universe."
I have been writing about Oasis since it first emerged on the music scene with "Definitely Maybe" in 1994, and if there's ever been a better explanation for the appeal, however fleeting, of the Brothers Gallagher's brand of Brit Pop, I haven't heard it.
Superstars on the level of David Beckham at home in the U.K., Oasis won its biggest audience in the United States with "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" in 1995, selling nearly 4 million copies. But as USA Today recently pointed out, that's seven times the combined total of the group's last three studio albums, including this year's "Dig Out Your Soul," the group's seventh album.
Nevertheless, in their charmlessly boastful fashion, the Gallaghers maintain that they're the best rock band in the world. "I don't say that for the sake of saying it," vocalist Liam said. "There are other good bands. They're just not as good as Oasis."
In other interviews, Liam has been busy trying to drum up a feud with Coldplay to match its old rivalry with Blur -- "I don't give a s--- about Coldplay. We are the coolest band and we are the best f-----g band. We are the most important band. We may not be the biggest band in America, but who would want that?" he told the India Times -- while his equally quotable songwriting brother Noel confessed to the BBC that he "doesn't remember" anything that took place between 1994 and 1998, the years that yielded the band's best music, but that, nevertheless, narcotics never affected him "mentally or physically," he just took them because it was "f-----g brilliant."
Oh, those boys. The fact is, no matter what they say, legions of their fans agree that Oasis cannot be topped. Go ahead: Dare to suggest that "Dig Out Your Soul" not only finds the band once again attempting to rewrite the droning psychedelic pop of the Beatles' "Revolver" as a series of sing-along soccer chants, but does so with less energy and more disappointing results than previous efforts (as I did in my review of the disc).
Or note that, in concert, Liam's moping, enervated presence and the decided lack of charisma on the part of the rest of the band -- which is now completed by guitarist Gem Archer, bassist Andy Bell and drummer Chris Sharrock, who recently replaced Zak Starkey -- means you might as well stay home and listen to the recordings (as I've contended almost every time I've reviewed the group).
It doesn't matter: The Oasis fans stand by their band.
Oasis, Wonderwall ,Chicago, Dec 13th 2008
The fact is, at least a few times during every Oasis gig -- say, during "Cigarettes and Alcohol," "Wonderwall" or "Champagne Supernova" -- you'll find yourself irresistibly drawn in and inevitably singing along. The only questions are: Will you give any of them a second thought as soon as the last chord rings out? And is that really all it takes to be the best rock band in the world?
Check out L4E fan reviews from last nights show in Chicago HERE
via L4e / source: suntimes.com / photo: L4e member tadas
From Noel Gallagher's official tour diary on oasisinet.com
Nothing to say today. Nothing happened. We're in Chicago. It's equally as cold as Minneapolis.
We did catch up with some old friends yesterday though. Them being The Black Crowes. We toured with them in 2002 (I think). They were playing across the street. Good to see Chris. He's a lord.
Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne doesn�t understand the appeal of British bands like Oasis and Arctic Monkeys.
The American rocker, 47, who is in the UK to promote his band�s sci-fi film Christmas On Mars, doesn�t feel his countrymen can relate to the northern lads.
He told me: �I�ve never got Arctic Monkeys � they seem too much like a British thing to me.
�They�re like Oasis whereby Americans can�t really relate to them.
�Lots of British people like it but not for me, and I don�t like Razorlight or Duffy much either.
�I prefer Radiohead � they deserve to win a Grammy.
�And I�m still a fan of Amy Winehouse but hope she doesn�t become too much of a drug addict.�
Christmas On Mars premieres at the Barbican in London tomorrow.
Here's a late but welcome addition to the reviews of the recent Oasis concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles by our buddies at LA2DAY , the Los Angeles Lifestyle magazine.....
"You're not down with who I am. Look at you. You're all in my hands tonight."
It takes some bold muthafuckas to sing those words to a crowd of jaded Angelenos and salivating Brit transplants, but then again, Liam and Noel Gallagher have always been good at taking the piss out of fans and critics alike. And let's get one thing straight: I'm a fan. A die-hard, follow-Liam-to-a-Bosnian-crackhouse, Oasis-is-my-religion kind of fan. (Haters can suck it!)
And this past Thursday night, I was MadFerIt yeah: Oasis were back in town!
They opened the set at the Staples Center with Rock �n Roll star, one of the boldest claims to Rock-stardom ever recorded. Especially considering the fact that once upon a time they sang this to empty pubs back in Northern England, with the same swagger and cockiness they do now.
It's this self-assurance that drove the band towards the dizzy heights they enjoy today, as Liam sneers: "Toniiiiiiiiight I'm a Rock �N Roll Star," and bloody hell, does he mean it!!!
The main difference nowadays in an Oasis live performance is that the songs are carried out with more craft, as opposed to the switch-the-amps-to-max-and-see-what-happens approach of the early '90s. (God those were the days.)
Make no mistake though, Oasis still rocks, boasting an attitude that reminds us all of a dying breed of rockstar, especially in the snarling lead singer Liam Gallagher. Interestingly they're one of the very few bands around that can afford to simply stand there and play their music without bouncing from one side of the stage to the other. They invented stillism and god bless, because it allows the music to shine.
Oasis played a heavy list of classics, ranging from "Cigarettes & Alcohol," to "Champagne Supernova," right through to "Lyla" and "The Importance of Being Idl."
The entire setlist made for a nice blend of old and new, with the majority of songs coming from their previous two albums Don't Believe the Truth and Dig Out You Soul.
SETLIST: *show highlights in bold
Fuckin' In The Bushes Rock 'n' Roll Star Lyla The Shock Of The Lightning Cigarettes & Alcohol The Meaning Of Soul To Be Where There's Life Waiting For The Rapture The Masterplan Songbird Slide Away Morning Glory Ain't Got Nothin' The Importance Of Being Idle I'm Outta Time Wonderwall Supersonic Don't Look Back In Anger (acoustic version - fuck yeah!) Falling Down Champagne Supernova I Am The Walrus
Okay so gone is the magic of the days when they were still an indie band, and yes the Staples is about as corporate as it gets, and quite frankly I've never heard an Oasis gig at such a low sound volume, but the show didn't suffer for it. Oasis' attitude hasn't changed, even if the crowds and the times we live in have.
The gig was amazing. Maybe it had something to do with Morrisey (The Smiths) being in the crowd, maybe they were spurred on by Steve Jones' (Sex Pistols) presence, either way, the vibe was great with the Gallaghers at the end declaring: "We've been fantastic, you've been fantastic!"
And with a nod to their idols, the Beatles, they finished the set with an awesome version of "I am the Walrus" and a brilliant night was had by all.
Story by The Artist Formerly Known as Jimmy No-Mates.
The band Oasis makes dense, guitar-driven anthematic rock that owes a shamelessly obvious debt to the Beatles, especially John Lennon. It isn't Radiohead in terms of musicianship or breadth of vision, nor does it have Coldplay's drive for global success. But Oasis can rattle the walls with blaring waves of sound and is the best of the bands to come out of Manchester in the 1990s. Its new album, "Dig Out Your Soul" (Big Brother), is a solid piece of work, perhaps its best since 1995's "(What's the Story) Morning Glory."
While Oasis is hugely popular at home in the U.K., it is less so in the U.S. It may be that the band's reputation as the brawling Gallagher brothers, which feeds its image in Britain, doesn't travel well. Each of Oasis's seven studio albums, including "Dig Out Your Soul," reached the top of the U.K. pop charts. It's never had a No. 1 album in the States.
I caught the band's current U.S. tour on Dec. 4 at the Staples Center here. (It was in Los Angeles that one of the Gallaghers' more notable dust-ups occurred: Fourteen years ago at the Whiskey a Go Go, a wobbly Liam insulted the audience, smacked Noel with a tambourine and ran off.) If Oasis cared to strengthen its reputation in the U.S. on this trip, it didn't show.
Liam Gallagher seemed in a surly mood from the moment the lights dimmed. He sang without emotion, his voice especially nasal and monotone, and when he'd done his part -- many Oasis songs roar to an end with an extended instrumental statement -- he stood alongside the microphone with a tambourine between his teeth or his hands folded behind his back. "Anybody here from England?" he asked before "Morning Glory." Minutes later, as "Ain't Got Nothin'" was set to begin, he said, "Any surfers here?" Aside from promoting the sale of Oasis T-shirts, that was it for his interaction with the near-capacity crowd.
Thus, some of the evening's best moments occurred when he headed off-stage. Noel Gallagher, whose voice is a tad sweeter than his brother's and thus has a shimmer of empathy, sang the stirring ballads "The Masterplan" and "Don't Look Back in Anger," which he took at a slower tempo, encouraging the audience to sing along. Though at one point he snapped, "We don't do requests," he introduced newcomer Chris Sharrock with a bit of self-deprecating humor, calling him "our 15th drummer" -- actually, he's only the fourth in the band's 17 years -- and gave a nod to a sideman, whom he identified as "the Shroud."
The lack of even the rudiments of showmanship wouldn't have mattered very much if the band rose above the dour onstage vibe they created. But the music never became transcendent despite a powerful catalog of songs. Oasis opened with a fierce attack -- "Rock 'n' Roll Star" and "Lyla" followed by the new, rousing "The Shock of Lightning." Later, a beautiful reading of Liam Gallagher's composition "I'm Outta Time" ushered in a biting version of "Wonderwall" in which the Shroud played lovely synthesizer lines that deftly penetrated the chugging acoustic guitars. Guitarist Gem Archer had a few brief but tasty solos, as did Noel Gallagher. They ended the evening with a reading of the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus."
And yet it all seemed perfunctory. At best, it was an earnest but uninspired performance; at worst, a joyless recitation of their recordings. Oasis avoids the kind of spontaneity that brings something new to the familiar and lifts musicians out of the doldrums. At a rock show, somebody ought to have some fun, but fans rarely do if the band doesn't. "Don't come and see us if you're expecting anything . . . apart from the music coming out of the speakers," Noel Gallagher told Rolling Stone magazine recently. Good advice.
New Oasis Album makes Spin Mags Best Albums of 2008 List
SPIN magazine named DOYS #38 on best albums of the year list.
OASIS #38: DIG OUT YOUR SOUL
Based on songful merit -- not the brutish stasis Oasis supposedly represent -- 2005's Don't Believe the Truth was a remarkable rebirth, as both Gallaghers penned timeless, heartfelt Britpop that packed arenas with misty fist-pumping. Dig injects a darker rhythmic urgency, plus a newfound, psych-swirling reflection. "The Shock of the Lightning" and "Falling Down" ooze battered wisdom, not creaky bluster; even Liam's ballad "I'm Outta Time" la-las with a mature tenderness. Charles Aaron/ Spin
From Noel Gallagher's official tour diary on oasisinet.com
So..Minneapolis? An arctic wasteland more like. Fuck living here!! Have these people not heard of California? You think it's cold in England?! It's colder than Thatcher's soul (if that's at all possible).
Stayed in last night. Endlessly flickin' round on the telly. I found THE most ludicrous programme I think I've ever seen. It was on a channel called Spike TV. And the programme was called "Manswers". Which - if I'm not very much mistaken - is a show that answers the questions American men are asking. "Manswers". Get it? Ok.
What follows is TRUE. It's what I saw and I hadn't been drinking.
1. What's the most powerful handgun available on the market? (There was a few to choose from and their power was demonstrated by birds with big tits in bikinis firing them in slow motion!! It looked and sounded like a spoof trailer for a Quentin Tarantino movie. Fuckin' mental yet, strangely compelling!)
2. How can you survive being hit by a car? (Apparently there IS a technique which was demonstrated by a trained stuntman (not in a bikini) and I was told NOT to try it at home!! What? Not even a little practice?)
3. How would big boobs bounce on the moon?!!! (An "expert" actually explained that they (the boobs) would react in the same way as they would if they were underwater! FUCKIN' LUDICROUS!!)
4. What's faster - a man or his sperm? (To demonstrate this they had a midget in a white all-in-one Lycra body suit on a running machine. He signified the sperm, I think?)
5. What's the horniest animal in the jungle? (You simply HAVE to know, don't you? Thinking on...maybe I'd been spiked with acid).
Fuckin' ludicrous the lot of it. Gimme Seinfeld any day.
In a bit.
GD.
PS. The Bonobo Chimpanzee is the horniest animal in the jungle (just in case you were wondering).
The Brits had some mean words and not enough mean rockers, while Ryan Adams didn't say a word (gasp!)
Here's the ice-cold reception mouthy British guitarist Noel Gallagher expressed for our fine state, in a diary report posted on his band Oasis's website before Wednesday night's Target Center concert:
"Tales from the Middle of Nowhere (10 December 2008): Think we're in Minnesota. Bob Dylan country. It's cold, flat, grey and bleak. No wonder he [headed] to NYC. Even the cattle look miserable."
Fortunately for the band, Minnesota gave Oasis a warmer if still not overheated welcoming for its first Minneapolis show since 2001.
The crowd was only about 5,000 in number, but the meager turnout was probably more a product of the sluggish U.S. economy than the sluggishly paced English rockers and their dwindling but still cultish fame. And anyway, the fans who were there stood and cheered throughout much of the 100-minute performance -- which was more adulation than Gallagher and Co. actually deserved.
Always wooden figures on stage, Gallagher and his singer brother, Liam, did not break from their norm on Wednesday -- even when their band was firing on all cylinders musically at the start of the show. They tore through the anthemic opener "Rock 'n' Roll Star" with gusto and kept it up with the truly electric follow-ups, "Lyla" and "The Shock of Lightning."
Deeper into the set, though, things started to lag, and the band's holes opened up. Liam essentially just shouted and muttered his way through lesser tunes such as the new dud "To Be Where There's Life" and the old one "Cigarettes and Alcohol." He even slept-walk his way through the finale of "I Am the Walrus." The guy's a consummate rock singer on record, but he certainly wasn't on stage Wednesday.
Noel, on the other hand, ate up the limelight a little better as he sang through "The Rapture" and, during the encore, "Don't Look Back in Anger," which became the show's second-biggest crowd singalong ("Wonderwall" took top prize right before the encore).
Noel was also a little more light-hearted toward the show's setting during some comments he midway through the show.
"Is it cold enough for you? Why do you live here?" he asked. "You are aware that there's a place called California?"
Met with a chorus of boos, Gallagher replied, "Yeah, but they're wearing shorts right now."
That's a new one -- lessons in happiness from a dour British rock star.
At least Gallagher was more chatty than opener Ryan Adams, who typically talks up a storm at his shows -- to the point where, at a drunken First Avenue show four years ago, some fans stormed out of the venue.
No problem this time, though. The North Carolina rocker said nary a word to the crowd and showed even less personality than the Brits. Infamously inconsistent onstage, Adams' problem on Wednesday was actually too much consistency.
He and his solid band of the past three years, the Cardinals, picked heavily from their lackluster new album, "Cardinology." Even beyond that, they played too many mid-tempo, downer rock tunes, from the poetic but pouty opener "Cobwebs" to the languid "Let It Ride" to the lifeless "Two." A few of his softer acoustic numbers would have been nice, as would have any of his swinging country-ish tunes, as would more blustery rockers like the Stonesy closer "Magick."
To celebrate Oasis' return to the Big Apple and Madison Square Garden on Dec 17Th Live4ever is giving away three limited edition t-shirts . I had you leave your name and email provider in the comment box of my contest post and 96 of you replied!
Here are the winners of our contest. I used the Random Number Service at Random.org to pick 3 numbers between 1 and 96.
Our winning contestants are:
Comment #5: Crystal Bromiley
Comment #53: Na Yoo
Comment #93: Megan Francia
The winners have 5 days to get in touch with me via email to claim their prize. If for some reason I do not hear from a contestant I will chose a backup winner. Thanks to all the participants !
Oasis leader shares views on playing Detroit, the setlist and Motown
"Are you drinking while you're speaking to me?"
The question was abrupt and was delivered in an accusatory tone from the famously candid, infinitely quotable and almost always profane Noel Gallagher, songwriter and leader of Britpop bad boys Oasis. The group plays The Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday with special guests Ryan Adams and the Cardinals. For the record, I was not drinking, but he insisted I had taken a sip of something.
"You know, my (bleeping) girlfriend does that, and it's really (bleeping) annoying," said Gallagher, half-joking, half-not. I explained I had not taken a drink, and after some back and forth, he acquiesced, but accused me of swallowing "really (bleeping) loudly." For that, I was guilty.
"Right, then, so don't swallow loudly on the phone ... for crying out loud. If I don't swallow loudly, you shouldn't. Carry on."
We carried on, about his daughter's taste in music, his feelings on Detroit and a recent incident where he was attacked onstage by a crazed fan in Toronto.
What happened at the Toronto show?
Well really, I don't know. I was playing away there, and he attacked me from behind. So I have no recollection of it whatsoever. I was playing, and then I was on the floor, and then I was in the hospital, and then I was back in England, and then I was (bleeping) in bed for five weeks.
Have you watched the incident on YouTube?
No. I don't own a computer.
Nobody's played it for you ?
I don't know what the point would be of watching it. I've seen pictures, I've seen stills.
So you're playing, and a guy just comes up and shoves you. Have you made any changes in your security team?
No, not really. We haven't got any more security. We're just making sure their eyes are open. It was at a festival, you know what I mean? And there were a lot of people on the side of the stage watching, and I'm not sure what happened to be honest. It's irrelevant. What's relevant is the physical act, never mind the why and who was responsible and all that. He was responsible for it, whatever his name is.
So what was recovery like? Did you have bruised ribs?
Three broken, and I had five bruised ribs. I was just laid up in the house for five weeks.
Boring.
Well, you should see my house, it's hardly boring. It's (bleeping) awesome.
Did you stay in bed, or tool around the house?
I've got a 1-year-old son who requires a lot of attention, and it was kind of a bit weird not being able to play with him. I kind of sat, laying on the couch, watching TV, eatin' foods that was bad for me and not getting any exercise.
What'd you watch on TV, anything good?
Constant football. Football and, you know, the Discovery Channel...stuff like that.
When "Dig Out Your Soul," was released, it was called -- as a lot of Oasis records tend to be when they are released -- a return to classic Oasis.
Yeah, but who says that? I don't say it.
Why do you think that always gets said?
I don't know. I could (bleeping) give a (bleep) what reviewers say. You know what I mean? "Return to form." I don't really know what... that's like, you know, sportsmen return to form. Race horses. That kinda (bleep). Records are pieces of art, right? It's kind of, somebody's created them. It's not about form. I don't know why that is. It annoys me as much as it obviously annoys you.
It seems like there's this constant thing with you guys where the new work is always compared to the old work, specifically, the first two records.
Yeah, well...I don't live in the past with Oasis, d'ya know what I mean? It's kind of what's gone on before is irrelevant to me. Is it as good as "Definitely Maybe?" Is it as good as "Morning Glory"? I don't care. I don't listen to either of them, d'ya know what I mean? And after I finish this tour, I won't listen to this one either. So, fans can get on all the forums and they can debate it 'til they're (bleeping) blue in the face. I've got better things to do, like the next record.
Oh, I don't know. I'm gonna take a bit of time off after this. I think I might do something for myself, maybe.
Will the next one be kind of a return...
A return to form? (Laughs) The next one will be our most recent album since this one. I can't promise any more than that. I mean, I don't (bleeping) know. I don't know what it will be like. The songs I've written could go... I really don't know, to be honest. It depends what kind of producer we use, what studio, and blah blah blah, where were at the day when we walk into the studio and all that. I don't know.
"Dig out your Soul," how would you classify it?
Well, I love it. I've gotta say it's up there with my favorites, and my favorites are "Defintely Maybe," "Don't Believe the Truth," this one and various bits and bobs of the others. But that's just my opinion. I'm not about to say it's better than any of the others, because everybody has their own opinion, don't they?
How's it feel to play live?
Well, it was initially very difficult, because this is the one album we've ever made that we never played live in the studio.
How'd you make it? What was the process?
It was all done on drum loops and computers and stuff like that, you know. Because the songs aren't very songy, they're all kind of monotonous, so it's more of a production job. D'ya know what I mean? And my songs, I wrote in the studio, so it's kind of, I was kind of making it up as we were going along, really. So when we came to rehearse these songs live, it was like, what the (bleepin) hell's all this about? You know. It was initially quite difficult. But I think they're going across well.
How much of the new record are you playing live?
Six songs.
Are the set lists pretty regimented?
Very regimented.
Are they the same every night?
Yeah, almost to the point of the fascism.
Same order, everything?
There must be discipline.
What is the set list, what's it like?
It's an 8-by-4 piece of paper, and it has Oasis song titles on it.
Mm-hmm?
Yep. And we start at the top, finish at the bottom.
And the ones in the middle you play in the middle?
The ones on the middle, yep, they get played in the middle. It's got six songs from the new album, eight from the two famous albums, and about another six, odds and bits and bobs and B-sides and album tracks and that kind of thing from all the rest.
Anything from "Be Here Now" in there?
There was, initially.
What?
"My Big Mouth" was there, initially, but we got rid of that because we felt the set was one song too long.
And that's the one that had to go?
It didn't have to go, it was just kind of, well, if we're gonna drop one song, you can't... I'm looking at the list and I'm going, can't drop "Supersonic," d'ya know what I mean? It's obvious. If you take a straw poll of the people in the room and say would you rather hear "My Big Mouth" or XYZ, and I don't mean the (bleeping) Coldplay album, what would you rather hear? So I'm just assuming people would rather hear "Cigarettes and Alcohol." I don't know, I could be wrong.
You guys have been playing here for years. Do you have any good Detroit memories?
We played there a few years ago with Soundtrack to Our Lives at some really famous theater.
The Fox Theatre.
Yeah, that was a really great night. We always have a great night in Detroit -- after the gigs, d'ya know what I mean. There's always weird and wonderful and clever and interesting people in the dressing room. It's a nice place to play, we feel at home there. It's not too dissimilar from Manchester.
You say that to everybody.
(Pause.)
Or don't you?
Well, I don't say that to people in Tokyo, do I? That's not a (bleep) at all like Manchester, is it? (Detroit) is a working-class town, d'ya know what I mean; and it's seen better days, that kind of thing. And all of the music that comes out of Detroit, from the Stooges to MC5, to the electronic stuff in the '80s, the house music, up to Jack White and the White Stripes, it's always cool as (bleep). Always. It's uncanny. Like Manchester.
Was Motown ever an influence on you? Was there ever a penetration there?
Did I have sex to them, is that what you mean?
Yes, absolutely.
I've only recently got into Motown through reading about the Beatles. My parents weren't Motown fans. We might have had "20 Golden Greats" in the record collection. But it's not strictly guitar music, is it, and that's what I was into. But then you kinda start learning about the Beatles, and they were checking for Motown stuff and Stax stuff and you're like, oh, all right! And you go back and listen to it. But I (bleeping) love it now.
Any groups in particular?
From Motown, it's all about the songs, it's not about the acts. There's so many great songs. I couldn't tell you Dionne Warwick from Diana Ross, d'ya know what I mean? It's all just, you listen to the songs, and it's about the tunes I think.
Any tunes stick out to you?
From Motown? (Laughs). Yeah, one or two. I mean, they're either blatantly obvious, like "You Can't Hurry Love," or really obscure. I'm not an expert on it. I know the tunes, I don't know the titles.
Sing some of them.
If you want to hear me sing, do you know how much it's going to cost you?
How much?
How much are tickets for the gig?
I think they're $75.
Right, it will cost you $75. Next time you hear me sing, I'll be looking like Jesus.
"Chinese Democracy" just came out.
Yes.
Any thoughts?
No. I've not heard it. I've read the reviews, and judging from the reviews I know I'm gonna (bleeping) love it.
Are you being serious?
I love preposterous records, and anything that took 17 years is obviously (bleeping) ludicrous. I'm dying to hear it. I already know I'm going to like it.
What would an Oasis record sound like if you spent 17 years making it?
Brilliant.
Have you ever thought about that?
What, spending 17 years on a record? I haven't got that much time left, have I? I'd be what, 57 by the time that came out? Eh.
How old is your daughter, and what music is she into?
My daughter is 8 years of age, and she is into that (bleep) on the Disney Channel, the Jonas Brothers and all of that (bleeping) nonsense. "High School Musical."
Do you find anything to enjoy in the Jonas Brothers?
Not in the slightest. No. Is there anything?
"Lovebug" is the catchy single on the record, and it's not bad...
No, it's not. I'm not going there.
Touring with Ryan Adams, how did that come about? Mutual appreciation?
Mutual agents talking to each other, saying we could make some money on this, let's get the boys together.
How are you guys getting along?
Oh it's great, it's a mutual appreciation society. We're fans of each other's work, man. I've gotta go, I'm afraid. I've got a flight I've gotta catch to Mexico.
Do you have any final thoughts ?
Any final thoughts? (Pauses.) Stop (bleeping) buying Nickelback records. Have you heard that tune "Rock Star?"
Yes.
They can do better than that, surely.
They probably can.
I bet you could. I've gotta go, I've got to go see my drug dealer in Mexico. Bye-bye.
Memo to the rock press: Noel Gallagher would like you to stop declaring that Oasis keeps making comebacks.
It has been a routine for at least a decade: Oasis releases album, record gets solid reviews, media raves about the band's unexpected grand return. Singer-songwriter Gallagher, who remains the band's foundation with younger brother Liam, just endured it again with the band's latest album, "Dig Out Your Soul."
"It gets kind of annoying that we're always 'coming back,' because we never go away," he says, noting that his band's release schedule is no different from those of fellow European rockers U2 and Coldplay.
"It's one of these dumb things that's always said about Oasis, just like mentioning the Beatles every 20 minutes, or talking about me and Liam getting along like a house on fire."
One thing that hasn't been so dependable is the band's personnel, particularly its Spinal Tap-esque series of drummers. The group's Saturday show at the Palace of Auburn Hills is to feature the services of drummer Chris Sharrock. He's at least the sixth person to man the Oasis skins, and replaces Zak Starkey, who managed a four-year stint before splitting in the spring because of feuds with Noel Gallagher.
That says it all. At root, Oasis is all about the Gallaghers, and after all these years, Noel remains the band's heart and soul. This is still his band, the one he formed 18 years ago in Manchester and took to multiplatinum heights with Liam as front man.
Oasis isn't the commercial juggernaut it was in the mid-'90s, when it was selling out stadiums and topping singles and album charts. But it has continued to draw critical accolades and maintains a devoted fan base.
"Dig Out Your Soul," released in October, is standard-issue Oasis: melodic, simple, soaring and satisfying. Fourteen years after the band exploded onto the global scene, Gallagher says, there's no need to seek musical transformation.
"There are bands that are constantly changing their sound, constantly searching for something. I don't perceive it like that, where I have to sit down and reinvent myself or reinvent the band," he says. "We've got a strong identity. We found what we were looking for. There's no point to go on searching anymore -- we arrived at the place where every band in the world wants to be, where you're comfortable with who you are and what you sound like and the number of fans and the clothes you wear. There's no need to be (screwing) about endlessly searching for something that's not there."
Of course, it wouldn't be an Oasis tour without a bout of melodrama. Detroit fans, for instance, can recall the will-he-won't-he soap opera of '96, when Liam Gallagher briefly quit the band only to rejoin just in time for a Palace show.
But this year's episode came with more real-life ramifications than normal, when Noel Gallagher was attacked during a September concert in Toronto by a fan who rushed the stage. Several shows were postponed as the guitarist nursed three broken ribs, though he heads into this week's Palace concert fully fit.
Gallagher, 41, is now a bona fide family man, but the downtime proved frustrating for a musician who says he enjoys the ritual of touring. Let other acts complain about the grind of the road, says Gallagher -- he's out to "find the good in every day."
"I never understood the moaning rock star. I find it a really strange attitude," he says. "Like, we've got two years on the road coming up. These are the memories I'll take to the grave with me. I've been able to see the changes in the world, for better and for worse. I love playing live, and the farther away from home the better.
"I love being in limbo, constantly moving, not settling down. It's brilliant. The hours are long, and what gets tiring is the drinking, but even that's not so bad."
Gallagher still gives good quote, as they say in the news business. He's never short on testy words about his younger brother, and of his homeland's rock scene he takes no quarter: "This generation of young kids are useless. They've got nothing. No attitude. They look good and that's it. Can you think of one great song that's come out of England the last five years?"
Still, by his confession, Gallagher has mellowed a bit over the years. He says he keeps his head on straight by continuously writing -- he has already got five songs ready for when the next record beckons.
"The thing that's most challenging for me is the writing. I could always find a million reasons not to do it, like sitting in front of the television or sitting in the garden to smoke a cigarette," he says. "But when the call comes, I've always got three-quarters completed already. When we're in the studio, it's like being in the best private members club of all time, all day, every day."
Writer Dustin Sussman, who somehow convinced Spike.com to give him a job as one of their blog monkeys, put together a list of The Top 7 Worst Guitar Solos. Obviously not even his employer stands behind his choices as the article starts with following disclaimer:
The following article does not represent the opinions of Spike TV or its affiliates.
Guitar solos are like an open book into an artist. Once you hear any musician try to get technical on their axe you can really understand what the person is all about. You get a true understanding of how talented the artist/band is and it helps you know how seriously you should take them. But even the best of songs can be ruined by a horrible guitar solo.
7. Oasis "Champagne Supernova"
Noel Gallagher is not a good guitar player. That�s right, I said it. Anyone who thinks Noel Gallagher is a good guitar player should simply revisit his Oasis catalogue. I�m not saying the dude can�t write a catchy tune, I�m just saying he�s not as skilled as everybody makes him out to be. That's why he went ahead and let former Jam frontman Paul Weller provid the lead guitar and some of the backing vocals on the track. I like me some Jam, but this one just didn't do it for me.
Very few songs by the British supergroup are known for their amazing musicianship and the guitar playing in �Champagne Supernova� is no different. You can�t really hear all of the solo, but what you can make out sounds like someone is raping a Gibson ES-335. Yuk.
Everything is borrowed, according to the Streets' Mike Skinner. Indeed, it is. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but can it be creative?
The Oasis way is direct; the latest example being a quick flourish through the inversions of a C major triad before the chorus of I'm Outta Time, a trick they've taken straight from the Beatles' A Day In the Life. Well, it's certainly sincere; no one doubts that the Gallagher brothers love the Beatles. But does a cheeky musical wink saying "Remember that? Great wasn't it?" really merit release? After all, there are ways to borrow creatively without resorting to genuflecting in front of your idols.
Here are some of my personal favourites.
All great artists borrow
Sticking with little piano chords, Steve Nieve's descending minor third motif in Oliver's Army is more than a little reminiscent of Abba's Dancing Queen: barely any less blatant than Oasis' lift from Imagine in Don't Look Back in Anger. But whereas Costello acknowledged the steal, surely nobody would argue that his band, the Attractions, were aspiring to be the next Abba? Quotation top marks
I've always warmed to a good musical quote. As someone who fell in love with pop in the late 80s, perhaps I'm predisposed to like Lipps Inc reconfigured by Pop Will Eat Itself, but I'm going to put sampling (in a hip-hop sense) aside, having dealt with it in a previous blog.
Genuine musical quotiations can be moving. If someone references a passage that only a select few recognise they will forever endear themselves to them. Allegedly, Stravinsky was delighted when Charlie Parker quoted the opening of his Firebird Suite at him after recognising the composer in the audience of Birdland in the 1950s.
Perhaps Thom Yorke wailing the melody to the Hollies' The Air That I Breathe after the second chorus of Creep isn't quite on the same level of genius, but when the penny dropped it certainly endeared me to Radiohead, making their song less angst-ridden for its willingness to playfully reference the similar chord sequence. I guess this is what Oasis are aiming for and some may consider this charming in its honesty. However, quite what Kid Rock thinks he's doing to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama and Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London on All Summer Long is beyond me. It's not theft, it's recontextualisation
I suppose that in the age of digital reproduction all these instances are examples of borrowing not stealing. The (almost exhausted) bootlegging phenomenon was prefigured by much stranger music: from Charles Ives's rampant quoting, through Berio's rearrangement of Mahler in his Sinfonia to James Tenney's Collage #1 (Blue Suede), which is a tape collage from 1961 based on Elvis's Blue Suede Shoes.
But the more obvious source of recontextualising familiar pop songs is the unrepentant work of the long-suffering John Oswald, whose Plunderphonics recordings were destroyed thanks to Michael Jackson's lawyers. These fastidiously wrought delights are reconfigured versions of artists from Bing Crosby to Metallica. The one that drew me in is the warped version of White Christmas, which sounds as if it is being mangled in a car cassette player driven by singing Christmas robots.
Finally, can anyone solve the puzzle set by The Week That Was album, which was released to much acclaim earlier this year? Apparently it "is rumoured to reference a number of motifs from various 1980s classics" - a statement confirmed by its writer Peter Brewis. I haven't been able to identify them yet � and neither have the reviews I've seen. If anyone can enlighten me I'd be grateful; otherwise just let us know your favourite instances of musical quotation, borrowing and downright theft.
Ricky Hatton Vegas Video Featuring Oasis and Becks
Ricky's warm up in the changing rooms before the fight against Paulie Malignaggi in Vegas, includes David Beckham, Oasis brothers Noel & Liam Gallagher, Sylvester Stallone & Jason Statham
Although famous as much for their Mancunian bluster as for redefining British pop back in the mid-1990s, even the Gallagher brothers themselves must be more than mildly surprised at how well Oasis's following in America has endured and grown in the decade since they became global superstars.
After its first two albums were released in 1994 and 1995 respectively, the band's stateside popularity faded considerably. Given the fact that Oasis's massive early success hinged on a combustible cocktail of drug abuse and, at times, violent sibling rivalry, the downturn didn't seem all that unlikely.
Yet somehow, despite the aborted tours, lineup changes and declining record sales, the Gallaghers have held themselves together long enough for their career to experience an American resurgence. This is even more surprising considering that the band's new album, "Dig Out Your Soul" -- while somewhat more palatable than its clunky predecessor -- isn't anywhere near as compelling as its early material.
Regardless, the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles last Thursday was full of fans, new and old, anxious to get a glimpse Oasis Mach IV. Things looked pretty familiar. Apart from some extra heft courtesy of new drummer Chris Sharrock, it was business as usual for Oasis, who roared through a familiar 105-minute set heavy on the hits ("Wonderwall," "Champagne Supernova," "Supersonic") and light on everything else.
Standard rock psychedelic imagery filled the video screens behind the band as they stuffed the arena with thick open chords and Kinks-esque harmonies.
If there was any doubt before, Liam Gallagher has pretty much officially given up on actually singing, now content to snort his vocals without any need to even finish his phrases. The band's new material is melodic but not memorable ("Ain't Got Nothin'," "Waiting for the Rapture"), and actually makes mediocre mid-period songs like "Lyla," "Songbird" and "The Importance of Being Idle" seem like welcomed additions to the set.
Acoustic renditions of "The Masterplan" and "Don't Look Back in Anger" were well received, the latter offering perhaps the one moment where Noel Gallagher seemed genuinely touched by the overwhelming audience response.
Such a rabid reaction proves that Oasis have indeed weathered a crucial career-threatening storm. And they have done it not by changing with the times but remaining steadfastly true to their meat-and-potato rock roots. And while this approach might not afford them any creative breakthroughs in the near future, it has at least provided a future of some kind.
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals opened the show with an hour of often stunning rock songs culled mostly from their new album, "Cardinology." Crisp guitars tones and glacial pedal steel licks punctuated the emotionally searing standouts "Cobwebs" and "Crossed Out Name."
Guitarist Neil Casal seems like he was genetically designed to be Adams' ideal vocal and instrumental foil, as the pair locked into gorgeous pools of harmony on song after song. "Sink Ships," "Natural Ghost" and "Go Easy" sounded even fuller than their album counterparts, and worked well alongside the chiming contemplativeness of "Two" and "Everybody Knows" from last year's underrated "Easy Tigher."
Disco Showers , Bunny Clubs and a Hip Hop Wonderwall
From Noel Gallagher's official tour diary on oasisinet.com
I fuckin' love Vegas. I think I may have mentioned this before. Have I? It's mental. And not good for the soul but I'm glad there's a place on Earth that exists like that and I get to go there once in a while.
The room they gave me at The Palms was incredible. It had a pool table in it! And a disco shower (that's right, a shower/discotheque)!
Got taken to what's called a high-rollers suite to watch the fight between Manny Paquiao and Fighting Oscar de la Hoya and what a fight! Paquiao battered him senseless. De la Hoya quit in the 8th (shithouse!).
Tricky-Ricky-Hatton was in town ('coz he's fighting the winner, see?). He popped his little head round the door 5 mins before showtime. Good to see him again. I may have mentioned this once or twice before but he's a good fuckin' lad. He cleared out a few Guinness and went out front to watch the gig.
The first person I spot in the gig (out of thousands) is my 4th best friend Russell Brand casually eyeing up people to get pregnant. Sadly for him it's mainly boys at our gig (although I'm not sure that'd stop him). That dressing room was too small for all them people, it could've got dangerous. Good fun though.
Me, Russell, Ricky, Burnin'Natty and various others had a look upstairs at the Bunny-Club (did I mention that The Palms is somehow affiliated to Playboy?). Poor Russell, he didn't know where to start. He was like a dog in a cake shop.
There's too much to tell really. Ricky turned up in a wheelchair, the DJ played some hip-hop bootleg of 'Wonderwall', all manner of shit was going on. I slung it before sunrise (a wise move!).
I'm at this moment back on the bus. Underneath the big sky. In the middle of nowhere. On the way to Denver. Mountains out of every window. Glorious. No wonder they all believe in God out here.
At first it seems an odd pairing of acts. Oasis is a band of pop-rock stars that plays stadiums around the world (if not here in the U.S.). Ryan Adams' latest incarnation is with his fine band The Cardinals, but his style has bent more toward traditional rock and folk. It seemed the only characteristic the two share were their lead singers' penchant for being, um, outspoken.
But in a moment of fortuitous artistic synchronicity, both are going through a phase in their careers bent toward harder, at-times psychedelic rock. So the two rockers' sets in Broomfield on a snowy night matched up much better than anyone might have expected.
Adams seems to get in the press only when he has an onstage meltdown, with the mainstream ignoring his steady stream of fine albums and nonstop touring in various incarnations.
Adams has at times been solo, at times has had fine players around him, but never has he clicked onstage so seamlessly and intensely as with The Cardinals. Whether working through cuts from the new album Cardinology or recasting old Adams standards as hard-rock jams, the band was solid and exciting, easily bringing Oasis fans into the fold. Tougher versions of When the Stars Go Blue (with a warm, heartfelt guitar solo from Adams) and Come Pick Me Up were highlights, as was the new song Natural Ghost.
Oasis is known for rock-star attitude and drilled the point home by opening with Rock 'n' Roll Star, with singer Liam Gallagher dressed head to toe in black and full of his usual onstage affectations (what's with the tambourine in the mouth?).
The set was heavily salted with songs from the band's great new rock album Dig Out Your Soul, along with a bunch of carefully chosen earlier hits throughout the set, starting with a stirring version of Cigarettes & Alcohol.
The band began plowing through its catalog at breakneck speed, with new drummer Chris Sharrock (formerly of World Party and The Las) powering with frantic, impressive drumming.
Gallagher noted the anniversary of John Lennon's murder onstage, a tribute he gives with every Lennon-like note he sings. His voice can get a bit grating at times, so a two-song mini set without Liam found Noel Gallagher taking the lead on Waiting for the Rapture and The Masterplan.
At press time big hits, including Don't Look Back in Anger and Champagne Supernova awaited the crowd.
The sound at the Broomfield Events Center was solid and clean, but the place just can't seem to catch a break. With $19 tickets available, there was surely a large percentage of walk-up audience that stayed home due to the snow blowing sideways in the night.
The 'I'm Outta Time EP' is available to download from today (December 9)
Oasis are set to release a special US-only iTunes exclusive EP.
The EP includes previously unreleased material including a demo version of the current single �I�m Outta Time� and remix versions of �The Shock of the Lightning� and �To Be Where There�s Life�.
The band are currently on their �Dig Out Your Soul� American tour playing to sold-out audiences across the country. The jaunt continues tonight in Denver, CO.
The tracklisting for �I�m Outta Time� is:
�I'm Outta Time� (Album version) �I'm Outta Time� (Remix) �I'm Outta Time� (Demo) �The Shock Of The Lightning� (The Jagz Kooner Remix) �To Be Where There's Life� (Neon Neon Remix)
The remaining dates are:
Minneapolis, MN Target Center (10) Chicago, IL Allstate Arena (12) Detroit, MI Palace of Auburn Hills (13) New York, NY Madison Sq. Garden (17) Camden, NJ Susquehanna Center (19) Washington, DC Patriot Center (20)
Photographer Michael Spencer Jones Shares Oasis Memories
You�d think that anyone working with Liam and Noel Gallagher on a regular basis would require the patience of a saint.
Not so, says Michael Spencer Jones, the acclaimed photographer who captured the now famous cover shots for their first three albums and 11 singles.
�They�re probably the greatest bunch of people I�ve ever worked with,� says Michael, who first met the Gallaghers in October 1993.
�You�ve got a band that�s straightforward and honest. You know where you stand.
�One of the things about being there from very early on was the fact there was never any question whether this band was going to make it � it was blindingly obvious right from the word go that they�d be a huge success.�
Spotted by Noel Gallagher through his early work for The Verve (Jones would also later photograph the cover to Urban Hymns), the Sheffield photographer went on to take the images for every Oasis UK release, from their debut Supersonic to the 1998 number one All Around The World.
All 14 covers (plus a previously unseen night shot version of Be Here Now) form the latest exhibition at Birmingham�s Snap Galleries.
Entitled Out of the Blue (after the Manchester recording studios where he first met the band), the show is accompanied by a limited edition boxed portfolio with all 15 images signed by Jones and a 196-page large format book chronicling his time with the bad boys of Britpop.
As well as his passion for photography � and his talent � what also comes through when speaking to Jones is that he�s clearly a huge Oasis fan.
In fact, he has been ever since he first heard Columbia on his car stereo, the day before he was to meet them for the very first time:
�I heard this great piece of music, and it was one of those occasions when you hear something and you want to hear what it is, and the DJ said it was by �local band Oasis� and I was like �wow, hey, I�m going to photograph them tomorrow, that�s good�,� he recalls.
�It�s so important with any band I work with that I like the music,� he insists.
�The next day when I heard Shakermaker at the studio it was very much a contrast to Columbia, and there were vocals on it as well, which made it more interesting. Then I got a demo tape of Definitely Maybe and just couldn�t stop playing it � I was like �wow, there�s only one direction they�re going in, and that�s up�.�
Creation Records wanted their artwork to be done in-house, but Noel insisted that they use Jones � in retrospect, a great decision.
The portfolio of work � which features 5,000 imported carnations (Don�t Look Back In Anger), a disused railway station (Some Might Say) and a half-submerged Rolls-Royce (Be Here Now) � is a fabulous snapshot of not only the band�s golden years but also some of Britpop�s finest moments.
�It was very much an organic creative process of �right, we�ve got this track, what are we going to do?�� says Michael.
�Sometimes Noel would come up with it, other times the designer would come up with an idea or I would come up with an idea, or Noel might suggest something that I would develop into something else.
�When I was doing the book and looking at the contacts and the outtakes, I got some great memories back and it�s just interesting how many stories there are behind the shoots,� he adds. �It was a very colourful period. There are some anecdotes behind every single cover I did with them.�
Cigarettes and Alcohol (single released October 1994, reached No. 7 in the UK)
�It was in this small hotel room in Holland Park and it was a staged shot, and in the end we got a kind of vibe going, running up a big room service bill... but at the end of the shoot, about three or four o�clock in the morning, Noel took his guitar up and began playing.
Liam was in the room � I think he was asleep � and there was Tim Abbott the art director, about four or five of us in total � and Noel must have played his whole repertoire, maybe 15, 16 songs one after the other. Incredible.
Just playing Live Forever, then next track Whatever � songs I�d not even heard, it was just one after the other. I think he even played All Around The World, and that didn�t surface for about another four years. The thing about his songs is they�re so well crafted and he�s such a rare talent.�
* Out of the Blue � The Oasis Photographs of Michael Spencer Jones is on show at Snap Galleries until February 28 2009. www.snapgalleries.com.
An outtake picture from the shoot for the sleeve of Oasis' 1995 Number One single 'Don't Look Back In Anger'. "Noel thought this sentiment would make an interesting idea for a cover and so suggested we had the band's equipment covered in thousands of red, white and blue carnations, the colours of the Union Jack," explains photographer Michael Spencer Jones. Pic: Michael Spencer Jones, courtesy www.snapgalleries.com
It will be on show at the Snap Gallery in Birmingham from Saturday 6 December 2008 to 28 February 2009. The exhibition will also feature achieve shots, record sleeves and candid photos of the Manchester band.
BARMY ARMY: FIVE OF THE WORST SHOW THEIR TRUE COLOURS
WHEN The Times recently published its list of the "50 worst famous football fans", it seemed nothing more than a blatant - and funny - attempt to prick the egos of rock stars, politicians, celebrity chefs, businessmen, actors, terrorists, authors and others who were coincidentally, or often opportunistically, aligned with a team.
Among targets identified and destroyed by the list's author, Kaveh Solhekol, were Noel Gallagher, Hugh Grant, Heather Mills, Robbie Williams and Osama bin Laden (see panel).
However, in his countdown of mostly contemporary fans, Solhekol's top seeding belonged to the Pele - or perhaps that should be the Maradona - of villains: Adolf Hitler, who was aligned with German club Schalke 04..........
No.39 Noel Gallagher (Manchester City): Mad-for-it Manc who loves Manchester so much that he lives in a plush country pad about 200 miles away from his roots, man. Real fan? Definitely maybe.
No.35 Hugh Grant (Fulham): Posh, handsome, plummy leading man who has been playing the same role in every film he has starred in since 1438. Almost as boring and predictable as Fulham were under Lawrie Sanchez.
No.25 Heather Mills (Sunderland): Say what you like about Mucca, but at least she supports her local side. Accused by The Sun of being a fantasist. Sounds like your average Sunderland fan.
No.6 Robbie Williams (Port Vale): The man who ruined the build-up to every single professional football game in the world by recording Let Me Entertain You.
No.5 Osama Bin Laden (Arsenal): In a cave, somewhere in Pakistan, the most wanted man in the world is kicking his battered transistor radio as news reaches him that Arsenal have lost again. That bloody infidel Wenger, he wails. Death to Israel! Death to America! Death to Tottenham!
From Noel Gallagher's official tour diary on Oasisinet.com
Well, well, well. He turned up! Morrissey was actually in our actual dressing room. Being very funny. He asked me did I have any "new moves"!! Genius.
Steve Jones (the Sex Pistol) was there. A proper dude. Can't tell you what a buzz it is to have 2 of the people who are absolutely responsible for you making music in the room. I love meeting my heroes. They're all top, top geezers.
Gig was good. Went to the after show to see a few cats who come over from England. Didn't hit it hard though. Got my boy in town. Not fair dad rolling in at dawn stinking the gaff out. Got another 2 weeks of that.
Which brings me to tonight. Back in Vegas. At The Palms. Very 70s. Ricky Hatton's in town (again!) as is Russell Brand and the elusive Matt Morgan. Gonna watch the Oscar de la Hoya fight and then rip it up (so to speak). Could and should get messy.
Colin Murray Archer (born December 7, 1966 County Durham), turns 42 today. Colin who is better known as Gem Archer, is an English musician best known for his work with Heavy Stereo and Oasis.
It�s Oasis guitarist Gem�s birthday today and there was a bit of a bash for him after the show last night in Las Vegas. Some cake huh? We all had a great time hanging out and getting boisterous. (via Ryan Adams Blog)
Of all the excuses Oasis has doled out for canceling gigs, at least the one that made headlines in September can be easily verified.
"Just go to YouTube -- it's there for all the world to see," guitarist and bandleader Noel Gallagher said, referring to the Sept. 7 attack by an audience member who rushed the stage during a concert in Toronto.
The online clips show Gallagher getting tackled from behind with linebacker-like force and landing awkwardly on his stage monitors. Don't look for the British rocker to make any more excuses, though, as his band finally returns to Minneapolis for its Target Center concert Wednesday with Ryan Adams.
"I've been given the all-clear and everything's healed," he said in a phone interview before the tour kicked off last week. "I'm back to the way I was before."
Indeed, Oasis' new album, "Dig Out Your Soul," offers the same Beatles-and-Stones-copping sound that made the band famous in the mid-'90s, which is to say it's their best album since their heyday. Likewise, Gallagher showed the same flashes of arrogance and inhibition that have made him one of rock's great characters -- and the same contempt for his brother, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher.
Q What do you remember about the incident in Toronto?
A I don't remember a great deal about it and, of course, I'm not able to discuss it much because there's a legal case going on at the moment. Anything I say can be used against me. But I really don't have any recollection of it. I was just playing away in my own little world. I had my back turned, and the next thing I know it was total chaos all of a sudden.
Q Any lingering physical or mental effects from the attack?
A No. It was two months with three broken ribs and five bruised ones. Mentally, no, not at all. I'm not that fragile upstairs.
Q Is it true Liam tried to kick the crap out of the guy?
A Yeah, you can actually see that on YouTube, too. It's very embarrassing.
Q So he does like you.
A No, no. Of course, he doesn't. We have a mutual understanding in that department. Nothing has changed there. At best, we have a hostile relationship. At worst, it's nasty. I can live with that, though.
Q One thing that has changed: Liam is writing more songs [three on the new record]. Is it a case of you letting him, or him insisting on it?
A Yeah, I don't like that term "letting him." I'm not letting anybody write songs. It's our band. It belongs to the four of us. Going back to the early days, everybody was required to write songs, but it just so happened that I wrote more than everybody else, and mine were better than everybody else's.
Q How do you rate Liam as a songwriter?
A He tends to write a lot of ballads, which is quite annoying. I've got to say, though, if I didn't like them, I'd say so. But I generally think his songs are pretty good. The best thing about him is his music. The rest of him I could live without.
Q You guys get a steady balance of criticism and praise for not trying to reinvent the wheel from album to album. Do you consciously follow the same formula?
A I genuinely don't care what people say. I write my songs on guitar. I can't write on keyboards. I do what I do. I don't analyze it. Other people do, and I don't care what they say about it. When we first arrived on the scene, and everybody was saying I was the greatest songwriter since Lennon/McCartney, I never believed it. And then in the middle bit, when they said it wasn't happening for me, I didn't believe that, either.
Q You've admitted you were in a creative rut around 2000's "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants." What happened?
A Yeah, I personally had a great lack of inspiration around me. That particular album, we were kind of doing it for the sake of it. There's some good stuff on it, but when it was time to go make another record, I didn't want to be bothered. If I had that time over again, I'd have resisted making that record. But in the grand scheme of things, you've got to go through some of the [expletive] to get to some of the stuff that's good. You can't be brilliant all the time. Even the Beatles had some [expletive], you know?
Q Can you credit some of your turnaround to you guys mellowing out a bit and avoiding a lot of the excess?
A Oh, yeah, definitely. Liam would try to convince you that he hasn't mellowed, but he has. We're all fathers now. If that doesn't change your life, then you're a bit of an idiot. But all the stuff that goes on outside of what's on the stage is kind of irrelevant anyway. All the scandals surrounding "Definitely, Maybe" and "Morning Glory," you can't remember any of it now, can you? What you're left with is the music. So as long as you get that right, who gives a [expletive]?
Q Oasis fans definitely demand those old songs at shows. Are you cool with that?
A I love it. I only get to do it every three years or so, so it stays fun. I also particularly like playing the songs from "Morning Glory" because that album kind of annoys me a little bit. We only spent 12 days in the studio recording it. It's really a bunch of demos. I think those songs now sound way, way better live than they do on record.
Q I understand you became a Ryan Adams fan after he covered your song "Wonderwall." What did you like about it?
A That song is essentially a blues song, and he kind of found something in it that I never knew existed. Like the point I was making before about that album, "Morning Glory." Ordinarily, I'll have put songs on a demo a year before and make constant changes to them until we put them out. That song was just captured in an embryonic state. I maybe would have gotten to that version he made if I had a year to work on it. He found something I thought was really quite moving.
Q Do you have a favorite album or song of his?
A Well, he's made so many [expletive] records and written so many songs, where do you start with him? He's doing stuff on tour with us that he did on that Nashville album [2000's "Heartbreaker"]. He's doing those but in more of a rock style, and they sound great.
Q Ryan has a reputation for being a bit of an ego case and troublemaker. Any worries that could be a problem on a tour with, um, Oasis?
A No, no, no. You'll find that most rock stars who are known like that are not really like that. A lot of them just get nervous around journalists. I've always found him to have a bit of nervous energy. I think people who come off like that are trying to mask something. He's actually sort of a shy American rock star.
From Noel Gallagher's official tour diary on Oasisinet.com
We were up in northern California yesterday. Oakland. The scenery from the airplane window on the way up was stunning - stunning, I tells ya!
Back on the road with Ryan Adams. Good to see him again.
Gig weren't all that. Had a few "technical problems" which pretty much amounts to c#nts not doing their c#nting jobs properly. I won't go into detail - I'll be here all morning. Mind you, someone in the front row fainted half way through. It's a strange sight when someone gets oxygen and then stretchered out while the band plays on!
Back in LA (AGAIN!!) today. Actually gonna get to do a gig here tonight. Seems like we've been here for weeks without doing anything.
They reckon Morrissey's on the guest list tonight! Really? I'll believe it when I see him. An Oasis concert doesn't sound like the natural environment where one would see a Morrissey.
Beautiful day though. I'm off for a walk with my girl and my boy.
He had the Roller, the fur coat, the crazy party lifestyle. Now he's a sensible father of two who won't smoke in front of the kids. Simon Hattenstone finds Noel Gallagher is all grown up.
Noel Gallagher is listing the world's 10 greatest bands on his fingers, and working out where Oasis sit among this lot. "The Beatles, Stones, Who, Sex Pistols, Kinks, Jam, Smiths, Stone Roses, Bee Gees." He pauses. "I'm putting us at seven ahead of the Smiths cos we've done more." It's classic Gallagher, the great Mancunian motormouth. In the time it takes for some rock stars to muster a coherent sentence, he'll have set the world to rights, written off many of his peers as no-hopers, talked a great deal of sense, said something truly stupid or offensive or both, and provided a potted history of 128 years of Manchester City football club.
Now he's explaining why Oasis are different from other bands. "People like Coldplay, but they don't love them. People like U2, but they don't love them. But people fucking love Oasis. That's the way it is. It's more than the music." He's got a point, as I later witness at the gigs. Though it is also true that plenty of people can't stand the band, regarding them as crass copycats, playing 100 variants of the same song - when they're not ripping off the Beatles, they're ripping off themselves.
It's a bleak November afternoon in Aberdeen, freezing, already dark outside. On the telly, the news is even bleaker than the weather as we hear of shutdown after shutdown, and a recession that has been made official. Gallagher says it reminds him of his childhood days of three-day weeks, followed by industrial carnage and Thatcher. "I remember the 70s constantly being winter in Manchester and the Irish community in Manchester closing ranks because of the IRA bombings in Birmingham and Manchester, and you know the bin-workers' strike, all wrapped up in it... They were violent times. Violence at home and violence at football matches."
It was the 90s when things began to look up for Gallagher. If ever a pop group mirrored a political project, it was Oasis and New Labour. While they couldn't have appeared more different - Oasis all scruffy jeans and swearwords, New Labour smart suits and urbane accents - both grew out of the ashes of Thatcherism and the grey Major years. Both were determined, in their own way, to counter the cult of the individual and the ethos that there was no such thing as society. For the Gallaghers, it was obvious what society was - their mates at the job centre, their mates determined to have a good time despite everything, their mates standing at the bar drinking and taking drugs as they played.
Definitely Maybe, their first album, crackled with energy - in the song Rock N' Roll Star, they don't sing about what it's like to be a rock'n'roll star because they don't know, they sing about feeling as good as one. Live Forever, still Gallagher's favourite Oasis song, is about the invincibility of youth. He wrote it as a riposte to a song by Nirvana, the morbid grunge band, whose frontman Kurt Cobain went on to kill himself. "I heard this song called I Hate Myself And I Want To Die and I thought, I'm not having that, I cannot have this American rock star who everybody is lauding as a genius with all the money in the world sitting there in his mansion on smack saying that. What d'you want to die for?"
Live Forever was Oasis' first top 10 hit - a unique mix of raucous rock and drunken optimism. But while their first album anticipated success, the second (What's The Story) Morning Glory? was about rock'n'roll fulfilment. There was a sense of wistfulness in the famous ballads, Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger, as if Gallagher was already nostalgic for something that had barely started. These two songs became the supreme arm-in-arm, cigarette-lighter anthems of the 90s. They were also archetypal Oasis songs - loaded with emotional meaning, and yet virtually meaningless in themselves (what is a wonderwall, why is Sally waiting, who exactly is looking back in anger?).
He says he often didn't understand his lyrics, yet the larger meaning is transparent - the yearning for something better. One of his strongest memories is collecting the dole every week with his dad and seeing his friends there, too. "That was the Maggie Thatcher age - everyone was there with their dad."
Gallagher thinks he could have done well at school if he'd tried. He was expelled at 15 for throwing a bag of flour down the stairs and over a teacher. His mother Peggy was a dinner lady, father Tommy a labourer when he could get the work. "He was a typical Irish drinker-worker, always at the bookies, always gambling on something, didn't take his drink very well, quite violent." When Noel was 17, Peggy took the boys and moved away from Tommy.
In his early 20s, Gallagher worked as a roadie for the Manchester band Inspiral Carpets. "What a gig! Amazing. I was earning �300 for setting up a drum kit... Seeing the world, wow, couldn't be any better." That was when he started writing songs seriously.
One night he phoned home and asked Peggy what his younger brother Liam was doing. She told him he'd started a band. Gallagher couldn't believe it. "I'd shared a bedroom with him for years, playing my acoustic guitar and him sitting there going, 'You fucking weirdo' and all of a sudden he's a singer." On his return, he went to see the band, called Rain, told them it was a shit name, and gave them some of his songs to play. They changed their name to Oasis, and he joined them. Gallagher had to learn to play guitar all over again - he'd never played standing up before. "Then all at once, I turned into Paul McCartney. I was just like, 'Right, you play this, and you play that, I play this, you sing these words and sing it like this' and we were off."
Earlier this year, in a poll to find the 50 greatest British albums of the past 50 years, conducted by Q Magazine and HMV, Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory were voted numbers one and two respectively. It's incredible that Oasis are still going 15 years on - Gallagher himself thought of them as a here-today-gone-tomorrow band. With Definitely Maybe, he thought he'd done it all, said all he had to say, rocked all he had to rock. Yet here we are, Liam and Noel the only original members left, both embracing a maturity of sorts, the whole world changed around them and the band still churning out more of the same. Even more incredibly, they are as popular as ever (their last album went into the charts at number one, as have all the others) with an ever younger audience. How have they done it?
The one thing both Gallaghers knew was that if they made it, they were going to make the most of it. And so they did. By the time Labour came to power in 1997, Oasis were regarded as the biggest band in the world. Morning Glory sold 22 million copies worldwide, and more than four million in Britain alone. The band were constantly on the front pages of the tabloids - whether for manufactured rows with rivals Blur, hitting photographers, arguing among themselves, almost splitting up.
I ask Gallagher what it would have been like if I'd been here a decade ago. "There would have been a lot more hangers on... And the extracurricular stuff would have started already." I'd have had to kick my way past a mountain of coke? "Not a mountain. No, a little lump. When we started all the crew was from Manchester, and one by one they've all fell by the wayside, and it's a lot more professional now.
"Because it happened so quick, at Knebworth nobody really knew what we were doing. Normally when people play Knebworth it's the pinnacle of their achievement and they put on these awe-inspiring shows. We were just on the piss really. There's not so many fuckin' idiots surrounding the band any more."
What does he prefer? "I loved it then. But we couldn't be like that now because we're all late 30s, early 40s. I'm 41. Everybody says I'd be dead. Well, I wouldn't be dead, I'd just be a little caricature of a rock star. Who wants to be a drug addict at 41?"
In the mid-1990s, he moved to a salubrious part of London and a house he named Supernova Heights. "When I lived in Primrose Hill, I operated an open-door policy. I'd spent so long on the dole, and I'd moved to London and lived in this huge house, it was like, this is it, I'm living the dream, man. I invited a full awards ceremony back to mine once, George Best included. I won summat for summat or other, and it was the last award of the day and I gave out my address and said, 'Everybody back to mine.' And loads came. It was a great day. The police were called and all sorts."
Soon after Labour came to power, Gallagher was invited to Downing Street to celebrate their respective triumphs over Thatcherism. Tony Blair shamelessly tapped into the new wave of pop groups and designers that became known as Cool Britannia. "Alan McGee [Oasis' manager] got involved with the Labour party and he said, they want to meet you, and I was like, well of course they do. Who wouldn't? I was still on that euphoric night out that started in 94."
Did he have any qualms about endorsing Blair? "It wasn't so much an endorsement of him as, get these fuckers out." They all got carried away, he says - Blair thought he was JFK, Oasis thought they were the Beatles. When the band signed to Creation Records, Gallagher told McGee that if he made enough money to buy a chocolate-brown Rolls-Royce, he'd never want another thing.
After the success of Morning Glory, McGee bought him the chocolate-brown Roller and they turned up at Downing Street in it. Of course they did. "It was all symbolic. McGee used to work on the railways in Glasgow, I used to work on the building sites in Manchester. So we all piled in this Rolls-Royce and went down there. It was only four or five years since we'd signed off." Gallagher is a good storyteller. He can still recreate the weirdness of it all. "There was a strange array of people, Piers Morgan, Pet Shop Boys, Ross Kemp, Lenny Henry... It wasn't cool." Ever since, people have asked whether it was good for the band. For Gallagher it was just the first stop on a night out. "We left there and went somewhere else and then somewhere else and then back to someone's house and ended up back at mine at 7am, watching it on the news."
In the end, he says, Labour were corrupted by power, but he refuses to write them off. "Domestically, whatever Blair did will be overshadowed by Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction. But they brought in the minimum wage and for that alone it was worth it." He could never vote Tory. If Labour raised taxes for the very wealthy, would he still vote for them? "Yeah, totally." I remind him of the 70s when income tax rose to 98% and so many stars left the country. "It would be with a heavy heart that I became a tax exile, but then again if you're earning a pound and somebody's taking 98 pence of it, what's the point?" So what's a fair rate? "Well, I pay 40. I dunno - 50?" He settles on 50p in the pound.
I ask him if success changed him. "You'd have to be a fool to sit here and say no." Is it possible to become idolised without becoming a bit of a twat? "Well, I didn't become a twat, but I started to dress like a twat. I wore sunglasses a lot and I might have had a fur coat and I thought that was the correct procedure for being in the biggest band in the world, but no, I didn't become a twat." Nor, he says, did he go mad. "It's only solo artists who go mad; Robbie Williams, George Michael, they go mental because it is all about them, but it's not all about me."
What's the most ridiculous thing he bought? "A Jaguar Mark 2, Inspector Morse car, had it built specifically for me - a �110,000 car. Never had a licence. Never had a lesson. It sits in a garage." He's still got it? "Oh aye. It's got about nine miles on the clock. I've got a gateway that's a quarter of a mile long, and I've driven it up and down the drive. I'm going to give that car to my son, I think." What if his daughter Anais wants it? "She's not getting a big Jag. It's a lad's car. Totally."
Later, I meet Gallagher's girlfriend Sara MacDonald and tell her what he said about fame. She says it doesn't ring quite true. "Noel says to me he became a bit of a cock - being a bit mean to the people he was working with. Everybody says he's much nicer now he's not doing drugs. Everybody is, though. I mean, if you're doing tons of Charlie..."
Ultimately, the endless partying did become too much for him. He remembers the exact moment - when the band got home from a massive tour in 1998. "I dumped the bags, there were loads of people in the house, and the World Cup was on, and I still remember the one last line. I had a moment of clarity - I need a proper fuckin' life.
"I thought I'd done it all. I'd come from that rehearsal room in Manchester, gone all the way from the bottom right to the top, had all the money in the world, massive house in the country, there was nothing left to do beside go and buy a jet airplane and crash it in the lake. That's it. And I went to bed that night, and have never done cocaine since.
"Of course, nobody wants you to stop doing it because it's your house that everybody's in. So I started with a week and then it went to two weeks, and slowly but surely I began thinking, I don't really know any of these people. I'm not even sure that I know the woman I'm married to. It was a gradual dawning of, who the fuck are all these people? I know her, I know she's Kate Moss, I've seen her in the paper, and I know she's here because she manages to be with every rock band at some point so why wouldn't she be here, but everybody else I had no connection with except that they'd seen me on the telly.
"It was like, right, we're selling this house, then we're moving to the country, then the party moved to the country, then, right, this is not working - so I just stayed in, all the time, and just waited for everyone to fuck off. One by one they all left. The next thing was, well, I need to get divorced because this is rubbish. And that was it. It was very liberating."
We're sitting in Liam's changing room. He is the only band member with his own room because his guitar playing and warm-up vocal exercises annoy the others. Although there is an acoustic guitar in the corner, the room is anything but rock'n'roll - his "riders" are laid out on a table: seven bottles of Volvic, three packs of green chewing gum, three packs of blue chewing gum, fruit squash and honey.
How did success affect Liam? "He got drunk. For four or five years. I never saw him sober. I don't know whether he felt he didn't deserve any of the accolades, but he was trying his hardest to destroy everything, that's how I saw it. Like not turning up for American tours."
If you want to sum up Oasis in one anecdote, this is it. The third album, Be Here Now, was rising in the US charts, and with a grand tour to come they were set to conquer the States. Only Liam gets a phone call at the airport from his then wife Patsy Kensit and decides to return home to househunt. Noel decides he'll be fine on his tod, the band hurl a few barrels of abuse at the press, and America decides it doesn't like Oasis after all. With the world in their grasp, they blew it. "It would be like U2 turning up and the Edge going, 'By the way, Bono won't be here tonight but don't worry, I'll do it for you.' "
It's surprising how often U2 are a reference point for Gallagher, but it makes sense - while U2 are just about the most professional (and clinical) outfit going, for many years Oasis were just about the most shambolic. "People love us more for the fact that we went to America and did what they probably would have done - we had a bit too much to drink and we said the wrong things. And they love us for the fact that we never nailed it there and we keep going back and plugging away." The American tour taught him another lesson. Until then he had assumed that because he was the brains and engine of the band, the grunt with the whining voice and hyperbolic sideburns was a mere accessory. After he took over the singing duties for the tour, he soon realised that most of the fans came to listen to the band and stare at Liam.
What did America do for their relationship? "It's always been the same," he says. "I'm not one of those boys from the home counties who'll sit there and seethe and write poetry about him. I give him a clip round the ear and call him a fuckin' knobhead and then we move on."
Would he say they were friends? He's not sure. "If I don't see him from one end of the year to the next when we're not gigging, that's fine by me, and by him. The safety valve is knowing that eventually you end up in a rehearsal room together writing songs. But he's one of the few people who can make me laugh out loud and vice versa. For someone who's not got a sense of humour he's hilarious. He's got a weird way with words. Only me and him can say the things we say to each other..."
Were they ever jealous of each other? "There's a real journalistic way of going, 'Well, Liam would always want to be Noel cos he's the talent and he writes the songs, and Noel would always want to be Liam cos he shags all the supermodels.' Yeah, you can say we snipe at each other all the time... You'd have to put me on a couch and hypnotise me."
The thing is, he says, Liam was born lucky. Fact. "I'm not jealous of him, but I can't understand why someone would get on stage and attack me and not him." A few months ago a "fan" in Canada pushed Noel off stage and he broke three ribs. "If ever there's a bottle thrown on stage, it always manages to miss him and hit me in the back of the head. My point is he always lands on his feet. I always land on my arse. I've always had to work for everything I've got, and he's always just in the slipstream."
As the crowd gathers before the show, I spot three young Liam lookalikes - always Liam, the cool one. I ask one of the Liams why he thinks Oasis are still so popular. "The atmosphere. A lot of the songs are big singalongs, get your mates together, get pissed, have a good laugh," he says.
An Oasis gig is unlike any other I have been to. It is more football match than concert. The young men (mainly boys, actually) walk in with a pint of lager in each hand - more for throwing than drinking. As soon as the gig starts, mini beer fountains fly through the air like so many teenage ejaculations. As boys push their way into the mosh pit, they are patted on the back - young soldiers off to do their time at the front.
There are a good few girls here, but this is a lads' night out. When the band play the ballads, they come together, arm in arm, singing every word, living the dream. From the band, there's no small talk, no niceties, just singing and yearning. Sometimes the band stop and allow the audience to do all the singing and yearning for them.
Four nights later, we're in Glasgow. It's just as bleak, just as bitter. Gallagher has a cold and is knackered, but he's ecstatic. "I've been up all night watching the election. To sit and watch all those states swing to a leftwing politician is amazing enough, but the fact that he's a black man is just mind-blowing. Wow!"
Again, we're in Liam's changing room, and Gallagher is talking about how Oasis reinvented themelves after two of the original members, Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs and Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan, left in 1999. "That's when Oasis mark 2 started. We became more professional. Bonehead was a big drinker and Guigsy was always stoned. So when Andy Bell and Gem joined, I guess they felt they couldn't just rock in with a bottle of Jack Daniel's in one hand and a spliff in the other. They were easing their way in and that helped Liam and me be on our best behaviour."
What interests me is how he managed to keep going when he thought his best work was behind him. He says maybe he shouldn't have done. After Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger became national anthems, he struggled. Paul Weller gave him the best advice when he told him that one day the songs would stop coming, and he musn't force them. He ignored him. "Between Be Here Now and Don't Believe The Truth, which spans five years, I was putting out records for the sake of it. We shouldn't have bothered, I didn't have anything to write about."
The trouble is nobody told him he was writing rubbish songs. Liam would tell him everything was great because he'd be desperate to get back in the studio and record something new. "A lot of it I listen to and think only an egomaniac would convince himself that that was worth putting on. I say to my manager, 'You told me it was brilliant.' And he goes, 'Well, you don't tell the goose that laid the golden egg that his arse is blocked up, do you?' " If he'd been really brave, he says, he would have called it a day after Definitely Maybe. "Morning Glory is for the squares... It's up there with all those great crossover albums like Thriller, and the greatest-selling albums of all time like Phil Collins and Genesis."
I ask him what a wonderwall is. He smiles. "There's a film called Wonderwall and George Harrison did the music. It's about a guy who lives in a bedsit and in the next room to him is a hippy student. He spies on her through the hole in the wall and he christens it the wonder wall. It was made in 67, appalling film - I thought what a great word, though."
These days, he says Oasis is a more democratic band - although he is still the main songwriter, all of them contribute. On the latest album, Dig Out Your Soul, there are two outstanding tracks - Falling Down is written by Noel, I'm Outta Time by Liam. The album has done well around the world, even in America where Oasis reached the top five for the first time since Be Here Now and the disastrous non-Liam tour.
I ask Gallagher if he thinks the songs have returned. "Yeah," he says, with less certainty than normal. Does he think he could write another Definitely Maybe? "No. I wrote that album when I was 21/22, and the people who picked up on that album were 21/22-year-olds. You can only do it once. We went on that tour and we were the same as them. We had no money, the people in the crowd had no money. We're rock stars now, we don't live in the same circumstances as any of these kids, so you can't even begin to write from a position of where they're coming from. But there's a point that lasts for about three years where you're in the same circumstances, you look the same and you dress the same as your audience, and that, my friend - you cannot buy that. I'd give it all up to go back to those three years.
"Listen, I'm 41, I've got two kids, I don't expect a 16-year-old to be looking to me for inspiration. It's the Arctic Monkeys' job now. I've done my bit. Now we go in the studio and it's just like, let's make some records, let's do it cos we love it."
There aren't many other contemporary bands he rates. "People say I seem very negative about new music - well, if somebody asks me what I think of Keane, I'll tell 'em. I don't like 'em. I'll obviously take it a step too far and grossly insult the keyboard player's mam or summat, but I'm afraid that's just me." His most famous insult was directed at Blur's Damon Albarn and Alex James when he said he hoped they'd die of Aids. Unforgivable, he says - he was so young, and off his head to boot. "Looking back now that fight's all so pathetic over two really quite shit pop songs." How do he and Albarn get on today? "He's a great artist," he says. "He's different from me. I'm not an artist - for me, it just comes out. He does Chinese operas and that kind of thing, he's got more strings to his bow than I'll ever have." So how do they get on? "There's always been something between me and him, and I don't know what it is."
At the aftershow party, Gallagher's girlfriend Sara is showing me pictures of their one-year-old boy Donovan. "What d'you mean, he's sweet?" she says. "He's more than sweet." There is no sign of Liam. She says he generally disappears after the gig. "He goes off quietly with Nicole [Appleton]. They're not really party types. Noel likes to chat, you can see, can't you?"
Gallagher's actually playing the DJ - flicking between the Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Hives, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. He says if the children were here he certainly wouldn't be doing that. "The kids rarely come to see the band, and when they do it's a dry night. You wouldn't be like Keith Richards, smoking fags in front of the kids, man, it's not right, is it?"
The drummer from the support band Sergeant has been giving Gallagher an earbashing all night, telling him how thrilled he is. "I told my mum I was supporting Oasis, and she just said, 'What time will you be home?' " Gallagher laughs. He tells me he has never seen crowds as young as tonight, and he doesn't really get it. "That freaks me out a bit, and I'm starting to get self-conscious thinking, wow! I'm some old dude, man, and they're all going mental for these songs I wrote."
It is strange, but there's a good reason Oasis continue to appeal to kids - unlike the Beatles and Stones, say, their music hasn't evolved. And although Gallagher is now one of rock's elder statesmen, his attitudes haven't much changed either.
Well, some have. It's 1am, the party's been going for a couple of hours and he looks around at all the young aspiring pop stars. "Right, let's be having you," he says, in his best pub-landlord voice. Time for bed, he says. "You've all had your fun."
� Oasis' single, I'm Outta Time, and album, Dig Out Your Soul, are out now. The band tour the UK next June.
Via L4E / source: guardian.co.uk / photo:Chris Blott
Noel Gallagher: At American Concerts People Listen
Noel Gallagher interview - the long version
Before he even gets on the phone backstage at an arena in Oakland you can hear Noel Gallagher swearing up a storm. Oasis is big enough and powerful enough that neither Noel nor brother Liam has had to censor themselves while speaking. But he wants to speak, as he's proud of the new album, Dig Out Your Soul, a focused, hard-rock album unlike anything Oasis has done in the past.
It's not all smooth. Gallagher was injured in Toronto earlier this year when a fan got onstage and violently knocked him off of it, sending him to the hospital and causing a YouTube sensation.
You're backstage a few minutes before the first night of your tour kicks off. Do you ever get nerves anymore? "No. I feel sorry for the people who buy tickets for the first couple of nights because you're always a bit rusty. We haven't played now ...we've only played three times in the past month. The first couple of gigs will be rough. But what's the worst thing that can go wrong?"
You found that out in Toronto, didn't you? "Well, yeah, all right. Other than being violently attacked, right? It's probably a million-to-one that'll happen again. Apart from that what can go wrong? People start slow hand-clapping and walk out. (Expletive) that. I don't give a (expletive). You had to change drummers from Zak Starkey to Chris Sharrock. Was that a problem? "Major (expletive) pain in the ass. It's a major pain in the ass. But every time we've gotten a drummer they've been slightly better than the last one. Chris, I hope he just sticks around. I think he will, to be honest. He's from the same part of the world as I am, from the northwest of England, so there's already that. He hasn't got that much of an ego. He just feels like he's right for the band. As for drumming skills they've each got their strong points. Zak was on the (expletive) money every night. Chris is a little bit looser but he plays in a bit more Oasis style. Chris is great to watch, believe you me. There's no point in comparing the two."
Dig Out Your Soul seemed very focused. Was that the intent going in? "The big difference was I gave up the control of co-producing. I always co-produce the records. I don't' trust anyone else. I trust Dave (Sardy) now. Here you are. You (expletive) tell me what to do. I can't be bothered with it anymore. Instead of sitting by the mixing desk.... I could focus on what I was going to drink that night. It's a big deal for me because usually I'm (expletive) twiddling knobs till 6 in the morning."
The other guys in the band are writing more songs. How did that come about? "I'm more comfortable with the band having everybody contributing songs. That's what bands should be about. I was sick of all the writing, all the recording, all the (expletive) producing, coming up with ideas for the artwork, all that (expletive). My name's not on the front of it, so (expletive) that, know what I mean? I said to Gem (Archer) and Andy (Bell) when they joined they'd better be prepared to write songs. If you're going to be a (expletive) session musician then I'm going to pay you like one. If you wanna be in the band you'd better start contributing. The first year was a bit difficult because they were kind of writing songs like what I write. I remember having to say 'Look, you have to write how you write, don't worry about me. You can't write songs like I write. That's what I do. Don't do my thing, do your own thing.'"
You've done rich, famous, stadiums, honors, awards. What gives you satisfaction in music these days? "(Long pause). Eh...it's quite diminishing returns once you've done it all, I have to be honest with you. Um...I don't know. I just don't know what else to do. Don't get me wrong, I love (expletive) getting up onstage and playing the guitar in front of (expletive) thousands of people. Who wouldn't like that? It's glorified showing off, do you know what I mean? This record has given me a great deal of satisfaction. I don't really analyze it that much. I get up in the morning and I'm having a shave, am I happy with what I'm doing? I absolutely am. If I'm not happy I'll go and (expletive) do something else. That day's not come yet."
Do you need a record label anymore? "We don't' have a record label in England. We do it ourselves. In America we're on Warner Brothers or reprise simply because we don't live here. What are we going to do, mail-order records all over the (expletive) world? That'd be insane. In England we look after ourselves. Around the rest of the world we picked whatever labels gave us the best deal. We're on various record labels now. It's insane."
Does that arrangement give you more power? "I couldn't tell you. I won't pay my manager 20% of everything I earn then do his job for him. You look after this, I'll look after getting (expletive) drunk, writing songs and being cool."
You're close with Russell Brand. Have you considered acting? (laughs). To be honest he buzzes me on a regular basis about this, let's write a (expletive) sitcom, blah, blah, blah. I think I'd be too embarrassed. I've been on film sets and all that. When I'm in the studio I do it once, maybe twice. If I do a take for a third time it's because somebody (expletive) up and I'm not happy. If I'm doing the same (expletive) thing all day, 98 takes, I'd hang myself. I get in there, bang, get it done, get out."
Back to the attack in Toronto - what was that guy trying to do? What was his motive? "This court case has been adjourned twice now, till January. Then we'll find out what his (expletive) explanation is for all this."
Does it affect the way you feel onstage now? "Nope. Nope. Not at all."
What's it like playing stadiums in Europe versus arenas in America?
"In America it's more like a concert. It's all seats. Have you ever seen us in England? There's 60,000 people in the stadium and you all get carried away with it. (Expletive) knows what the gig is like. You're just in there an it's like whish, then it's over and you go 'Wow, what happened there?' In America it's a concert where people are listening. In England people don't listen. I'm not putting that down, it's a great thing, I wouldn't' have it any other way. People just let off stream and (expletive) go for it. In America they study you a bit more, which makes you play better, I think."
Do you run into creative dry spells? "Oh (expletive) yeah. Just after Be Here Now till Don't Believe the Truth was a real uninspiring time for me. If I'm not inspired by the music around me I write (expletive) songs and I write songs for the sake of it. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants and Heathen Chemistry, there's kind of a few good tunes of my own but the bulk of it is fairly uninspiring. The one lesson I've learned from that is when it's not happening just (expletive) go on vacation. If I was to give anybody advice it's just don't chase it. Wait till it comes back. If your dog runs away don't go looking for the dog. The dog will find you when he's hungry, know what I mean? Who wants to go look for a (expletive) dog? That's mental behavior."
What's different about the new disc? "It's an album. It's not a collection of (expletive) songs. I'm not putting us in the bracket with these bands, but it's an album the way Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd used to make albums. Every track on a Pink Floyd album is (expletive) great, but they also have context within the album .... When you put it where it's supposed to be listened to it's amazing. Albums are supposed to be journeys. With the advent if iTunes and cherry-picking songs the album is dead. Now it's 'I'll have track one, track three, track seven and track nine.' (Expletive) all that. You wouldn't do that with Dark Side of the Moon. You wouldn't do it with Led Zep IV. You can't do it with Sgt. Pepper. What's the point? We tried to make an album in that respect where it's right. If some kid is gonna cherry-pick three songs, then (expletive) him. Know what I mean? That's his problem. If they don't make sense that's his (expletive) fault."
What's coming up musically? "I've got a (expletive) of songs. It could be electronic. It could be folk. It could be psychedelic folk. It just depends on what I feel like. The next Oasis record is going to be a difficult one. We've been trying to make the album we've made this time for a long time. I love this album. ... it has a certain direction and certain sound, while some Oasis albums previously have been a collection of songs. This is a proper album. Out of those 30 songs I could make three albums, all vastly different. Or it could be space reggae."
What's the view of America now from England? "It's almost become really cool again. ... you can't really generalize about American people because there's (expletive) too many of you. When people think of Americans they kinda generalize - fat, loud, driving a big car. If you've been over here it's not like that at all, you know what I mean? I don't mean to be condescending and use the word normal, but the bulk of the people are just like the rest of us. Unfortunately the people who have passports are (expletive) idiots. My own take on it is recently, since George Bush was in town, when the real crunch time came America didn't do the right thing. Whereas this time America has done the right thing. It's not because Barack Obama is black. It's because they elected a Democrat. That's the most important thing. The words he says about the environment are really powerful. If he gets on with what he says he'll do, it benefits America. And if it benefits America they say it benefits the world."
It took Oasis only four songs Thursday night to start a ruckus at Staples Center, where a squad of security guards dragged a man from his front-row seat after he exchanged some unintelligible words with Liam Gallagher, the veteran English band's dependably cantankerous frontman.
Second (most of the time) to music, troublemaking has long been Oasis' stock in trade: When Gallagher and his guitarist brother Noel founded the group in the early 1990s, their project was pairing punk's spit-in-your-eye spirit with the compositional grandiloquence of classic '60s-era pop.
On huge-selling early records such as "Definitely Maybe" and "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" the Gallaghers used melody to disguise the fact that they were shredding your eardrums with noise; meanwhile, both siblings have taken fame as a welcome opportunity to exercise their loudmouth tendencies. Today the brothers are the only original members left in Oasis -- "Would you like to say hello to our 15th drummer?" Noel asked the crowd at Staples Center -- and it isn't hard to figure out why.
Thursday's show was the second of a current North American tour in support of the band's strong new album, "Dig Out Your Soul," which, after a decade of creeping irrelevance, makes a fairly convincing case that Oasis still knows the shortest distance between a smile and a snarl.
Actually, "smile" might be overstating the case: For most of their 105-minute set, the Gallaghers and their mates played with all the evident enthusiasm of a bunch of old-timers putting away after-work pints at the pub. By the end of the show, Liam had even done away with the customary song introduction and had begun simply naming songs before the band played them. (Of course, that might've been because most of Oasis' best songs, like "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova," aren't about anything.)
Thanks to the miracle of guitar fuzz, that seeming indifference came off less like boredom and more like an appealing act of confrontation: Liam didn't need to beg us to sing along with "Cigarettes & Alcohol" and "Supersonic" because what choice did we really have in the matter?
Examined in close proximity to those indelible hits, new tunes such as "Waiting for the Rapture" and "To Be Where There's Life" lacked the anthemic brio that always distinguished Oasis from artier Britpop peers like Blur and Pulp. And though he's by far the band's most talented songwriter -- indeed, Oasis albums invariably suffer when he passes the pen to his brother or one of his bandmates -- Noel made for a rather ho-hum frontman during the handful of songs he sang.
As much as Liam needs Noel's melodic know-how, Noel needs Liam's front-and-center star power.
Opening the show with his sturdy alt-country backing band the Cardinals, Ryan Adams tried to work a similar mixture of antagonism and affection. Here's another darn sunshiney anthem, he said (in slightly more colorful language) before playing "Go Easy," a typically melancholy cut from this year's fine "Cardinology."
Apparently irritated by the audience's reluctance to receive his music with the hushed reverence it deserves, Adams retreated to sarcasm (not to mention bizarre, possibly booze-fueled ruminations on Jethro Tull and "the tyranny and horrors of math"). As Thursday's headliners demonstrated, though, that's a weapon that requires experience to handle.
Who'd have thought Oasis, the Britpop holdover that seemingly couldn't be more out of vogue, could fill Staples Center? For the matter, who'd have thought a band with such a fractious history and spotty track record would still be together at this point, let alone still visiting the States?
I don't mean to be ignorant of the recent past � it was only three years ago that these blokes pretty much packed the Hollywood Bowl � or na�ve about the group's ever-growing cult appeal, as new Anglophiles coming of age every year glom on to the Gallagher brothers' work as quickly as they do that of the Beatles, or Blur. So perhaps this turnout should have been expected.
Still, could anyone, even Noel and Liam's staunchest, Ben Sherman-wearing true-believers, have suspected that now, in support of their seventh album in twice as many years, Oasis would sound stronger than ever live?
Let's back up to the first question. To be accurate, the band didn't actually fill Staples Center Thursday night, in a rousing one-off show bolstered by a superb hour of fresh-vintage rock 'n' roll from Ryan Adams & the Cardinals and a valiant acoustic performance from O.C. singer-songwriter Matt Costa, delivered to just a few hundred early birds. As was the case when Matchbox Twenty and Alanis Morissette headlined here in March, the upper decks at the arena were mostly masked off, and any open areas were only sparsely dotted with lookie-loos. Generously figure the four-hour event drew a little under 10,000 fans.
But what excitable fans! Of the '90s giants that have endured, only Pearl Jam attracts more intense devotion from people who clamor to hear new songs as much as old favorites. Increasingly their patience is being rewarded: After a rocky decade of hit-and-miss work following the international breakthrough "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?," Oasis regained its footing with 2005's "Don't Believe the Truth," a modestly scaled, back-to-basics set that the Manchester band has considerably expanded upon with this year's robust release "Dig Out Your Soul." Restoring both the sonic boom and psychedelic swirls that defined their earliest work, the Gallaghers and their trusty mates (guitarist Gem Archer, bassist Andy Bell, newish drummer Chris Sharrock) are once again crafting monster anthems that almost require a vast space like Staples Center to be properly heard. (They also remain unashamedly derivative. The new song "Waiting for the Rapture" so obviously takes after the Doors' "Five to One" that Variety writer Steve Mirkin and I spontaneously broke into it as Noel led into its opening stomp. "At least he's stealing from Americans now," Mirkin quipped.)
What's impressive, if not unthinkable, is how well Oasis' recent music coalesces with staples like "Supersonic" and "Cigarettes and Alcohol" and "Champagne Supernova." There are twists to the bombast now, be it the fast-and-furious charge of "The Meaning of Soul" or the roiling tumble of "Falling Down" or the "Rain"-y haze of "To Be Where There's Life." None of it, however, is so far removed from the band's blueprint that Noel and Liam are left looking as if straining to fit in. Keeping pace with modernity, after all, was their undoing at the turn of the millennium. Now they gleefully bounce through "Lyla" like it was the B-side to "Live Forever" and conjure new ballads (like Liam's wistful reflection "I'm Outta Time") that hold their own next to something as indestructible as "Wonderwall." (Click here for a complete set list.)
Apart from a pair of mid-career gems (Liam's fleeting "Songbird," Noel's philosophical "The Masterplan") reminding of iffy efforts not many people bought, it's as if the intervening years and albums never happened. At least you get the sense the Gallaghers wish they hadn't. Down front early in the performance there was a commotion, with Liam instructing security to escort someone out. Noel later explained, and I couldn't tell you if he was joking or not: "That guy got thrown out for asking for tracks from 'Be Here Now' (the band's self-maligned 1997 disc). That'll teach him. We don't do requests."
No, they pretty much offer the same sort of set they always have: roughly 20 songs, a third of it spotlighting Noel instead of his brother (loved his softer acoustic version of "Don't Look Back in Anger"), the bulk of it carried by Liam's inexplicably powerful sneer (he hasn't sung so heartily in at least a decade), all of it wrapped up with a knowing homage, a cover of "I Am the Walrus." It's now curiously comforting to encounter. In many ways, Oasis is as meat-and-potatoes as rock gets anymore � maybe that's why its music still tastes so rich. "We've been fantastic," Liam declared at the conclusion. For a change, he had reason to brag: Whether anyone but ex-pats and wannabe Brits cares anymore, it's undeniable Oasis is at the top of its game again.
Ditto Ryan Adams, who has spent the latter half of this decade honing his craft with a backing band, the Cardinals, that more and more resembles his Crazy Horse. Not that they get so fuzzed-out and heavy, though even in a set devoted primarily to songs from their fifth album together, "Cardinology," they can prove capable of it. It's more that the Cardinals root the mercurial Adams in accessibility; their collaboration leads him to self-edit and refine, still permitting room to flourish yet forcing more focus.
Prolific as ever, he's now achieving a high level of consistency, penning sublime, classically molded winner after winner fusing all facets of his artistry � the swagger of "Rock N Roll," the polish of "Gold," the sumptuousness of "Cold Roses," the alt-country heartbreak that's been coursing through his work all along. Thursday night, in a potent performance, he drew from all of that, making warm like the Band on the early solo staple "Come Pick Me Up," roaming confused through the identity crisis of "Off Broadway" and the heartache of "Fix It," breezing into "When the Stars Go Blue" and "Two," eventually pouncing with the cyclical melody of "Magick."
Through it all, in his tight-fitting suit-and-tie attire, he unfurled sly solos and attacked the microphone, leaning into it with a fierceness that belied his soft-spoken shyness between songs. Finally, the enfant terrible seems to have been humbled � and his music is all the better for it.
Sony/ATV has confirmed a worldwide publishing deal with Oasis members Liam Gallagher, Glem Archer and Andy Bell.
The deal means all members of the band�s publishing is now through Sony/ATV as Noel Gallagher was already with the publisher.
All four of the band are among the writing credits for the group�s seventh studio album Dig Out Your Soul, which debuted at number one in the UK in October with a first-week sale of 200,000 units. It also entered the top five of the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Liam Gallagher�s contributions to the album comprise the group�s new single I�m Outta Time, which is expected to chart in the Top 20 this Sunday, Ain�t Got Nothin�, Soldier On and the Japanese version of the album's bonus track I Believe In All, while Gem Archer wrote To Be Where There�s Life and Andy Bell The Nature Of Reality. The remainder of the album is penned by Noel Gallagher.
via L4e / source: musicweek.com / thanks: liamg4life
Colorado will look like an episode of VH1's "I Love the '90s" this week. Remember those bickering Gallagher brothers of Oasis � their massive egos, their legendary brawls, their self-described "brilliance"?
And what about the Smashing Pumpkins and the heroin overdoses that claimed a life and halted the band at its pinnacle � and the mad (some would say crazy) genius of singer-songwriter Billy Corgan?
Oasis plays the Broomfield Event Center on Monday, and the Pumpkins play the Ogden Theatre tonight � far cries from the bands' erstwhile popularity. Oasis once filled stadiums, but now promoter AEG Live is peddling discounted tickets for the Broomfield date for $19.50 � a sign they're not selling.
The Pumpkins also filled arenas and stadiums in the '90s, but now the band (or shall we say Corgan) is celebrating its 20th anniversary with dates at smaller venues. The bands share little stylistically, but they both represent an era of great music. So here's our own battle of the bands � a modern-day look at two brilliant groups 10 years past their prime. Who will win? Read on to find out, and make your own call at denverpost.com/music.
Question: Whose most recent release is better? Answer: Oasis'.
It's not hard to find a better record than the Pumpkins' 2007 outing "Zeitgeist." That album, the first in seven years for the Pumpkins, was proof of dictator Corgan's creative death. Meanwhile, Oasis is opening up the doors of collaborative creativity, and the band is profiting. With 2005's "Don't Believe the Truth," Oasis' Noel Gallagher allowed a larger contribution from his compatriots. The result was a stunning, late-career record. And while this year's "Dig Out Your Soul" isn't as good, it's still all melody and attitude � pure Oasis goodness.
Q:Which breakthrough record � Smashing Pumpkins' "Siamese Dream" or Oasis' "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" � is more important? A: Smashing Pumpkins' "Siamese Dream."
They're both essential records, yes. But "Siamese Dream" is one of those albums that changed the landscape of rock music. Those guitar tones were heavy and fuzzed out and melodic � and Corgan's vocals were tortured and set against lush compositions. The dreamy record really is one of the top 10 records of the '90s, an alternative rock masterpiece and the launching pad that gave Corgan the confidence to make the double album "Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness." Q:Which band is better to play on "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero?" A: Oasis. Both bands are solidly represented on the "Rock Band"/ "Guitar Hero" video games, with multiple songs translated into color-coded notes. But Oasis' songs are more fun from the perspective of sheer gameplay. The guitars are more challenging and interesting on Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger" than the Pumpkins' "Cherub Rock." And anybody who loves karaoke will tell you that Oasis is more fun to sing than the Pumpkins.
Q: Which band has shown the greatest consistency in band lineup and quality of music? A: Oasis.
The Pumpkins are often viewed as a solo project carried out via the pretense of a band. Original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin is touring with Corgan on this tour, but that's it. Oasis isn't much better, but at least the core of brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher � and bassman Andy Bell since 2000 � are still intact. The Gallaghers have certainly driven away their fair share of bandmates, but at least their songs still resonate.
Q: Which will likely be the better show, tonight's Smashing Pumpkins gig or Monday's Oasis concert? A: Tonight's Smashing Pumpkins show at the Ogden.
From what we've read about the current Oasis tour, they're playing lots of hits with plenty of new stuff, as well. That's great and all, but who wants to drive out to Broomfield to see Oasis in a small arena? The venue is a key element here, because seeing the Pumpkins in the 1,600-seat Ogden is more appealing � especially because the band is playing challenging sets of new material and extended jams, according to reviews.
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com
Oasis Brit rock. Broomfield Event Center, 11450 Broomfield Lane, with Ryan Adams & the Cardinals and Matt Costa. Monday. 7 p.m. $19.50-$72.50 at ticketmaster.com or 303-830-8497.
Smashing pumpkins.Alt-rock. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave. Tonight. 9 p.m. Sold out.
Manchester, England�s Oasis and New York�s Ryan Adams & the Cardinals both focused on workmanlike songcraft as they opened the United States stretch of their joint world tour last night in Oakland, California. Although both bands are known for the verbal swagger of their respective leaders, Oasis and the Cardinals both kept the emphasis firmly on their music:
Adams barely spoke a word, while guitarist Noel Gallagher�s most pointed comment came when a nearby fan passed out during through a grinding �Slide Away.� �Did somebody get overwhelmed?� he quipped. �I�m sorry about that. Buy a T-shirt on the way out, please.�
� Photo Gallery: Oasis and Ryan Adams Kick Off Their Tour in Oakland
The Britpop icons remained typically immobile bellow four massive video panels that mixed live projections with canned Pop Art imagery. Liam Gallagher clenched a tambourine in his teeth as the band opened with �Rock N Roll Star,� then held it behind his back in a defiant stance maintained throughout the night. Although his contemplative �I�m Outta Time� proved Oasis hasn�t run out of ways to effectively raid the Beatles� songbook, it was mid-90s hits like �Wonderwall� that generated the most sing-along enthusiasm from an otherwise strangely sedate audience. Perhaps a newly mellow Adams had chilled the crowd: The former bad boy proved himself ready to inherit Tom Petty�s mantle with a set of countrified mid-tempo rock. While bassist Chris Feinstein roamed center stage, Adams humbly stood off to the side and plied ballad after ballad until his Cardinals finally let loose an anxious and succinct �Magick.� And then they flew away.
Set List: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals �Cobwebs� �Crossed Out Name� �Everybody Knows� �Fix It� �When the Stars Go Blue� �Let It Ride� �Go Easy� �Come Pick Me Up� �Two� �Sink Ships� �I Taught Myself How to Grow Old� �Magick�
Set List: Oasis �Rock N Roll Star� �Lyla� �The Shock Of The Lightning� �Cigarettes And Alcohol� �The Meaning Of Soul� �To Be Where There�s Life� �Waiting For The Rapture� �The Masterplan� �Songbird� �Slide Away� �Morning Glory� �Ain�t Got Nothing� �The Importance Of Being Idle� �I�m Outta Time� �Wonderwall� �Supersonic�
Encore: �Don�t Look Back In Anger� �Falling Down� �Champagne Supernova� �I Am The Walrus�
Oasis singer Liam Gallagher slagged Noel Gallagher's plans for a solo album earlier this week. Now Noel says he and his brother should both record solo albums.
Noel told BBC Radio 1 that he's been writing songs for a solo album for a "separate" release slated for when Oasis finish touring in support of this year's Dig Out Your Soul.
"I think it would be interesting for our fans," he said.
"I also think because we've ended up with [Dig Out Your Soul] at a place where we were working for the last five years. It's kind of like, 'What do we do next?'
"Liam's always the first person to start rushing things. I think if he wants to get back in the saddle that quick, he should do it for himself. He's got tons and tons of songs."
Noel's comments come after his brother told Loaded magazine he wouldn't support his brother's solo album.
"I hope he gives it away for free, because I won't be buying it."
Noel wrote all of Oasis' songs up until 2000's Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants. Liam contributed his first composition, "Little James," to that album. He's also been responsible for Oasis songs l"Born On A Different Cloud," "Better Man," "The Meaning Of Soul," "Ain't Got Nothin'," "Soldier On" and the latest single, "I'm Outta Time."
While Noel is generally acknowledged as the superior songwriter, he told Britain's Elle magazine that he should also be Oasis' lead singer.
"Liam used to be a sex symbol until he got his hair cut like a woman. I ooze sex appeal. I should be the frontman. It's a curse � women won't leave me alone."
Perhaps women would be able to keep their hands off Noel if he wore a white collar, which he's considered, according to Bangshowbiz.com.
"I'd be a priest. I would bring a healthy dose of reality. Put your money in the basket and let's drink some wine.
"When the wine is gone down we'll sit around and try and work out what the deal is with life and the universe. I would be a different kind of priest, see."
You can see Oasis at London, Ont.'s John Labatt Centre on Dec. 15.
Support L4e In The Forum Rock Off on Absolute Radio!
Looking for a fun way to support our site and forum? It's quite easy since our forum is currently enrolled in a fun rock off competition on UK's Absoulute Radio.
Different fan sites have submitted their favorite play lists to the station which are now going up for votes in a knock out round competion!
Our forum will go into a playoff against the We are James Forum at 915 pm UK time. Help us win round one and go up against the winner of the Kooks VS Snowpatrol match up . But for that to happen you have to take 10 seconds out of your busy online lives to click and vote for us in under 2 hours here:
Vote For Live4ever's Oasis playlist HERE Voting starts at 9:15pm UK time (4:15pm EST)
The forum who submit the winning Rock-Off playlist, as voted for by the Absolute Radio listeners and users, will win a special show Absolute Radio on Monday 22 December 2008 at 9.00pm (GMT).The winning playlist will be played out in full on-air in a show presented by Ben Jones, and the winning forum will receive on-air promotion for their website throughout the show. Absolute Radio will also dedicate the entire day to the winning forum�s dedicated artist.
Many have wondered why Oasis, one of the most popular live acts in its native U.K., isn�t a bigger draw on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.
It�s a good question, given how consistently great the Britpop band�s albums have been over the last 15 years, and one that will probably be debated as long as the highly volatile group sticks together.
The basis for a solid hypothesis, however, could be readily found during the Manchester troupe�s gig on Wednesday night at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. The 100-minute set was low on energy, personality, theatrics and razzle-dazzle, all of which usually goes over like gangbusters with American audiences.
As with past Bay Area outings, Oasis just showed up, plugged in and performed the songs in a straight-forward, straight-ahead manner. That�s just how the band does it � or, maybe, that�s just how the musicians do it on this side of the pond.
Rick Allen, a longtime Oasis fan from the U.K. that is now living in San Francisco, was at the Oakland show and was shocked at what he saw.
�If they�d come out onstage like this in England, with this lack of energy, they�d get booed off the stage after two songs,� he said.
To that point, the 6,000-or-so fans in attendance � a less than half-full house - should feel grateful that they weren�t watching the concert in England. For if the band had been booed off the stage after two songs, listeners would have missed 19 other tunes, many of which rank among the best pop-rock numbers in recent history.
The set list was terrific, a proper sampling of the many wonders found on the band�s seven studio albums. The group � led by the brothers Gallagher, vocalist Liam and guitarist-vocalist Noel � paid particular attention to its most recent offering, �Dig Out Your Soul,� but also played most of the old hits.
The songs are so well-written, full of anthemic sing-along choruses, and feature so many wickedly slick guitar parts that they more than compensate for any performance issues. Indeed, it was hard to worry about a lack of energy from the band when one was singing along, at top volume, to such smashes as �Rock �N� Roll Star,� �The Importance of Being Idle� and �Slide Away.�
The players did seem a bit more motivated toward the end of the night, closing up the main set with a fiery run through �Wonderwall� and �Supersonic� then returning for a four-tune encore that included a psychedelic cover of the Beatles� �I am the Walrus.�
In all, it was a much better offering than what the fans saw immediately prior with Ryan Adams and the Cardinals. The hipster alt-country band leader, a true critics� favorite, set the table for Oasis and did even less than the headliner to connect with the crowd.
Each person has his or her own list of the most-overrated performers in the business, and Adams most definitely belongs on mine.
The first stop of Oasis' North American tour was unusually calm: no onstage sibling scuffles, no crazed fans, just a few clouds of pot smoke and a slightly less-than-ecstatic crowd -- save for the requisite 12-year-old boys who weren't even born when "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" was released.
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals opened the show at Oakland's 19,500-seat Oracle Arena with 40-minute set that included an up-tempo "Everybody Knows" and an especially rousing rendition of "Let It Ride." And no, he didn't play "Wonderwall," though not for lack of time -- Adams left fans scratching their heads when he abruptly ended the set with a curt "We're the Cardinals" and walked offstage.
At 9 p.m. promptly, Liam Gallagher walked onstage, tambourine in mouth, sporting an almost comical version of his classic Britpop mop top a la Paul Weller. Backed by four big screens that projected artwork from the band's latest album, Dig Out Your Soul, Oasis opened with 1994's "Rock N' Roll Star" -- not a highlight, but a powerful start to the show.
For the most part, Oasis played a peppered mix of old and new material, the latter of which held up well against the Oasis of yore -- tunes like "Waiting for the Rapture," which recalled the Doors' "Five to One." "I'm Outta Time," another strong new song, was spot-on as Liam crooned, "Here is a song / It reminds me of when we were young."
Other highlights from the nearly two-hour show included superhit "Wonderwall." But what really stuck out -- and what makes Oasis such a talented and versatile band -- were B-sides like Noel's "The Master Plan." "They could do B-sides for an entire show," said one fan who had seen Oasis at the Oakland Coliseum 11 years before. A particularly hard-hitting version of "The Importance of Being Idle" was another welcome contribution from the quieter Gallagher brother.
The band's four-song encore of sing-along favorites included "Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Champagne Supernova," as well as Noel's latest songwriting contribution, "Falling Down," a standout off Dig Out Your Soul. Then Liam approached the mike: "I am the fucking walrus," he shouted before the band launched into the psychedelic Beatles epic. Despite flubbing a lyric or two, Liam held his own on the Lennon classic and the band did their predecessors justice, setting the crowd ablaze.
via L4e / source : Spin.com photos: Casey Flanigan
But he may still be overshadowed by the more ballyhooed act for which he opens
Based on musical accomplishment alone, Ryan Adams should be headlining a bill with Oasis on Saturday night at the Pearl. But alas, the bigger egos � and bigger record companies � appear to have won out.
Undertaking its first U.S. tour in three years, Oasis, anchored by the cantankerous Gallagher brothers (Noel and Liam), comes to Las Vegas to support the band�s seventh studio effort, �Stop the Clocks.� Apparently, the British band, according to a news release promoting the show, has reinvented itself as a bunch of �indie rockers,� with a set of �hauntingly familiar� songs.
Oasis, it must be noted, is as indie as Britney Spears, but promoters deliver on the second count, and it�s because the band�s new record fits nicely among its aggressively mediocre output.
Don�t get us wrong. Oasis was great in 1994, when �Definitely Maybe� became the fastest-selling debut album in British history. Serious nods to hits �Supersonic� and �Live Forever.�
A year later Oasis was even better, releasing the classic �(What�s the Story) Morning Glory?� The Gallagher brothers, fueled by drink and drug, were inescapable. MTV even needed subtitles to keep up. �Wonderwall� and �Champagne Supernova� were everywhere.
With Axl Rose off working on something called �Chinese Democracy,� the brash, snobbish embrace of rock �n� roll decadence was just the right medicine to get us over a bad grunge hangover.
But then came the talk about being bigger than the Beatles. And for all the talk, what did we get? � the wholly forgettable �Be Here Now,� in itself a reference to John Lennon�s quip about the philosophy of rock �n� roll. The Gallaghers spent the subsequent years churning out three generic albums and a live record.
Nevertheless, it�s hard to beat Oasis when it comes to solid British rock. Here�s to hoping for the classics.
Around the time Oasis� star was fading, Ryan Adams, leading the alt-country outfit Whiskeytown, was taking off. When his band called it quits, the prolific Adams embarked on a solo career, releasing an album a year since his 2000 debut, �Heartbreaker,� including three in 2005.
To be sure, it wasn�t all good � far from it. But Adams just couldn�t stop himself. Take, for instance, last year�s �Easy Tiger,� among the better efforts. Adams, with some assistance, whittled more than 100 songs down to the 13 that made the final cut. The praise was steady and it clearly went to the songwriter�s head. While recovering from oral surgery and a broken heart, Adams (living in the Chelsea Hotel, of course) covered the Strokes� debut, �Is This It,� on mandolin and banjo. Come on.
Stunts like that prompted former Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg to suggest in a 2003 interview that it might do Adams some good to get his teeth kicked in. Bruised, Adams told Rolling Stone recently that he �can�t listen to (Westerberg�s) music again, ever.� Come on.
Later, Adams reportedly went through therapy to get over antagonistic fans who would come to his shows and shout Bryan Adams song requests. �Summer of �69!� The shows were notoriously erratic. Consider a 2003 gig in Minneapolis (Westerberg�s hometown, by the way), where a drunk and rambling Adams played several songs twice, allegedly excused himself from the stage to puke and continuously complained about the bad sound system. (A Google search for �Ryan Adams� and �tantrums� gets 16,900 hits.)
Last year Adams, on a steady diet of alcohol and speedballs, hit rock bottom. He quit cold turkey and sobriety seems to have served him well. �Cardinology,� Adams� new record with his band the Cardinals, is truly a great album, a testament to the power of picking your spots instead of releasing the floodgates.
With just one real rocker on the roster, �Magick,� the record is a low-key, largely acoustic, country-rock affair, chock full of Grateful Dead and pedal steel. It�s just the type of music that pops in a small venue such as the Pearl.
Adams has summed up his influences like this: �Growing up, I had a Grateful Dead Steal Your Face sticker on my skateboard next to a pentagram logo and a Danzig sticker. I couldn�t differentiate.�
Here�s to hoping the therapy holds and that all of that shines through Saturday.
If you�re lucky, Adams might even play his acoustic cover of Oasis� �Wonderwall.� That one earned him a Grammy nomination.
Gallagher Talks Fitness, French Fries and Free Music
Even his combative brother Liam knows you don't start a scrap that you can't finish with the pugnacious Noel Gallagher.
Especially now, when the Oasis leader � thanks to a strict workout regimen that incorporates boxing � is in his slimmest, trimmest fighting form in years. He's so fit at 41, in fact, that he just foiled a crime in his native London by confronting two hoods attempting to steal a former Bond girl's purebred dog. Even when he was tackled by a crazed fan onstage in Toronto recently, breaking three ribs and bruising another five in the process, he picked himself up, grabbed his guitar and plowed painfully on with the set anyway.
So Noel figures his body can still handle the occasional Bacchanalian road-trip party during the band's tour on behalf of its latest album, Dig Out Your Soul.
"Even though things start to not repair themselves as quick as they once did at my age, I think being in a band keeps you young, at least mentally, and I have a lot of nervous energy, which helps," he explains. "Plus, I'm lucky enough to be able to have home gym equipment. I've always shied away from exercise because of the clothes, the gear you have to wear when you do it. But I'm not a fitness freak, and when I'm on the road, I've gotta say it's just fucking club sandwiches and french fries, and I kinda like that. Because on the road, it's not supposed to be a health farm, now is it?"
And while much of Gallagher's Dig material is lyrically � even musically � zenlike, � la "The Turning," "Waiting for the Rapture" and the mantra-ish single "The Shock of the Lightning," he's not above taking a few swipes at any dastardly downloader who wants it, gratis.
"All that stuff about giving music away for free on the Internet?" he says, sniffing disdainfully. "We're not giving ours away, because it costs too much fucking money to make. But if some kid out there who can't afford to buy our record can find it for free, more power to 'em. But putting it out for free like some bands are doing? Get the fuck out � no fucking way."
Oasis still sounds thuggishly old-school when it comes to modern technology � with one major personal concession, Gallagher acknowledges. He sees the iPod as "the greatest invention, ever. And me, personally? I carry my entire record collection around in my pocket. Fuck me, man � it doesn't get any better than that!"
And besides, he adds, a brief Oasis summer tour of Britain just went on sale.
"We just sold nearly a million tickets in two days. And you cannot download that shared experience. You cannot download 50,000 people in a stadium, and even if you could, it wouldn't be the same. And that's the greatest thing.
"With all this stuff about music being given away for free and all that bollocks, if you can play your instruments, if you can get up onstage and inspire people, then you've got it made. D'ya know what I mean?"
The Oasis guitarist - famed for his hard partying - believes he would be well-suited to a career in the Catholic Church if he wasn't a rock star.
He said: "I'd be a priest. I would bring a healthy dose of reality. Put your money in the basket and let's drink some wine.
"When the wine is gone down we'll sit around and try and work out what the deal is with life and the universe. I would be a different kind of priest, see."
Noel also claimed he should be the band's frontman because he gets more attention from women than his brother, singer Liam.
He added to Britain's Elle magazine: "Liam used to be a sex symbol until he got his hair cut like a woman.
"I ooze sex appeal. I should be the frontman. It's a curse - women won't leave me alone."
When Noel Gallagher turned over production duties, it gave him a chance to dig out the soul of Oasis - and to spend more time drinking
Noel Gallagher has returned to his roots. For the Oasis helmsman, the homecoming has not involved laborious genealogical research or reuniting with childhood friends. Instead, it's meant ceding control of production duties on the band's latest album, Dig Out Your Soul, setting out on a worldwide tour and getting drunk. Really drunk.
"I felt like I'd gone as far as I could with my own thing," Gallagher explains. "I'm not really technically proficient in the studio. I know how to get one sound, and it's fucking great, but I've kind of gotten a bit bored of it now."
In passing the responsibilities of production entirely to Dave Sardi, Gallagher said he had more space to focus on priorities.
"It allowed me to focus more on drinking and kind of just being in the band as opposed to being one foot in the band and one foot in the production team," he says. "But the main thing was the drinking."
The newfound creative freedom and access to alcohol wasn't the only shift for Gallagher or his brother Liam or the band as a whole on Soul. From the dynamic of the songwriting process to the recording method, Gallagher says the new disc represents a departure.
"This is the first time we've ever not played an album live in the studio together," Gallagher points out. "This is all virtually hung around a drum loop and a bass line, and then we just start and we build it from there. So we were trying to create it like you would create dance music; we weren't really set on the arrangements. We had the songs, the words and the melodies. The rest of it was all up for grabs."
Coupled with shifts in the band's personnel (Zak Starkey left the band and was replaced by former Robbie Williams drummer Chris Sharrock for the current tour), the new method has made for some uncertain moments in the band's live performances.
"Number one," he says, "we had to break in a new drummer, and number two, we had to play songs off a new album that we'd never played before. It had all been done on the computer. So for the first few weeks, it was a bit � I gotta say, it was a bit shit, it was a bit, fucking, 'Oh, my God, this isn't going to work.' But it clicked in the end."
The band's hard-won coherence has helped Gallagher rediscover the joys of touring that he first discovered doing roadie work as a teenager.
"I like being on the road, you know," Gallagher declares. "There's a lot of bullshit you put up with, just bullshit � but such is life, I guess. It doesn't take me long to get into the lifestyle of, you know, rock and roll and partying. That's what we live for, no?"
By A.H. Goldstein
Oasis With Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, 7 p.m. Monday, December 8, Broomfield Event Center, 11450 Broomfield Lane, Broomfield, $38-$72.50, 303-830-8497.
From Noel Gallagher's official tour diary on Oasisinet.com
There's a fog upon LA (the quiet one said that). I love the fog. We don't get it much in England anymore (not round my manor anyway).
I'm growing to like this town more and more. Is that wrong?
Went to a party the other night. Andy was dj'ing. Speed dj'ing, in fact. Like a crackhead. He must've set some record for the most amount of tunes played in the least amount of time.
Got 2 days off now. Not much fun without the sun though. There's always shopping, I suppose.
Seen the shittest busker of all time yesterday in Santa Monica, but I did purchase a lovely pair of brown cords.
To mark the release of I'm Outta Time this week , today's exclusive Oasis live clip is I Am The Walrus. MSN has Champagne Supernova coming tomorrow but until then, why not check out Rock N' Roll Star and The Meaning Of Soul ?
Oasis start the US tour tonight at the Oakland Arena, Oakland. The tour then moves to the following US cities.
04.12.2008: Los Angeles - Staples Center 06.12.2008: Las Vegas - The Pearl 08.12.2008: Denver - Broomfield Events Cener 10.12.2008: Minneapolis - Target Center 12.12.2008: Chicago - Allstate Arena 13.12.2008: Detroit - Palace Of Auburn Hills 17.12.2008: New York - Madison Square Gardens 19.12.2008: Camden - Susquehanna Center 20.12.2008: Washington - GMU Patriot Center
Tickets are still available for all US tour dates visit the official site here for more details.
Denver lowers ticket prices for some seats
Fans of British rockers Oasis will be able to attend the band�s Monday show at the Broomfield Event Center at reduced prices, promoters announced Tuesday.
Tour promoters AEG Live lowered some tickets to $19.50, plus service charges.
The cheapest tickets were $38, plus charges, when they went on sale Oct. 3.
Oasis, which is touring in support of its latest album, �Dig Out Your Soul,� will be joined by opening acts Ryan Adams & The Cardinals and Matt Costa.
Tickets at the reduced price can be purchased at any Ticketmaster vendor or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Exclusive: Oasis in the USA : A Paul Slattery Gallery
Live4ever.us is excited to present a very special sneak peak at world renown rock photographer Paul Slattery's Oasis photos which he hand picked for our site. The "Oasis in the US" photos viewed here are featured in Paul's book Oasis: A Year On the Road. Here's more about the author:
Paul Slatttery (pictured with Noel Gallagher in 94) first jumped into the photographer�s pit at a gig by his teenage guitar hero Link Wray at London�s Lyceum in June 1975 when he should have been studying for his final exams. Narrowly passing those exams, he could have got a job as a town planner, but it was planning the next gig that soon became his life. A chance meeting with Lemmy at the Nashville in West Kensington convinced him of the need to have a rock and roll lifestyle and he subsequently went on to photograph the Pistols, The Ramones and The Clash.
Going on to photograph such bands as U2, Joy Division, The Fall and The Specials he has flirted with Heavy Metal and survived drinking sessions with the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and of course Mot�rhead and counts Lemmy as a true gent and a number one rock god.
In complete contrast hemade some of the most iconic photographs of the Smiths in the mid eighties, and in the late eighties and early nineties he photographed the Stones Roses and a young Manic Street Preachers, bands that captured the spirit of the times.
In February 1994 he was introduced to a then unknown band called Oasis with whom he eventually spent a year on the road. It is from these photographs that this book has been compiled. Paul�s photographs have appeared in thousands of magazines worldwide, over 80 books on rock and roll bands, and on numerous CD�s.
Oasis US 94 Gallery
NYC 24/7/94
First ever US gig at Wetlands 21/7/94
Filming Live Forever vid at Naumberg bandshell C. Pk. NY 22/7/94
Liam at the Bethesda Fountain C. Pk. NY 22/7/94
Tony being buried at the Green Oasis NYC Live Forever vid. shoot 22/7/94
Green Oasis NYC Live Forever vid. shoot 22/7/94
In 1994, Oasis was on the fast�track to the top. Hailed as the kings of Britpop, and by some as �the new Beatles,� the band had conquered the British charts and were on the verge of international success.
Their first world tour, playing on three continents, was the critical moment in the band�s emergence as an international force. Photographer Paul Slattery was there through that entire crucial period.
In Oasis: A Year on the Road, Slattery�s photos capture the excitement and the drama of the times, and his recollections offer a revealing counterpoint to the candid images.
Noel Times sq 23/7/94
Soundcheck Met Cafe Providence 22/10/94
Live
JC Dobbs Philly 23/10/94 due to the strange layout of the stage, Noel and Guigs swapped places. perhaps the only time Noel ever played on that side of the stage.
Noel after a few drinks on route 95 on the way to Philadelphia USA . Noel asked me to take his photo beneath the McDonalds sign. " Mc Donalds Noel" I asked? Noel replied " look Slatts, it says Billions Sold. That's going to be us soon." oct 94
backstage Wetlands NY 29/10/94
NY 29/10/94
Live at Wetlands NY 29/10/94
Live at Wetlands NY 29/10/94
A professional photographer for more than 20 years, Paul Slattery is internationally known for his work with Oasis, The Smiths, The Clash, U2, and other major bands.
Previous books; The Smiths - The Early Years published by Vision On, Omnibus Press.
Brought to you by Live4ever.us / all photos copyright: Paul Slattery
Man Utd - Oasis Bootleg Shirts : F#cking Outrageous
From Noel Gallagher's Official tour diary on oasisinet.com
Just waking up in Monterey. What a day! The sun has go his hat on. Beautiful sunrise.
Nervously waiting on this very phone for updates on the score of the Manchester derby. Can't see us getting anything today. 0-0 would be perfectly acceptable.
Done a photo shoot yesterday in some shady neighbourhood. Wot's-iz-name shit himself from start to finish. He doesn't seem to like being out on the streets even if we're surrounded by 6 armed guards.
BOLLOCKS!! Little Spongebob Rooney's just scored. Typical clown-ish behaviour in the box apparently.
Now here's a thing. In Mexico right, the hombres who flog the bootleg t-shirts etc. have been selling Man Utd shirts with their shit badge and the Oasis logo side by side on the front and GALLAGHER and a big no. 10 on the back?! MAN UTD SHIRTS!!!! That's out-fuckin'-rageous.
The gig was great - give or take the odd freestyle cock up.
Half time. Shit-cunts - 1. City - 0.
Flying back to LA today. Gonna be based there for a week. Cue torrential rain, no doubt. Gotta go via Dallas international airport. Immigration officials haven't taken too kindly to me the last couple of times I've been in transit there - what with me being an evil genius'n'all. I'm steeling myself for a game of cat and mouse with whoever they send to deal with me this time.
My missus is waiting for me in California with my boy so it'll all be worthwhile.
On the heels of the release of the second volume of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo's home recordings, the group is now taking a look back into its own vaults.
Cuomo tells Billboard he has "no idea" when the tentatively titled "Odds and Ends" will be released, but describes it as "just another fun project to do. They're great songs, but for some reason they didn't make the final cut for [a] record. They span a vast period of time from the very beginning of our career in the early '90s right up to the present day."
Meanwhile, Cuomo says Weezer may tour next spring with Oasis, and is hoping to enlist Spike Jonze to direct a video for the song "The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived" from its recent "The Red Album."
And while the next Weezer studio album appears to be a ways off, the group recently recorded six Christmas carols that will be downloadable for the iPhone game "Tap Tap Revenge," including "Oh Holy Night." Says Cuomo, "They're the classics."
In addition, Cuomo recently wrote a song with sibling pop duo Aly & AJ, although it's unclear when it may see the light of day. "It was such a blast to remember how teenagers approach songwriting," he says of the experience. "Their minds just work so fast and they have no fear and no ego."
Cuomo's "Alone II: The Home Recordings" was released earlier this week by DGC/Interscope. The first installment came out in December 2007.
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