Win A Noel Gallagher Performance In Your Living Room

Win Noel Gallagher in your lounge

Yesterday we announced that Radio 1 are taking the world famous Live Lounge out on the road... and in to the living rooms of the stars.

Today we can reveal that Noel Gallagher will be finishing the tour in style in one of your living rooms.

That's right. One lucky winner will get Noel and the Radio 1 travelling circus taking over their house for one incredible morning on Friday 1st December. If you are an Oasis fan prizes don't come any bigger than this

To win this opportunity of a lifetime you have to complete the form below.

Here's the list if Live Lounge Tour dates in full. From Monday 27 Nov to Friday 1 December we will be at the following homes:
- Lily Allen
- The Kooks
- Ordinary Boys
- Lost Prophets-
Noel Gallagher - in the competition winners lounge!
Sign up here

Source www.bbc.co.uk/radio1

Noel Gallagher To Play Exclusive XFM Gig

Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer of Oasis will be playing an exclusive Xfm homecoming gig in Manchester this December to be broadcast live across the Xfm Network.

Xfm in association with Virgin Megastores are proud to announce that Noel and Gem will be taking to the stage at The Lowry, Manchester to play this special exclusive set on Sunday 3 December to celebrate the release of their best of album ‘Stop The Clocks’.

With a capacity of just 400, this will be one of the smallest venues Noel has played in a very long time, and a once in a lifetime chance for fans to see the Oasis helmsman play a seriously intimate gig.Tickets to the one-off show won’t be available through normal ticket outlets or from the venue, and can only be won by tuning in to Xfm London, Xfm Scotland or Xfm Manchester during our special Oasis Day on Friday November 24

Or by signing up to Xfm Plus (if you're not already a member) and going to the competition on the Xfm Plus homepage by clicking here.

Not that we’re blowing our own trumpet here but this is just two weeks after Xfm’s exclusive session with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and just days before Xfm’s charity Christmas extravaganza Xfm’s Winter Wonderland. We’re said it before and we’ll say it again. Damn we’re good to you.

To hear Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer Of Oasis live at the Lowry Quay Theatre, Manchester tune in to Xfm from 6pm on Sunday December 3.

‘Stop The Clocks’ is out on Big Brother / Sony Records on November 20.

Source: www.xfm.co.uk

Westlife Likely To Beat Both U2 And Oasis To Album Chart Top Spot

Westlife look likely to romp to the top of the album chart come Sunday with their The Love Album collection, according to industry insider predictions.

DiS has heard on the proverbial grapevine that the Irish boyband's latest is looking certain to outsell newly released best-ofs from U2 and Oasis - 18 and Stop The Clocks respectively - as well as the new Beatles album, Love. It was previously assumed that this week's number one position would be contested between the Manchester outfit and the Bono-led rock four-piece.

Sales data from one leading supermarket is yet to be collected, meaning that things could change, but considering Westlife's popularity with daytime-shopping mothers (a shocking generalisation? Nah...), it's unlikely that either Oasis or U2, or The Beatles, will beat them to the number one position before Sunday's chart confirmation.

Of course, everything can change. But it probably won't.

Source: www.drownedinsound.com

Oasis Rant: They Slam New Beatles Album

They might be big fans of The Beatles but Oasis have slammed the new album which came out at the same time as their very own best of, Stop The Clocks on Monday (20 November).

Love – which was produced by Sir George Martin and his son Giles using Beatles songs and the original sounds recorded in the 60's went head to head with Oasis but it has been quickly rubbished by the Gallagher brothers.

Speaking at the UK screening of their road movie Lord Don’t Slow Me Down at the Curzon in Mayfair, London Noel said:

“It’s a pointless exercise; if you haven’t got The Beatles by now you’re not going to get it.”

Speaking about their own DVD ahead of its release next year Liam admitted he was glad the film was finished saying, “I buzzed of myself, I played a blinder.” And his brother Noel offered an insight into what it was like being the subject of a fly on the wall documentary which was directed by Baillie Walsh:

“Baillie Walsh said I wouldn’t notice the cameras after a while, you do notice them, but I was alright with that, I kind of enjoyed it.

”Meanwhile in the Sun newspaper today Noel Gallagher has launched another rant, saying he thinks the likes of Elton John and Robbie Williams need to get reality checks, and also claims green activists are wasting their time with environmental campaigns.

www.bbc.co.uk/6music

Don't Believe The Lies

NOEL GALLAGHER has seen RED over the current mania for all things GREEN.

The OASIS legend has given a landmark interview in which he passes judgement on modern Britain, politics, music and the celebrity culture which he despises.

Noel gave off enough of his own hot air to bring down the ozone layer in one interview session.
What makes Mancunian Noel most angry is the fad for Green politics and do-gooders trying to save the planet.

Guitarist Gallagher, 39, fumed: “Greens are f***ing hippies with no place in the world.
“They’ve been telling us for the last 50 years not to use aerosols or the sky’s going to fall in.
“Well - you’re the scientists, do something about it.

“How do you suggest we get 50million Chinese not to have a fridge?

“Or get 700million Americans to stop using their big stupid cars.

“The only way its going to happen is if the sky falls in.

“Until is does, these Greens are wasting their time.

“I’m glad - because in 50 years time I’ll be dead.”

Finding a rock star with such strong opinions is a rare thing these days.But Noel more than makes up for the rest of them during this exclusive interview to promote Oasis new Greatest Hits album Stop The Clocks.

His Green opinions - like all of his thoughts - are more than just hot air.

He tries to get a rise with a controversial statement - but then backs it up.

Noel is convinced that even if the world does change for the worse, kids of tomorrow will simply adapt.

He explained: “They won't be sitting there going: ‘Dad, you shouldn't have brought me into this world.’

“Kids adapt.

“Our parents are horrified about the society we built for ourselves - drugs and sex and drink and rock'n'roll and television.

“But to us that's normal.

“So - we'll be horrified with what follows.

“By the time I'm on my deathbed my daughter ANAIS will be some mental axe-wielding cyber punk lunatic. And I'll be horrified.

“I'll be glad to get out of the place! She'll have adapted quite well, I would have thought.
“The world in which we live - they always say: we have to leave a safer planet for our children.

“Well - I haven't got a car. So I'm doing my bit for the environment.

Girlfriend ... Sara McDonald

“I walk everywhere. I only live round the corner from Central London and I walk everywhere.
“That's my bit. I take public transport and I walk. So I don't clog up the roads with petrol fumes and all that stuff. That's what I'm doing.”

And Noel has utter contempt for celebrities who lock themselves away from the rest of us and refuse to ever get on the bus or just walk.

He maintains that he still goes to buy his own groceries - and people like ROBBIE WILLIAMS and ELTON JOHN who don’t, come in for a tongue lashing.

Noel said: “If I run out of milk, I go to the supermarket. And I queue up like everybody else.
“Can you imagine Elton John queuing up to by milk?

“The thing is - these stars like Robbie Williams and Elton John and all the rest of that lot - what are they afraid of?

“Are they actually afraid somebody might actually say hello to them in the street?

“There ain’t no axe-wielding celebrity murderers out there. It's not like that.

“It p*sses me off that they lock themselves off from humanity.

“And then you see these people on telly and you wonder why they're a**eholes.
“Cause they're surrounded by a**eholes who treat them like they're something special when they're not.

“Whereas the likes of me, when I want a taxi I queue up.”But it does not mean that Noel will always pause to speak to people.In fact he loathes signing autographs.

He added: “I don't give a f** about autographs. Just say no!

“I take great pleasure in that sometimes.

“People think they're slaves to their fans. No. People stop you in the street, sign this - no piss off!

“"Could you sign this, please?" No. "Why not?" Cause I'm not in the fu**ing mood, that's why. Dead simple.”

Noel - who has been described as “the wisest man in rock” is on great form.

He is celebrating a complete rebirth of Oasis since their last studio album Don’t Believe The Truth.

New bands like ARCTIC MONKEYS and KASABIAN honour him as the godfather of modern music.

It is now taken as a given that Oasis are the most influential British band of the last 20 years - probably since The Clash or Sex Pistols.And Noel is relishing his new-found status of the elder statesman during the 11th anniversary of his own band.

The former hellraiser has calmed down on all fronts - and relaxed into a life of quiet enjoyment.
He is blissfully happy with his girlfriend SARA MACDONALD - and refuses to do anything he doesn’t enjoy.

That includes making music when it

ON DIVA STARS

I go to the supermarket and I queue up like everybody else. Can you imagine Elton John queuing up to buy milk?doesn’t take his fancy.He explained: “In the early days if I wasn't writing songs I was in the studio recording songs. If I wasn't in the studio I was rehearsing. I was aggressively being creative. Cause I had goals to achieve. You won't get to be the biggest band in the world sitting on your arse watching telly all day.

“Soon as we were the biggest band in the world in 1996/7 I took the foot off the gas.
“You can keep re-inventing yourself, like U2 But then - look at the clothes they wear. It's not very graceful. So - I don't get up every day and go, right, pass me the guitar.

“I really do enjoy being lazy.

“Let me see what I've done this summer. I went to Ibiza for 6 weeks. I went to Miami for 2 weeks. World Cup. Moved house. Went to Republic of Ireland to visit my mother. Been to New York. I just get around. I enjoy doing nothing.”

When Oasis blew up in 1996 at the centre of Britpop they were linked in with the rise of the Labour government.

Noel was famously photographed attending a function at No10 Downing Street and shaking Tony Blair’s hand. It is an image he does NOT regret.

Noel recalled: “I don't feel any shame about that. The picture's a bit sh*t, cause I have a glass of champagne in my hand. And I was wearing a cheap suit, and that's not f**king like me. But I have no regrets about going.

"I was only in my twenties at the time, and I thought - "wants to meet ME? Well, f**ing bring it ON!" And I can't remember the mindset I was in. But looking back now I think I probably would have just been fascinated by it all.”

Noel is no fan of Blair - but he has an interesting take on the Iraq War.Soldiers come in for a bashing from him - for complaining about having to fight.

He continued: “Blair made an almighty cock-up about going to war in Iraq.

“But when people go on about that it's like they're suggesting that if anybody else had been in power they wouldn't have gone in with the Americans.

“Because after WW2 we always have sided with the Americans.“Don't think for one moment David Cameron wouldn't have sent the troops in, or the other guy from the Liberals.
“And another thing annoys me.

“You get a million people walking through Hyde Park, "don't send the troops", and all that.

“The troops they wanna go, all they want to do is fight! They're soldiers! They're lunatics!

They're loving it until they get shot - and then they're claiming compensation.

“If you're bothered about getting shot - here's a thing - don't join the Army!”

Despite calming down on the work front - and enjoying life more - one thing has not changed.

The relationship between Noel and his singing brother LIAM remains as strained as ever.

Noel continued: “The problem with our relationship is that he doesn't like me.

“And I'm indifferent to him. I'm not bothered what he does, I'm not bothered what he says, I'm not bothered about his music, his haircut or where he lives.

“I don't actively go out of my way to antagonise him. He does actively go out of his way to antagonise me.

“But I just keep out of his way. I can't be dealing with him, he's just a pain in the a**.

“He's got a split personality. He's either got a Messiah complex. When he looks in the mirror he sees the Messiah.

“Or he's got a Caesar complex. When he looks in the mirror he sees enemies everywhere.

“It's very difficult to deal with a person who thinks he's the centre of the universe one minute and the next minute everybody's out to get him.”

Luckily, despite their differences Oasis are around for the long-term.Noel has compiled the greatest hits to satisfy a contract with Sony Records.

But then the band will go it alone - and start a new album which they plan to release themselves on their label Big Brother.

Noel explained: “Record labels are places you go and borrow money to make records. We don't need to borrow money any more. That's basically it.

“Why take all that money off them, put it in your bank - and then when your record comes out, for every record sold you get 15 Pence. Why not just not take the money and when it comes out, and it sells for £ 15, you get £15 of it. That makes business sense to me.”

Noel hinted that a new studio album will be ready next year.

But for now there’s the compilation to look forward to.

Stop The Clock features 18 of Oasis’ best tunes - and will be released in the UK on November 20.
TO SEE GREAT OASIS VIDEOS JUST CLICK HERE

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Oasis Songwriter Says Hits Not So Great

Rock icons Oasis release their greatest songs album on Tuesday capturing more than a decade of hits, but the band's main songwriter Noel Gallagher says his best-known tunes are not so great.

For many Oasis fans, three songs -- "Wonderwall," "Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Champagne Supernova" from the blockbuster hit 1995 album "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" -- were the defining moment for the band.

For Gallagher, the album was overrated.

"Morning Glory, I don't think it's the best-sounding record we have ever done," Gallagher told Reuters in an interview. "Some of the songs are not as great as people think they are."

As for the notion that "Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Wonderwall" captured the spirit of optimism of the mid-1990s, Gallagher puts much of it down to timing.

"There was always going to be one defining British album that came out at that time, it just so happened we put ours out at the right time and the songs, being about hope and love, just struck a chord with people," Gallagher said.

"I don't much like 'Wonderwall,' but the effect that song has on people, I can't deny it," he said. "Great music is in the ear of the beholder."

"I still don't know who this chick Sally is," he said of the heroine of "Don't Look Back in Anger".

"I wrote the thing and I don't know what it means, but for some reason, for (fans) it means the world to them," he said
.
"All those lyrics, like 'Champagne Supernova' and that, they were just nonsense ... you can think about those lyrics for the next 500 years and they still won't mean anything."

"BIGGER THAN JESUS"

As Gallagher reviews the 18-song, 2-disc "Stop the Clocks" compilation, he says the band's first album "Definitely Maybe" from 1994 remains his best work.

"People are still hailing it as one of the greatest albums of all time," he said, calling it on a par with the seminal punk opus "Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols".

Absent from the album, which includes some of the band's famed B-sides, is anything from their third effort, 1997's "Be Here Now", when the band came close to imploding under the weight of their own success and a blizzard of cocaine.

"As soon as you get involved in cocaine, it all goes out the window because you think that every note you play on the guitar is ... monumental," Gallagher said.

Now 39, Gallagher is more relaxed that at the height of his fame and drug abuse when he notoriously wished Blur frontman Damon Albarn death by AIDS before later apologizing.

"It's shallow," Gallagher said of the life of drugs he gave up in 1998 after a moment of clarity.
"Back in the day, I was prone to making sweeping statements," he said, adding that he has no real regrets. "It was a time for heroes, it wasn't a time for being reserved and concise about our success. We were ... bigger than Jesus."

Now having completed a six-album record deal with Sony Music, Gallagher says he has no plans because for the first time since 1994, Oasis are without a recording contract.

"It's quite a liberating feeling," he said. "I'm sitting back at the minute and saying, 'I couldn't be bothered, I've achieved everything I ever set out to achieve.'"

"But on the other hand, Oasis is such a fantastic thing, you could never walk away from it, ever," he said. "While you still have breath in your lungs and could still stand up and weren't bald, you couldn't walk away from this."

Source: www.reuters.co.uk

Oasis TV & Radio Stuff

Nov 20 - Noel on BBC Radio 2 (Ken Bruce (Tracks Of Our Lives) and Album Chart with Simon Mayo
Nov 20 - Oasis on BBC Radio 1 - Steve Lamacq (9pm)
Nov 24 - Noel on MTV2 Gonzo. (2hr special)
Nov 25 - Noel on Parkinson
Nov 25 - MTV Italy TRL - Live performance?
Nov 25 - Noel on BBC2 The Culture Show
Nov 25 - 'Lock The Box' (STC DVD Liam & Noel interview) on ITV2 Nov/Dec (before Xmas) - "Fingers crossed" Noel+Gem BBC Radio London Gary Crowley 2 hr special
Dec 1 - Noel interview in Q Magazine
Dec 12 - Oasis take control of BBC 6 Music (inc. Liam, Gem, Andy interview)
Dec? - 'Noel Gallagher: Sitting In Silence' (Acoustic gig) ??? -
Oasis documentary produced by Russell Brand's production company

Speculation
Nov? - Noel on Russell Brand's new Channel 4 show
Dec 1 - Noel Jo Whiley BBC Radio 1 set?

Thanks to Mr Monobrow

Oasis Presents Lord Don't Slow Me Down

Thanks to Jono

'Stop The Clocks' UK TV Advert

Thanks To Mr Monobrow

Three Bands In A Beatle Royale

A three-way clash between Oasis, The Beatles and U2 kicks off in today’s album charts.

It must be one of the biggest chart battles in pop history.

The supergroups all release greatest hits compilations today in an epic encounter that will go to the wire next Sunday when the official winner is crowned.

Oasis are releasing Stop The Clocks — a double album charting their hits over the past decade, with a bonus DVD.

The Beatles release Love, the soundtrack to the Vegas Cirque Du Soleil show of the same name with digitally reworked classics from their huge back catalogue.

And U2 are hoping for another chart-topper with singles collection U218, including the anthems I Still Haven’t Found What I'm Looking For, Pride (In The Name Of Love), New Year’s Day and Where The Streets Have No Name.

HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said: “We’ve dubbed it Super Monday.”

In the past, Noel and Liam Gallagher have boasted they are the world’s biggest band.

The Beatles will always sell millions, and U2 are a huge global act too.

The Irish legends have released a formidable album and you can count on The Beatles to sell steadily over a long period.

But I reckon the Gallaghers will be the ones spraying a Champagne Supernova on Sunday.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Gallagher To Appear On The X Factor?

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher is such a huge fan of The X Factor, he wants to make a guest appearance on the British talent show. The Wonderwall singer is set to follow in the footsteps of Rod Stewart and Tony Bennett by passing on his experience to the hopefuls vying for a recording contract. A show insider tells British newspaper the Daily Mirror, "Liam watches the show all the time and wants to come in for it. We're seeing what we can do."

Source: www.contactmusic.com

Martin Confident Of Beatles Chart Success

Legendary British producer Sir George Martin is confident the new Beatles album will outsell Oasis' greatest hits compilation when both albums go head-to-head tomorrow (20NOV06).

Martin, who was the Fab Four's original producer, believes The Beatles' Love will triumph in the battle of the back catalogues. Love has been produced by Martin and his son Giles, and is the soundtrack to The Beatles-inspired Cirque du Soleil show of the same name, while Oasis' effort is an 18-track collection of the band's greatest hits.

Although full of praise for the Gallagher brothers, Martin believes Stop The Clocks can't match The Beatles new CD of experimental mixes.

He says, "I think the Gallaghers are very talented people. They are a very good group indeed, but not as good as The Beatles."

Martin and son made the disc after the surviving Beatles, Ringo Starr and Sir Paul MCCARTNEY, alongside John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and George Harrison's widow Olivia, approached him to create a Beatles soundscape for the show, which debuted in Las Vegas, Nevada in June (06).

Source: www.contactmusic.com

Stop The Clocks In Stores Today

Its that time ! Stop The Clocks is out today (UK) and available on Double CD (RKIDCD36), Special Edition Double CD With Bonus DVD (RKIDCD36X) (including a brand new interview with Noel & Liam, two previously unreleased live tracks including a performance of Champagne Supernova from Knebworth 1996 and Fade Away live from the Chicago Metro 1994, the trailer for the forthcoming film “Lord Don’t Slow Me Down” and deluxe 32 page booklet), plus Triple Vinyl Box Set with deluxe booklet (RKIDLP36).

Rock n Roll Star
Some Might Say
Talk Tonight
Lyla
The Importance of Being Idle
Wonderwall
Slide Away
Cigarettes & Alcohol
The Masterplan
Live Forever
Acquiesce
Supersonic
Half The World Away
Go Let It Out
Songbird
Morning Glory
Champagne Supernova
Don't Look Back In Anger

Oasis Signing Wrecked My Love Life

Gallagher: 'Oasis Signing Wrecked My Love Life'.... Rocker Noel Gallagher's delight when Oasis first signed to a record label was short-lived - when his then-girlfriend burst into tears because she knew it meant their relationship was over.

The Wonderwall band signed a deal with Creation Records in 1993 and it was only a matter of weeks before Gallagher left his native Manchester, in north-west England, for the bright lights of London.

He says, "I remember going home to Manchester after a meeting with (Creation boss) Alan McGee in London. I got into my flat about two in the morning and the girl I was living with at the time woke up.

"When I told her Oasis had a record deal she burst into tears... and they weren't tears of joy. I said, 'What's wrong with you?' And she said, 'You're gonna leave me now and move to London.' "I replied, 'Don't be stupid, babe.' But six weeks later I was off. I said, 'London's calling, I can't stay here, love. It's my destiny.' "So while McGee gave me a record deal, he temporarily ruined my love life".

Source: www.femalefirst.co.uk

Tonight On Channel Four

Channel Four Tonight (UK)

23:50 - 01:10 Lord Don't Slow Me Down
Backstage documentary following Manchester rock legends Oasis throughout their Don't Believe the Truth world tour over the past year. With unprecedented access to the band, the programme features behind-the-scenes footage of the group as well as on-stage performaces across the world



01:10 - 02-40 Live From Manchester
With the release of their sixth album, Don't Believe the Truth, Oasis are back on the road with a sell-out gig at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Blur's Girl Share

Blur bloke Alex James used to share his totty with Oasis. Speaking on The Nation's Favourite Album on VH, Alex said: "There was a small gene pool around us and the girls that were with Oasis one night were with us the next." Itchy.

Source: Daily Star

Liam Fuels Band Feud

The feud between girl bands All Saints and Girls Aloud is set to explode thanks to Oasis bad boy Liam Gallagher.

Girls Aloud are appearing on Oasis's latest DVD which will not impress Liam's partner, All Saint Nicole Appleton.

Last month Cheryl Cole from Girls Aloud accused the re-united All Saints of copying them.

Source: www.people.co.uk

Noel Gallagher Says Cocaine Isn’t That Bad

The Oasis star – who claims not to have taken the Class A drug since 1998 – believes alcohol is the worst substance people can take and only thinks cocaine is harmful because it allows you to drink more.

Noel said: “Cocaine itself isn’t that bad. It just makes you drink more and that’s the worst drug there is - especially when you’re surrounded by people whose psychosis sets in the more they drink.”

Noel – who once compared drug-taking to “getting up in the morning and having a cup of tea” – insists he chose to give up cocaine because he was fed up of partying.

He said: “People think I stood up at a party and announced, ‘That was my last line of cocaine, from this day forth I shall take no more,’ and everybody sighed and left.

“It wasn’t like that. The reason I packed it in was that it was only meant to be a weekend, which became a week, which became a month and so on. I just decided I couldn’t be bothered anymore.”

Source: www.ecanadanow.com

Ben And Greg On The Masterplan Video

Directed By: Ben & Greg

Ben: "We've only been directing for a year, so it was a huge step up for us to do a band like Oasis. Many of the scenes were adapted from actual paintings by [famous 20th-century Manchester artist] LS Lowry.

Noel and Liam in particular loved the way his walk looked. We read loads of Oasis books to find anecdotes and stories that we could drop into the background, so if you know about the band, you should be able to spot the references."

Fact: The bus driver is meant to be Alan McGee

Source: NME Magazine

When Noel Met Serge

It started with an 'Oosh' when Oasis first saw their natural heirs Kasabian, it was love at first sight. And the feeling was mutual.

If there's one question NME has about this rock 'n' roll of friendships, it's this: why didn't it happen sooner? From their swaggering emergence in 2004 with the bovver-boy beats of 'Reason Is Treason', Kasabian always seemed destined to be best mates with Oasis. Like a historical tidal wave crashing back on the shore 10 years after it first struck, when Tom Meighan and Serge Pizzorno appeared with gobby charm, up-for-it attitude and tunnel-vision drive to be the best band on the planet,it was almost a reprise of a young Liam 'n' Noel.

The musical approaches were different; Kasabian looked to chemically enhanced beats while Oasis relied on all-conquering rock'n' roll, but the way both bands causally constructed modern anthems proved that here were kindred spirits - so much so that Oasis' leader Noel Gallagher admitted he was intrigued without hearing a note.

"When the interviews started two or three years ago I thought, 'They're gobby little f**kers I hope they back it up when you hear the tunes,"' recalls the guitarist. 'Then I got 'Club Foot' and it was, 'F**king whoa, man! Is somebody saying "Oosh"?' I went to see them live before we toured with them and they were f**king business!

For the Kasabian boys themselves though, being invited to tour the States with Oasis late last year was the logical conclusion of all their efforts. "It was incredible hearing 'Definitely Maybe' for the first time," explains Tom Meighan. "I'd never really heard anything like it before. It brought me joy, it brought me sadness. When Liam sang 'In my mind my dreams are real' he was speaking what I was thinking! I saw them live for the first time at G-MEX in August 1997, I think. I'll never forget it, I looked onstage and realised that's what I wanted."

And that's what his band got. Having being selected personally by Noel to do the US jaunt, a bond between the two bands quickly formed. "Oasis kind of pulled the book open and read to you," says Tom of the influence touring with his heros had on him. "They tell you the story while you're in bed listening - know what I mean? they've been there and done it. They're great man, they just believe. We're great friends with them, they're all f**king great, just lovely.

So when it was time to arrange a Kasabian and Oasis summit we couldn't just put them in a room and talk, we had to get them in a room and play. Cue NME.Com's birthday party at KOKO in London. An hour after Noel had joined Kasabian onstage for'The Doberman' and 'Club Foot' he settles down in the smallest backstage dressing room as his opposite number in Kasabian walks in.

"Ah, Serge Pizzorno! announces the Gallagher with a flourish, before snatching NME's microphone to go all Trevor McDonald on our arses.

From us in the studio, over to you, Noel Gallagher:

Noel Gallagher: "I'm sat backstage in what was formely the Camden Palace, back in the '80's when i was a child. I'm sat with Serge Pizzorno from the right reverend Kasabian and I'm going to ask him some questions. The first is, ho big was tonight on a scale of one to 10?
Serge Pizzorno: "It was f**king 10! It was the most incredible gig. As you put it earlier, by the middle eight of (first song) 'Shoot The Runner' it was the best gig we've done. The best gig we've done on this album so far."
Noel: "What did you think of the glowsticks being slung on stage?"
Serge: "I wasn't happy about that."
Noel: "Me neither."
Serge: "But Tom did well. He volleyed a few into the crowd. We had a few lads in the crowd so if anyone on stage got hit, it would've been taken care of."

NME: Why didn't you use your famous volley, Serge? Your goal on Sky's Soccer AM last week was the talk of the town.
Serge: "That was a one-off that! The luckiest thing in the world."
Noel: "Right, I want to know this personally. How do you think - deep down - it's going to go in the States?"
Serge: "Erm, you know what. I've got no f**king idea. But we're going to play like that every night and if they get it, then f**king god bless them. If they don't, then we'll just come home."
Noel: "And, how big is Earls Court (Kasabian's December show) going to be?"
Serge: "It's going to be the biggest, most empire show ever! This is f**king great!"

NME: What about being top of the album charts?
Noel: "What does it feel like - I know what it feels like, but for all f**king kids back at home - how big is it being Number One just for that one week?"
Serge: "For all that time we sat in that sweaty, carpeted room in Leicester and having Tom jumping off amps shouting 'F**king Glastonbury, you W**kers!, and to beat Beyonce and all these weird pop acts - and Bob Dylan, bless him, to be number one, it was the most incredible thing. Tom's mam rang me - we found out while we were in Turkey - and she was roaring, she made me cry! It was the best day ever and we had the most incredible Sunday night ever."

So having enjoyed his stint as official Kasabian correspondent, it's Noel's turn to face the 'press', as Serge has a few questions of his own. The main topic of discussion is Oasis' new Best Of 'Stop The Clocks'. With it's tracklist recently revealed, it wasn't so much what was on it that was bothering Serge, but what wasn't.

Noel: "In a way it's liberating doing the Best Of. We've done it and it's out there, it's finished now and it stops people asking about it, we get asked about it constantly. Serge will tell you, he's devasted 'Listen Up' is not on there."
Serge: "Yeah, devastated! And how can you not put ['Some Might Say' B-side] 'Headshrinker' on there? It's one of my favourites."
Noel: "I know, how can you not have 'Headshrinker' on there? You see how I have to put up with these c***s? But fair enough, I'll be on his case when his Best Of comes out, I'll be: 'So "Reason Is Treason" isn't f***ing on it? Get to f**k!'"
Serge: "At the same point you have to go, 'He is the Prime Minister, get in line and you do your job,' that's how it should be."
Noel: "This is the manifesto for future generations! Ten or 15 years from now, when we're all done and dusted, when people are going, 'That's that band everyone was yakking on about."

NME: So is 'Reason Is Treason' your favourite Kasabian song? You played two others with the band tonight.
Noel: "Serge picked the two songs. If he'd had asked me I'd have said 'Club Foot', but then he said 'The Doberman' too and I thought 'F***ing brilliant! Yeah!'. 'Club Foot' is my favourite. It was the first crotchet of music I ever heard by them."

NME: Did you enjoy singing the 'Oosh' bits tonight?
Noel: "I f***ing love that! When we first got to play with them we were going, 'Is that an "Oosh"?' and Tom said yeah, 'Oosh!'. What is that? It's the bit you sing along to at home. It's where Serge taps into the dance music thing.

Only The Prodigy and the Primals have really got into that territory where they've crossed over before - and they done it better than anybody else. 'Screamadelica' is the definitive guitar-dance record - it's not even indie-dance or any of that shit - and The Prodigy did it with 'Raise The Pressure' [we think he means the Prodge's 1996 single 'Breathe']. Kasabian are there now and they're making that music, which is unique."

The respectful air that is starting to grip the room, however, gets an appropriate injection of rock'n'roll as Tom Meighan, looking for his bandmate and guest star, bounds in. "Ah there you are, what's going on?"

NME: How come you all ended up onstage tonight?
Noel: "They asked us in Ibiza on a proper pissed-up, pharmaceutical night out, 'Are you going to get up with us?' I said, 'Yeah, yeah!' So they're off to New York tomorrow to go on their American tour, we're off doing our Best Of press so there was only one night when we were in town together and that was tonight, and as luck would have it, it was the NME night, so we thought, 'Brilliant, let's do it!'"
Tom Meighan: "Mr G! He just said he was f***ing up for it. We got him to bust out 'The Doberman' and 'Club Foot', it's wonderful isn't it? He's great, he's a forefather, and it's great to have him. You won't be able to stop the songs now: Jay Mehler, Chris Edwards, Sergio Pizzorno, Tom Meighan and Noel Gallagher! We went through it once at soundcheck and it was amazing."

NME: Did you have to give him any tips?
Tom: I said to him, 'I love what you're doing, I don't know what you're doing, but carry on!' It's great to have him. It's strange to have him onstage too, but he's a friend now so we'll have a good night."

NME: What was it like touring with Oasis?
Tom: "It gave us a lot of confidence being with them."
Serge: "It was great having that at the end of our live gigs. We were already f**king flying and then we met them and if they gave us any advice it was just, 'Carry on!' We showed them a few tunes before we went in and they thought they were great. It's nice to hear that. It was just the best few months of our lives."
Tom: "It was carnage, man. It was great, we learnt a lot from them. We're good friends with them now. We'll stick by them for a long time."

And carnage, it seems, is what they do best. Amid talk of "heading back to the hotel" the Oasis-Kasabian summit breaks up as more bandmates and girlfriends pile into a tiny dressing room. NME later hears tales of people "leaving Noel's house at 8am the next morning", but as Tom had earlier assured us, this is more than just a rock-star boozers club. This is about a bunch of lads from Leicester who met their heros and found out they were just like them. "They changed people's views and options, life and culture," says the Kasabian singer. "They've sorted their place in the rock 'n' roll circus, now it's our go!"

Source: NME Rock 'N' Roll Yearbook