Noel Gallagher has spoken about the Oasis reunion for the first time and has promised there’ll be ‘no fighting’ when they set off on tour next summer.
In contrast to the younger Gallagher brother, who has been arguably more active and vocal about himself and Oasis since the reunion was confirmed, Noel has been pretty quiet on the comeback up until now.
However, speaking at the recent ‘Legends’ exhibition by Zoë Law held at the National Portrait Gallery, the guitarist and solo artist was quoted as saying that things won’t be anywhere near as rock and roll as it was back in Britpop’s heyday, as well as assuring he and Liam won’t be at each other’s throats.
The Oasis songwriter said of the upcoming tour dates: “No, it won’t be as raucous as back in the day, because we’re on the wrong side of 50 now, so we’re too old.
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“We’re too old to give a s**t now, so there won’t be any fallouts, there won’t be any fighting.” When asked if he’s glad to have buried the feud after a decade and a half of bad-mouthing and back and forth, the 57-year-old could only reply, ‘Of course.’
In Noel’s eyes at least, while many have been speculating that this reunion tour isn’t just a one-off (fingers crossed), he described wanting the now enormous world tour – with dates in the UK, Ireland, US, Australia, Japan, South America and more – to be a sort of “lap of honour” for the band.
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Make of that what you will.
There have been reports that the duo have new music ‘ready to go’ or at least written, but let’s just say we got our Christmas wish with the reunion itself, so we’re not going to push our luck and risk jinxing anything by asking for too much. For now, we’ll settle for them remembering they love each other.
Noel in one of his last shows saying that no one sounds like Rkid (Liam) and in the interview for the DM's 30th anniversary he also spoke highly of Liam, and there are still people who are afraid that they will fight, Oasis is back! enjoy pic.twitter.com/lMcIXyUgic
As for relations between him and Liam, we don’t know too much beyond the pictures we eventually saw of them smiling and joking together during that photo shoot for the official announcement in the summer.
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That being said, iconic frontman and part-time troll has enjoyed playing a very comical version of kiss and make up on social media – as well as using the word ‘celestial’ a lot for some reason. He did, however, respond to what he called a “ridiculous question” rather recently.
Although he refused to name who it came from, he replied in truly irreverent LG fashion: “Oasis gonna be as good as you once were because when some bands get back together there not as good I said listen here you c*** even on our bad day we’ll still wipe the floor with [the] majority of bands out there.”
Meanwhile, it really does like the two have overcome their difference as Noel had the following to say in his interview for the Law’s photography series. We only hope this means there’s nothing holding them back from putting on the shows of a lifetime…
Government to introduce price cap on ticket touts and launch consultation on dynamic pricing
Danny Jones
The UK government are finally set to install a price cap on re-sale tickets for touts and open an official consultation on the growing trend of dynamic pricing.
If you’ve bought a ticket to a live music show over the past year or so, you’ll have noticed that ticket prices in general are on the up – particularly if purchased from a reseller, in which case you might have paid through the nose for the privilege.
Not only does ticket touting remain a prevailing problem in the industry, with tonnes of tickets for big shows, especially, being snapped up in bulk or by bots and listed for re-sale before you’ve even added them to your basket, but the advent of this new dynamic pricing lark has made things even harder.
You only have to look at the controversy and chaos surrounding Oasis’ reunion tour, which ultimately saw some fans paying significant amounts more for practically the same ticket just a few days later in what many dubbed as ‘fraud’ and even ’emotional blackmail’.
Justin Timberlake at Co-op Live Manchester was one of countless gigs where ticket prices fluctuated. (Credit: The Manc Group)
Tackling resellers head-on
Knowing full well that people will go to extreme lengths to try and see the musicians and artists they love so dearly – in some cases being backed into a corner as the final figure displayed on the screen when they checkout suddenly jumps up – the modern ticketing industry is severely broken.
With all that in mind, the government are now looking to enact more stringent measures on resellers, by announcing a new price cap on tickets put back up for sale which is set to be introduced (hopefully) in the very near future.
Targeting sites infamous for inflating re-sale costs such as Viagogo, StubHub and others, the bill published on Friday, 10 January proposes a price cap of face value plus 10-30% but no more, with an obvious aim to keep that number as low as possible.
According to the current figures, touts reportedly cost music fans alone more than £145 million in extra re-sale fees when purchasing tickets every year – a frankly ridiculous sum. There will always be tickets ending up on re-sale sites, that’s unavoidable, but a price cap could seriously improve the situation.
The Manc music legends themselves claim they had little control over the situation.
Down with dynamic pricing
Labour, who were voted into power back in July, are also set to try and combat dynamic prices, which essentially sees gigs and events set people back more or less depending on how the popular ticket sales have been up to that point, market trends and general demand. An initial review was called for last year.
Put simply, the more people want to attend a gig, platforms like Ticketmaster feel they are able to jack up their margins even after the initial price point has been established. The European Commission has been investigating these methods since September 2024.
Although it is still unclear as to the exact time scale of when these changes will come in, Labour MP Chris Bryant told NME that although they are still in the early stages, it is “now just a matter of how the government takes action.” And that’s where you come in.
The consultation is also crucially public, with the calling for people to submit their evidence on current pricing practices and continue engaging in the discussion throughout the progress. New Year’s Resolution: let’s curb ticket touts as much as we possibly can.
The AO Arena is giving away FREE tickets for a year to celebrate 30 years in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The AO Arena has announced it’s giving away free tickets for a year to celebrate its 30th anniversary in Manchester.
The iconic music venue has welcomed the biggest names in the world in its three decades, with millions of us making memories for life inside its huge space.
And now you could win VIP tickets for an entire year, simply for sharing those memories with the AO Arena.
Fans who submit their old photos, videos and tickets will be in with a chance to win tickets to all the shows coming up in 2025 – which already includes massive gigs like Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry and Busted vs McFly.
AO Arena wants to dig deep into ‘first gig’ nostalgia territory, using fan-submitted snaps to build a collection of Manchester memories.
Were you in the same room as Taylor Swift, did you party like it was 1999 (because it was) with Spice Girls, did you cry over the sight of Gary Barlow or cry laughing with Peter Kay?
Britney Spears and Beyonce are among the names who have performed at AO Arena in its 30 year history. Credit: Supplied
Whatever your AO Arena memories are, you can share them before the end of the month to be entered into the competition to win VIP tickets for the year.
One overall winner picked at random will get the ultimate VIP experience, including access to a premium suite and The Beautiful North, as well as access to The Mezz with panoramic views of the main stage.
The 30th birthday campaign has been inspired by Adele’s monumental When We Were Young performance at Glastonbury, and all these memories will be projected around the arena before every performance.
You can submit your footage and enter the competition via the AO Arena website HERE.
Danny Jones -
2nd December 2024 
