Oasis star Noel Gallagher piles praise on ‘amazing’ brother Liam
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Liam (left) and Noel Gallagher take to the stage at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on July 4, for the opening concert of Oasis reunion tour.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – English singer Noel Gallagher of rock band Oasis has described performing again with his brother Liam as “great”, confounding sceptics who feared a fresh sibling bust-up could scupper their reunion tour.
Noel, 58, piled praise on Liam, 52, calling him “amazing” and adding that he had forgotten how “funny” he was.
“Liam’s smashing it. I’m proud of him,” Noel told talkSport radio in an interview on Aug 19 almost halfway through their 41-date comeback tour.
The famously warring brothers had last played together in Paris in 2009 when tensions boiled over into a backstage brawl in which Liam broke one of Noel’s guitars.
Noel quit the band, saying he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer”.
Sixteen years on, Noel said he had been “completely blown away” by playing together again.
“I’ve done stadiums before and all that, but I don’t mind telling you, my legs had turned to jelly after about halfway through the second song,” he said of their opening night in Cardiff on July 4. “It’s been an amazing thing. Really is an amazing thing. It’s difficult to put into words, actually.”
Oasis have already played in Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin.
Formed in Manchester, north-west England, in 1991, the band are credited with helping create the Britpop era of that decade with hit songs including Wonderwall (1995), Don’t Look Back In Anger (1996) and Champagne Supernova (1996).
‘Forgot how funny he was’
Noel added that he was in awe of his brother’s on-stage performance. “I couldn’t do the stadium thing like he does it, it’s not in my nature,” he said. “But I’ve got to say, I kind of look and I think, ‘Good for you mate.’ He’s been amazing.”
The singer added: “I guess when it’s all said and done, we will sit and reflect on it, but it’s great being back in the band with Liam, I forgot how funny he was.”
Oasis head to North America later this week before returning to Britain for more London dates in September.
The international leg of the tour, which wraps up on Nov 23 in Sao Paulo, includes dates in Chicago, Mexico City, Tokyo, Sydney and Buenos Aires. AFP
