The Verve Close UK Tour By Paying Tribute To Manchester Bands

Richard Ashcroft also surprises everyone with his new haircut.

The Verve closed their UK Arena tour tonight (December 21) with a triumphant show in Manchester.

The Wigan four-piece, who were playing their second night in the city, blasted through a 14 song set featuring tracks from all three of their albums 'A Storm In Heaven', 'A Northern Soul' and 'Urban Hymns'.

Like their previous low key tour, the band took to the stage to David Axelroyd's 'Holy Are You' before singer Richard Ashcroft declared to the crowd: "This is The Verve in Manchester on a Friday night. Let's have it. Come on."

Instead of kicking off with their trademark signature tune 'This Is Music', the band opted for 'A Northern Soul' opener 'A New Decade'.

Richard also surprised everyone when he arrived onstage sporting a new bleached blonde haircut similar to My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way's during their Black Parade tour.

The gig was the band's last of the year and capped off a memorable return for the Wigan four-piece who are rumoured to be headlining Glastonbury next year.

Rounding off the show with 'Bitter Sweet Symphony', Ashcroft urged the crowd to help him along before he said: "Merry Christmas Manchester. I love you forever and The Smiths and The Stone Roses and Oasis."

The band will now head into the studio to complete sessions for their forthcoming fourth album.

The Verve played:

'New Decade'
'This is Music'
'Space And Time
'Weeping Willow'
'Life's An Ocean'
'Sonnet'
'Sit And Wonder'
'Velvet Morning'
'Lucky Man'
'Stormy Clouds'
'On Your Own'
'The Drugs Don't Work'
'Come On'
'Bitter Sweet Symphony'

Earlier The Coral played a host of hits from their recent album 'Roots And Echoes' including 'Who's Gonna Find Me', 'Jacqueline' and 'In The Rain'. The band also threw in fans favourite 'Dreaming Of You'.

Source: www.nme.com

This Feeling New Year Spectacular

The UK's #1 Indie night 'This Feeling' is having a New Year Spectacular. And it is taking place at SIN near Tottenham Court Road, London, on the 31st of December.

Tickets are priced at £15 in advance or £20 on the door (if not sold out)

For more information and to see pictures of previous nights that include club regulars Noel Gallagher, Andy Bell, Zak Starkey, Kasabian, The Enemy and many more click here.

Santa's Coming Soon

That's right folks Santa will be popping by to visit us in a few days :)

Visit his website here, to listen to tracks from his new album "Santa JG Swings!"

Source: www.kuwlyule.com

AORBS (Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas)

Noel Gallagher Tops ZOO's 100 Coolest Blokes

We recently asked you, the esteemed ZOO readers, to pick your top bloke of 2007. You voted in your droves and, after spending hours in dark rooms counting up the ballots, we can reveal the results. Meet ZOO's 100 Coolest Blokes...

01. Noel Gallagher (Noel also won best musician also)

Whether you believe he’s a song-writing genius, or a Beatles-lite plagiarist, there's no doubt that Noel Gallagher was one of swinging nuts in the swagger of what was "cool Britannia".

Manages to keep a lid on his flash-fire temperament, in public at least, (unlike his tinderbox brother) and penned some of the greatest anthems of the last two decades.

From humble beginnings, lugging gear for the Inspiral Carpets, to worldwide tours and millions in the bank, the boy from the streets of Burnage takes no prisoners and doesn’t care who he offends.

In fact, he could well be the last of the truly soundbite-worthy musicians. And that’s why, despite his millions, he’s one of us. Nice one, top one, Noel.

The list includes Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Lewis Hamilton, Ricky Gervais, Joe Calzaghe, Sacha Baron Cohen and many more.

Click here to see the top 100.

Source: www.zootoday.com

New Oasis Gig Poster And Limited Edition Print

Created by the Sheffield artist Pete McKee, this live poster was inspired by the legendary 1994 Brighton show, which saw Oasis supported by Ride and The La's.

The silk screen prints are personally signed and numbered by the artist and strictly limited to 100. Printed on Harlequin 340 gsm white Art Board, they measure 45x64cm. The prints are £190 unframed, or £250 framed (unfortunately we can only offer framed prints for delivery to UK addresses) and are a great collectors' item.

The posters are printed on 170 gsm graphic silk paper and measure 60x80cm and available for £25.

Click here for more information and to place your order.

For more information on Pete McKee, visit his website

LORD DON'T SLOW ME DOWN PRINTS

Also still available is a limited number of the special 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' prints, as well as exclusive Japanese import T-shirts and the new Oasis Bukta top. For information on these and more, visit the online store

ONLINE COMPETITIONCheck out Oasisinet for our fantastic Christmas competition!

Source: Email from oasisinet

Oasis Christmas Competition! Win Sir Peter Blake Print

Exclusive to Oasisinet: If you can answer the following question (a simple one for the true fans!) then you could be in with a chance of a fantastic Christmas prize! One lucky winner only will win an art print signed by Sir Peter Blake himself of the amazing sleeve image he created for the front of last year's Best of collection "Stop The Clocks".

Answer the following question and submit to: thefans@oasisinet.com including a name and contact number. We will notify the winner on or before 7th January 2008. Good luck!

Name two songs which have been released as Oasis singles in the UK but were not included on the album Stop The Clocks.

Submit your answer by e mail on or before 2nd January to: thefans@oasisinet.com

Source: www.oasisinet.com

On This Day In Oasis History...

"Whatever" is a single by British rock band Oasis, written by the band's lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was released 19 December 1994 as a stand-alone single bridging the gap between Oasis' debut album, Definitely Maybe, and their second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. "Whatever" entered the UK Singles Chart at #3, their first single to enter the top 5, something every single released since, up to 2005's Let There Be Love, has also accomplished. The strings were played by the London Session Orchestra, arranged by Nick Ingham and Noel Gallagher.

The song joins the infectious pop-rock melodies of Definitely Maybe with the more sophisticated lyrics of (What's the Story) Morning Glory, preaching universal tolerance and the acceptance of all ideas and beliefs in a typically straightforward, Mancunian way. The first lines ("I'm free to be whatever I/Whatever I choose/And I'll sing the blues if I want") may have been Noel's reaction to his father's insistence that he join the building trade.

"Whatever" was released as a contender for the coveted position of Christmas #1, 1994
It is a testament to Noel Gallagher's all-conquering self confidence that he should predict "Whatever"'s success before he was even given a record contract, saying "In the beginning, there was a masterplan, to the extent that I knew that 'Whatever,' one of the first songs I ever wrote, would be a Christmas Top Five hit, but I think anyone who heard the song could have told you that."

When Oasis performed the song for Top of the Pops, they mimed and one of the cello players from the symphony was replaced by Bonehead, who clearly had no idea how his instrument is supposed to be played. Towards the end of the song, he gave up the pretense and started using the bow to conduct. A woman plays his rhythm guitar. The song was introduced by Damon Albarn of Blur who would later famously feud with Oasis. As Albarn introduced the song, the Gallagher brothers made hand gestures behind him, which only served to heighten the feud between the bands.

"Whatever" has been performed live by Oasis many times, sometimes with the ambitious symphony which accompanies the single version, sometimes without. They often end live versions of the song with lyrics adapted from the Beatles song "Octopus's Garden." They have also been known to add the lines "All the young blues....carry the news...", in reference to the Mott the Hoople song "All The Young Dudes". The "blues" are the fans of the Gallaghers' beloved Manchester City F.C.. At their famous performances at Knebworth in August 1996, the song was accompanied throughout by harmonica player Mark Feltham and is generally regarded by fans as one of the highlights of their set.

The B-Sides of "Whatever" were quite famous as well. One of them, "Slide Away" was already featured on their debut album, Definitely Maybe. The other two - "(It's Good) To Be Free" and "Half the World Away" - were later featured on The Masterplan, a collection of Oasis's best b-sides. "Slide Away" and "Half the World Away" would also be featured on Oasis' 2006 "best of" album Stop the Clocks, although "Whatever" itself was not included.

'Whatever' spent a total of 50 weeks in the UK Singles chart, more than any Oasis single to date. In 2007 Coronation Street's Charlie Stubbs was murdered while 'Whatever' played.

Source: Wikipedia

Stereophonics Swerve A Drinking Session With Oasis And Kasabian

The Stereophonics have ditched their hard-partying ways in favour of all night acoustic hotel room jams.

The rockers bumped into hell-raising pals Oasis and Kasabian when recording a TV programme, but swerved a drinking session – opting instead to put in some late-night music making on their own.

Frontman Kelly Jones revealed: “We were recording at Abbey Road where Oasis are doing their album. Tom and Serge from Kasabian turned up too.

“I had a quick Guinness with them, but decided to get back to Cardiff otherwise we would have been out all night.”

Read the rest of the inteview here

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Win Tickets To See Northside

Roll up! Roll up! We have 25 pairs of tickets to give away to see Manchester band, Northside TONIGHT. They're headlining at MoHo live with the evening also including special guests Clint Boon (Inspiral Carpets/XFM) and Bonehead (Oasis).

The tickets will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you want to be in with a chance of getting your hands on them, you'll have to hurry.

You know what to do. Fill in your details in the form here.

Northside @ MoHo Live
Tuesday 18 December
Tib Street (between Affleck's Palace and Sascha's Hotel)
Doors open at 8:30pm

Source: www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk

Rock Royalty To Honour Joe Strummer

If ever a reminder was needed of just how much influence The Clash had on modern music, some of the biggest names in UK rock are forming a supergroup in memory of Joe Strummer.

Members of Oasis, The Smiths, Primal Scream, The Happy Mondays, Alabama 3 and Carter USM are set to stage a one-off gig performing their favourite songs of the legendary London punks.

Known as the Strummerville Collective in reference to the Strummerville charity set up after Joe's death, the supergroup will play JAMM in Brixton, London, on 22 December.

The gig has been organised to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the singer's untimely death and will also feature Jamie T, The Misfits and The Mentalists, as well as members of Paul Weller's band.

Jim Bob from Carter USM will be putting in a solo set and JC and the Disciples will be bringing back memories of The Members from 1977 and the burning flame of Rock Against Racism.

Confirmed members of the Strummerville Collective include Mani from Primal Scream, Bonehead from Oasis, Bez from the Happy Mondays, Larry Love from the Alabama 3, Nigel Clarke from Dodgy and Alan White from Paul Weller’s band.

Geoff Martin, director of the Left Field Stage at Glastonbury Festival, said: “We wanted to mark the fifth anniversary of Joe Strummer’s death with a unique event that marks the positive impact that his life had on so many of us. Brixton JAMM will be the place to be.

"Money raised will be shared by Strummerville – the Joe Strummer Foundation for new music – and RAR08 which will be fighting to stop the BNP in the run up to next May’s London elections. We also hope to make enough cash to put a bunch of guitars into Brixton prison as part of Billy Bragg’s Jail Guitar Doors initiative, in memory of Joe.”

London Calling - Remembering Joe Strummer takes place at JAMM, 261 Brixton Road, London, from 8pm to 2am.

Tickets cost £8 in advance or £10 on the door, click here.

Source: www.virtualfestivals.com

Tickets Still On Sale For The Charity Event Of The Year

Versus Cancer is to return for a third year running.

The huge fund-raising concert organised by former Smiths legend Andy Rourke will once again takeover the M.E.N. Arena on February 23.

Last year saw unforgettable performances by Oasis' guitarist Noel Gallagher, Manc indie-rock veterans The Charlatans and Modfather Paul Weller.

Details of 2008's line-up are set to be announced in recent weeks.

On the concert Rourke told Xfm Manchester: "Next year’s gig is going to be talked about for years to come. We’ve got some of the biggest bands of the moment lined up as well as some legendary acts that haven’t performed live for a long time.

Special

"It is also the start of something special for us.

"We’ve created a campaign ‘Join the Line Up’ that centres around the Versus Cancer badge - basically, we’ve always been about loads of people getting together to make a stand and do something special, and this year we wanted everyone to be able to be a part of it."

Versus Cancer is Manchester's biggest fundraising event, raising money for cancer research and awareness with last year's event raising £250,000 alone.

Versus Cancer takes place on Saturday, February 23. Tickets are £40. For details of how you can join the line-up, show your support and book tickets NOW, simply visit www.versuscancer.org.

Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Japs Make Cuddly Toys of Oasis Bruvs

Wild rockers Oasis have gone soft – after being turned into teddy bears.

The hard-living Gallagher brothers, more famous for their Cigarettes & Alcohol than cute cuddly toys, are set to be big hits in the bear world.

And the kitsch teddies will introduce Noel Gallagher, 40, and his brother Liam, 35, to a whole new audience.

A Japanese firm plans to mass produce the teddies – which will feature the band’s logo on their chests.

Bosses want to bring the toys to the international market and cash in on the band’s fame, say insiders.

The move could also aid the hell-raisers’ bids to clean up their image, with Noel in particular desperate to quit his Champagne Supernova lifestyle.

The dad-of-two is already on a healthy, macrobiotic diet – used by clean-living stars such as Madonna, 49, and Gwyneth Paltrow, 35.

He is cutting down on the cigs – and even wearing designer clobber instead of his old scruff.

There is also talk of wardrobe items for the teddies to give them a changeable, rock-star look.

The insider told us: “They could be huge. It’s an unlikely combination – hard-drinking rockers and cuddly toys – but these will be cult classics. Fans will buy them for their kids.”

A source close to Noel said: “Who knows where it could lead. He could even copy Madonna and Jordan and bring out books for children, too.”

Source: www.thestar.co.uk

Liam's The Head Masterplan

Liam Gallagher has been giving music lessons to youngsters at his lads’ school.

The Oasis rocker often drops in to Lennon and Gene’s classroom and passes on his skills to their young pals.

He has even been kicking a football around in the playground with the kids.

The youngsters must be made up to be getting music masterclasses from a rock ’n’ roll legend . . . but I’m not sure their parents will be quite as happy.

If the kids have started swaggering home, sticking up two fingers at their mums then calling their dads “sunshiiiiiine”, their folks will know who to blame.

A source told me: “Liam’s spending loads of time in the school. He does the school run and often pops in and teaches the kids some music skills.

“He’s often in the music room playing on the instruments with the kids. And he sometimes has a kickabout outside too.

Wildman

“Some of the kids are a bit too young to really understand who he is.

“He’s just another dad to a lot of them — they don’t know how lucky they are. He’s spending more time in the classroom now than he did as a kid.” The rock wildman — whose band’s albums include The Masterplan — has turned into a model father in the last few years.

Well, almost. He did attack a photographer in front of little Gene in February.

His missus Nicole Appleton calls him “the best daddy in the world”.

And earlier this year Liam said he loves fatherhood and sorting out little Gene’s hair.

He said: “My kid’s got the best haircut in the world, man. I do it every day — the comb is your friend.

“I think I’m a top dad. Haven’t got a nanny, none of that.”

Liam has embraced fatherhood so much that Spongebob Squarepants is now one of his favourite kiddies’ shows.

One of the first signs of Liam being tamed was when he took a break from beating up photographers to pose for snaps outside the cartoon movie premiere in 2005.

Liam went to school in Didsbury, Manchester — occasionally.

But he wants his kids to get a good education at their London school and runs a tight ship at home.

He still hates Heathen Chemistry, though . . .

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Is Noel Gallagher Going Soft?

Noel Gallagher is going soft.

The Oasis star admitted to Neil Sean that his brother Liam is "a great-looking bloke".

But wait there's more...He added: "So many women tell me but to me he's just 'our kid' who is in the band and not some great beauty."

Source: Sunday Star

Oasis Get There Own Be@rbricks

Be@rbrick is a collectible toy designed and produced by MediCom Toy Incorporated. The name is derived from the fact that the figure is a cartoon-style representation of a bear, and that it is a variation of MediCom's Kubrick design.

The at sign in the place of the letter a is a visual device that is a part of the Be@rbrick brand, and as such, a trademark of MediCom Toy.

The standard size is seven centimeters high, and these figures are referred to as 100% Be@rbricks. Other Be@rbricks are named for their size relative to the standard: 50% are four centimeters high, 70% are five centimeters high, 400% are 28 centimeters high, and 1000% are 70 centimeters high.

Be@rbricks are most often sold individually in "blind box" assortments, in which figures are packed in small boxes, and the only way to know which particular figure is inside a particular box is to purchase and open the box.

Exclusive pieces such as these are highly-sought after and difficult to obtain for collectors outside of Japan; they are often purchased on the secondary market, especially online auctions.

These Be@rbricks will be available early 2008.

For more information visit these websites

www.medicomtoy.co.jp (Japanese)
www.bearbrick.com (Japanese and some English)
www.medicomtoystore.com (Medicom Toy English Language Website)

If any visitors from Japan have more information on how to get hold of these, feel free to contact me.

Is Liam Gallagher Going Mild?

Oasis wildman Liam Gallagher shocked staff when he was caught smoking at the Led Zeppelin gig - by politely stubbing out his fag and saying sorry!

But rock chick Juliette Lewis refused to stop puffing and stormed out.

Source: www.people.co.uk

Cast Your Votes At The NME Music Awards 2008

Get your votes in for Oasis at the NME Shockwaves Awards 2008.

Have your say to determine shortlists for each category, to be voted on again from January 29.

Oasis could be voted for in a number of catergories at the award show, that take place in London's Docklands on February 28th, 2008.

Click here for more information on how to vote.

Liam Gallagher To Duet With Kate Moss?

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher has denied rumours of a duet with Kate Moss.

Sources at The Clifton pub in north London had claimed the pair were set to make a tune called Sound. Liam, 35, has previously slated 33-year-old Kate's ex Pete Doherty, 28, and dissed the pair for their narcotic naughtiness.

Oasis are currently recording their new LP at Abbey Road with producer Dave Sardy.

Source: Daily Star

Liam Gallagher Bites Mike Muff

Liam Gallagher appears to have developed a bizarre taste.. for microphone muffs.

Larking around at the Led Zep gig, he was asked by Virgin's Adrian Hieatt if he was excited.

After a bizarre 5-second stare, Liam, 35, shouted out 'Mega!', before biting off Hieatt's muff, and scarpering with it in his mouth. Yer still mad fer it then, Liam?

Source: www.mirror.co.uk

More Pictures From The Led Zeppelin Concert

A few more pictures of Noel and Liam Gallagher from the Led Zeppelin Show on Monday night in London.

Source: Bruno Press & Wireimage