Noel Gallagher's Sky News Advert

Noel Gallagher on a short Sky News advert, that he did in a recent interiew.

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Mount Charles 'Far From Happy' At Reports On Oasis Slane Show

Lord Henry Mount Charles has said he is now “far from happy” with organisational aspects of the Oasis concert held at Slane Castle last weekend.

The venue’s owner said he had become “extremely concerned” to hear of concert-goers’ bad experiences, largely though the media, in the wake of the event.

The complaints mainly related to crowd control issues, which Lord Mount Charles put down to “a failure of systems, particularly around what people are now calling the Dublin gate. I am talking to those involved and I am far from happy – I say that as an understatement,” he said.

Lord Mount Charles, who has been staging concerts at Slane Castle since 1981, added: “Quite certainly there are implications for future concerts at Slane, and I regret the awful shame and the damage to the reputation of Slane Castle as an international venue. I will be looking with care to obviously avoid that in the future,” he said. Lord Mount Charles was speaking after the complaints were aired for successive days this week on radio phone-in programmes, and on internet sites.

Complaints ranged from one-and-half hour queues through mud to get to the venue entrance, to queues of up to an hour at bars. Concert-goers also mentioned the number of lavatories and levels of public transport, with many people claiming to have walked up to 12 miles through the night after the concert.

Callers to the RTÉ Radio One programme Liveline insisted that some tickets were not checked, and that people had gained admittance without bar codes on their tickets being scanned.

MCD refused to take questions about the Slane concert at a press conference to publicise details of the organisation’s next event, an AC/DC concert at Punchestown, Co Kildare, this weekend.

Afterwards, Justin Green of MCD said the numbers of tickets sold, people admitted and toilets provided were all in compliance with terms of the event licence.

He said ticket scanning had been temporarily suspended at one entrance for about 30 minutes at 6.35pm to ease the build-up of people entering there. However, he said, “at the same time the gate behind them at the bridge entrance was closed, thus ensuring that no one could enter the system knowing that ticket scanning had been temporarily suspended”.

Mr Green said delays were “mainly due to the larger number of fans than expected that used public transport, and while this is welcomed, it did cause delays”. He also said the majority of transport tickets, about 17,000, were purchased on the day of the event.

A “post-event debriefing” involving all security and organisational groups would be held and “changes will be implemented as required for future concerts”, he said.

Commenting yesterday, the Garda acknowledged there were displays of public drunkenness at the Slane concert, but added that gardaí “rely heavily on concert-goers to take responsibility themselves” for their behaviour.

The Garda refused, for operational reasons, to say how many gardaí would be on duty at Punchestown next weekend.

Source: www.irishtimes.com

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Exclusive Pictures From The Oasis Stadium Tour

Those of you lucky enough to have seen the band in Manchester, Sunderland, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Slane will know just how spectacular the gigs have been.

To celebrate these gigs, Oasisinet asked photographer Tom Woodcraft to snap away for us. A selection of these photos can now be seen in the 'Live Gallery'.

Members of Oasisinet can also upload their own photos (as well as their live reviews) in the Community Section.

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Stage Times For Oasis At Wembley

Oasis will play at Wembley Stadium, London on the 9th, 11th, 12th July 2009

Doors Open: 15:30 (9th & 11th only) 15:00 (12th only)
Main Artist: 20:30 (9th & 11th only) 22:00 (12th only)
Finish: 22:30 (9th & 11th only) 20:00 (12th only)

For more details on public transport, parking and more visit www.wembleystadium.com

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Liam Gallagher Says No To Powder!

A story in today's UK Sun newspaper that Liam is set to appear in a film based on the novel Powder is simply not true. Liam has no plans to be involved on any level with the project.

Source: www.oasisinet.com

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Limited Oasis One-Off Vinyl Re-Press On Sale Now (UPDATE)

UPDATE

The Limited Edition Collectors’ Box Set has now sold out on the Oasis' Official Site.

A number will be on sale in HMV from July 13th,and are super limited so it might be worthwhile speaking to your local branch if you didn't manage to get one from the official site.

The albums are still available individually, click here for more details.

Following the release of Dig Out Your Soul on their own Big Brother Recordings label worldwide, Oasis will be re-issuing their studio album catalogue on vinyl later this year on a limited one-off re-press. All seven studio albums – ‘Definitely Maybe’, ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’, ‘Be Here Now’, ‘Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants’, ‘Heathen Chemistry’, ‘Don’t Believe The Truth’ and current album, ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ as well as B sides album ‘The Masterplan’, will now be available through Big Brother Recordings on super heavyweight vinyl and will feature brand new sleeve notes from July 13th. In addition a limited edition box set will also be available. Individually numbered, this exclusive must have collectors’ item will feature all eight vinyl albums and exclusive new artwork.

‘Definitely Maybe’ (RKIDLP006X) – released 30th August 1994, highest chart position # 1

‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory’ (RKIDLP007X) – released 2nd October 1995, highest chart position # 1

‘Be Here Now’ (RKIDLP008X) – released 21st August 1997, highest chart position # 1

‘The Masterplan’ (RKIDLP009X) – released 2nd November 1998, highest chart position # 2

‘Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants’ (RKIDLP002X) – released 28th February 2000, highest chart position # 1

‘Heathen Chemistry’ (RKIDLP25X) – released 1st July 2002, highest chart position # 1

‘Don’t Believe The Truth’ (RKIDLP30XX) – released 30th May 2005, highest chart position # 1

‘Dig Out Your Soul’ (RKIDLP51X) – released 6th October 2008, highest chart position # 1

Limited Edition Collectors’ Box Set (RKIDBOX58) - Individually numbered box set, featuring exclusive artwork and each of the eight vinyl albums as above.

Following a phenomenal year in support of their latest album, ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ which saw the band embark on their biggest global tour to date and achieve yet another No.1 in the UK charts and No. 5 in America, Oasis return to the UK this month to embark on their hugely anticipated, sold out stadium tour, which will see the band play to over 700,000 people in the UK. With a line-up of support acts including Kasabian, The Enemy, The Reverend & The Makers, Twisted Wheel and The Peth, these shows are sure to be the highlight of 2009.

Visit www.oasisinet.com for more details.

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Angry Fans Slate Slane Over 'Chaos'

Organisers pledge to examine torrent of transport and access complaints

“Don’t look back in anger” could be what Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher is telling fans on stage at Slane on Saturday.
Pic by: Enda Casey

A storm of complaints about poor transport arrangements leaving the site, alleged overcrowding, access to the venue, and drunkeness have emerged in the wake of Saturday’s Slane rock concert, leading to promises of a review of the organisation of the event.

The pledge came this week from promoters MCD, Slane Castle owner Henry Mountcharles, Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann, Gardai and the licensing authority, Meath County Council.

Most of the complaints centred on transport with many fans saying that there was no public transport available when they emerged from the site. Some had to walk for hours to get home and there were complaints that many did not get home until 4.30am or 5am.

Gardai said that problems had been created by two factors - the fact that 60 per cent of the concertgoers had come from the Dublin direction and that many people had decided not to come by car this year and instead used buses. Superintendent Michael Devine, Navan, said: “Putting 80,000 into a tiny village like Slane will inevitably mean that there will be some problems.” But he professed himself satisfied that the concert had gone off without any major public order or security incidents, and without injury.

The volume and intensity of the complaints seemed to take Henry Mountcharles by surprise when he appeared on RTE’s 'Liveline’ radio phone-in show on Monday. He said that he was in an “exhausted” state after the concert but added that he would try to deal methodically with complaints as they came in. And they came in hot and heavy.

He said he had been happy about how things had gone and that the bands, including headliners Oasis, had put on a “stunning” performance. He was, however, distressed to hear about the problems as phoned in by attendees at the concert.

A male caller to the programme said that people had been treated like “Friesian cows”. He claimed there were more than 80,000 people present and, if that was the case, he now thought numbers should be reduced to 60,000.

Lord Mountcharles said they took on board any complaints after every show - this was an aspect of the licensing process. A review would involve complaints by members of the public.

The same caller said there was widespread drunkeness at the concert. He had come across people “comatose in the ditches”, and that people were coming into the concert “stocious”. Lord Mountcharles agreed with him, saying: “I’m afraid I would be in agreement that there was a lot more drunkeness than I’ve seen before. I could see that people arrived in fine fettle.”

Another caller said that he went to Slane a number of years ago and thought it was a bit packed. “This year was a joke. Basically, we paid to queue and to walk large distances. Never again. I’m surprised there wasn’t serious riots. The atmosphere was very tense on the way in - broken bottles everywhere.”

Another caller said that people were turned away at the barriers but there was nowhere for them to go. “The long forest walk was wedged.” He added: “This is dangerous and it could end in tragedy at some stage.”

Linda Conway said: “A 45-minute walk, followed by a 2.5-hour wait at the gates just to get in. Everyone was getting crushed so eventually they had to just remove the barriers and let everyone in without checking tickets or tags,” she claimed. Emma Whelan said she was beside a fence which was pushed over by the crowd and she was trampled over by people.

A male caller said that there were fights breaking out everywhere. “It was very, very dangerous. When I got into the arena it was mayhem...There were way more than 80,000 people there. I am looking at my ticket here and it wasn’t checked.”

One of the main complaints concerned transport. Some people complained that they waited for hours to get on buses and there were reports of people sleeping on the roadsides because they could not get on a bus home. Some fans travelling in the Dublin direction had to walk to Ashbourne and then had to plead for taxis to get them back into the city.

In the aftermath of the concerts, there were explanations and apologies from a number of sources. Superintendent Devine told the Meath Chronicle that with the best will in the world “if you put 80,000 into a little village like Slane, you have to be prepared for delays. There is no simple solution to it”. He said there was an added problem in that many people had decided to leave their cars behind and came by public transport.

There were more buses present than anyone expected, he said. “There was never the level of public transport participation as there was on this occasion, both private and public. That added considerably to the problems encountered on the N2.”

He said that access from the Collon and Navan routes was relatively easier although there were some delays there, too.

Dealing with the drunkenness issue, he said the level of alcohol consumption by some people was “frightening”. People were arriving carrying drink with them and some people got “very drunk” very early in the day, he added. However, many people had had a fantastic time. There had not been one serious incident, said Supt Devine.

There were just 13 arrests for public disorder, one arrest for the possession of drugs for sale or supply, and 14 detections for 'simple possession’ of drugs.

The whole event had been successful from a policing point of view, he said. There were over 300 Gardai present and the fact that there were was no serious trouble and no injuries was a matter of satisfaction to the force and he complimented his officers for their valuable work in the lead-up to and on the day of the event.

MCD said on Monday that it fully accepted that there were delays entering the venue, mainly due to the large number of fans than expected who used public transport. While this was welcomed, it did cause delays.

While bus tickets were widely available in advance of the concert, the majority of tickets - about 17,000 - were purchased on the day of the event, it said. “It is a credit to Dublin Bus that they were able to facilitate the increased numbers, rather than having thousands of fans left stranded”, MCD added.

It said that on-site bars were the same size/number as previous sell-out concerts. To encourage responsible drinking it was policy to serve only two pints of beer per person at a time “which is welcomed by Gardai”. Lord Mountcharles said that, in his view, the problem of delays at the bars might have been caused by the fact that change had to be given out. He believed that prices may have started at €6 per pint but that this may have dropped later to €5 to eliminate the change factor.

MCD said that attendance and capacity for the event was 80,000 which had been the capacity for staging concerts at the venue for the past 20 years. Lord Mountcharles also said that 80,000 was the venue’s licensed capacity. MCD denied that capacity had been breached.

Dublin Bus said in a statement that it had carried about 20,000 people to and from Slane this year.

Some 200 buses had been parked up on the N2 south of the Boyne and over 60 more were held back in Navan to be called in if needed at the end of the concert.

The company said it had more than enough buses to cater for the nunbers who wished to travel. “The transport arrangements for buses were deployed in line with the pre-arranged traffic management plan for the area. Some of these buses were, unfortunately, delayed en route to the city due to traffic volumes,” Dublin Bus said.

Source: www.meathchronicle.ie

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Ariel View Of Oasis' Concert At Slane Castle

Ariel view of the Oasis concert at Slane Castle Concert on June 20th 2009, with 80000 fans in attendance.

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Murrayfield Concerts: 'Alcohol Was Root Of Problems At Oasis Gig'

It is easy to have some sympathy with residents living near Murrayfield after the shameful behaviour last week of some fans attending the Oasis concert. And it is understandable that there should be calls for similar events to be banned in the future.

While most locals are happy to suffer the inconvenience and disturbance created by staging major rugby events at the stadium, these can generally be counted in single figures each year.

But while rugby fans appear to know how to behave, there was a drunken, unruly and generally younger element in last Wednesday's audience who clearly had little respect for property or people. As a result gardens were used as toilets and as tensions rose fighting broke out in the stadium and the beer queues.

Liam Gallagher himself summed it up in an interview in the Evening News, when he said: "That's f***ing Oasis man, that's rock and roll." That's all very well for him to say but not much comfort for those innocently caught up in such an intimidating atmosphere.

It is a fact of life that bands with the pulling power of Oasis are now drawn towards stadia because of their capacity to hold greater audiences. Murrayfield, Ibrox and Hampden are now first choice venues for acts of such status.

And the Scottish Rugby Union, which still has massive debts, cannot be blamed for seeking to generate revenue from its prize asset, which remains largely under-utilised, particularly in the summer.

There can be little doubt that the bulk of the trouble at the Oasis gig was fuelled by drink and it would be unrealistic to expect all fans to arrive for such a concert sober. But questions have to be asked about the levels and quality of stewarding inside the ground and policing outside.

It took the SRU a long time to get a licence to sell drink to the general public. Unlike football, which has a sad if episodic history of booze-related violence, it was granted a licence because rugby fans have proved to the police and the government that they can generally be trusted to behave.

Clearly, fans attending large open air rock concerts have not yet shown that they are capable of such discipline.

While it would be nice to think that the events of last week were a one off this cannot be guaranteed. Murrayfield should be available for events other than rugby, but perhaps the wisdom of selling alcohol within the ground on anything other than rugby match days should be the subject of some debate.

Source: www.scotsman.com

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Alberta Cross Interview At Bonnaroo 2009

Petter Ericson Stakee of Alberta Cross talks about their new recordings, touring with Oasis, and playing with Neil Young this summer. Petter was interviewed at Bannaroo in Tennessee last week.

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Liam Gallagher To Star In Sex And Drugs Film

He's a rock ’n’ roll star, a fashion designer and now Liam Gallagher is about to add film actor to his CV.

The Oasis frontman has signed up to appear in a movie about the music biz.

Gallagher has bagged a part in the big screen adaptation of Kevin Sampson's novel Powder, which tells the story of a band lured into a world of sex and drugs after making it big.

I can’t see that being too much of a stretch for the lad.

Once his touring commitments are out of the way in August, Liam will get down to work with Sampson, who used to manage Scouse outfit The Farm, and start learning his lines.

The size of his role is yet to be finalised. But he will be sharing the screen with veteran dance music star Guru Josh.

Josh — real name Paul Walden — who had a 1990 hit with track Infinity, wrote on his website: “Guru Josh will act as himself alongside co-star Liam Gallagher.

“Is the world ready for Liam Gallagher and Guru Josh together on the silver screen? Is Liam Gallagher ready for Guru Josh?”

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Liam Gallagher And His Teddy Bear Swagger On To Oasis' Tour Bus In Ireland

Liam Gallagher swaggering into the Oasis tour bus in Dublin with his teddy.

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Fans Start To Recieve Their Pretty Green

Site visitor Jack Davis from Wolverhampton in the UK, sent us in a picture of him posing in his Pretty Green t-shirt and Cricket Hat that he received earlier today.

Jack said on the items "I love them man, the clothes are great for going out in and very stylish. Their cool and fresh, if I ever met Liam in person, I'd shake him by hand and tell him what a geezer he is for making all this man. I'd buy him a drink too to wish him all the best in the near future!"

Click here and here to see pictures of Liam in the Pretty Green Parka that is available to order now for set for delivery later this month.

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Oasis Taxi Rip-Off Probe

Nine cab drivers are being investigated over claims they overcharged passengers and attempted to pick up fares illegally after Oasis's huge homecoming gigs.

Fans complained of being charged more than five times the going rate for journeys home from the Heaton Park concerts.

Manchester council asked M.E.N readers who had been stung following the June 6 gig to call a phone line.

They have now revealed that nine private hire and hackney carriage drivers are being investigated.

The cabbies - some of whom were reportedly opportunists from outside Manchester illegally plying for trade near the Prestwich venue - face prosecution and could have their taxi licences revoked.

Three of the drivers were reported to the council following the M.E.N appeal.

One is a Manchester hackney carriage driver accused of overcharging. The other two are hackney carriages from Tameside and Oldham that were reportedly overcharging and attempting to pick up fares illegally. Six other drivers were spotted by council officers.

A file on one cabbie has already been passed to the council's legal department who are prosecuting. If cases are successful, drivers will have to go before licensing bosses.

A Manchester council spokesman said: "We would like to remind members of the public who feel they have been charged too much by Manchester licensed taxi drivers to contact us on 0161 234 4512 with the driver's details."

One fan, 22-year-old Rob Buckley, shelled out £70 for a minicab home to Sale, a fare which normally costs just £18.

Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Joe Cole Serenades New Wife Carly Zucker With Oasis Karaoke At Wedding

The proudest man in all of England, Joe Cole stood in front of his beautiful wife on his wedding day and uttered those immortal words.

“You gotta roll with it, you gotta take your time...”

He did too. Not content with a mere Roll With It, he had a crack at Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova as well in an emotional karaoke homage to his Oasis idols.

The newlywed Chelsea and England midfielder – watched by his new bride Carly Zucker, 24 – didn’t just bang out the words either.

He did an uncanny Liam Gallagher impression, with inch-perfect eyebrow levitation and his hands tucked defiantly behind his back.

In fact, his performance at the lavish wedding afterparty was so good, he received a standing ovation.

Says our mole: “It was a brilliant bash. Everyone had an incredibletime and were egging one another on to have a pop at the karaoke machine

“Once all the speeches were out of the way, Joe and Carly could let their hair down and have a drink.

“With some words of encouragement from a few of his Chelsea team-mates, including captain John Terry, Joe, 27, decided he’d play it safe and go with Oasis. He’s not a bad singer and has all the moves down to a tee.

“He was loving it. Once he got up on the stage, he practically had to be hauled away from the microphone and back into the arms of his new wife.

“And for the rest of the night, everyone was calling Joe ‘our kid’, while he was telling them he was ‘mad for it’. It was absolutely hilarious, although you probably had to be there.”

Those who were spent Sunday within the grounds of Notting Hill’s Hempel Hotel after the couple got hitched in the chapel at London’s Royal Hospital.

After changing out of her Oscar de la Renta dress into a cream number, Carly played host at a three-course meal, featured in this week’s Hello! magazine

Canapes, a seafood dinner and home-made banoffee pie were guzzled, washed down with pink and vintage bubbly.

Bet the guests weren’t feeling Supersonic yesterday morning...

Source: www.mirror.co.uk

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Little Boots And Doves Are Mercury Prize Favourites

Pop singer Little Boots and indie veterans Doves have been named as the favourites to win this year's Mercury Music Prize.

Little Boots' debut album Hands entered the chart at number five and her first LP has made good on pre-release hype with both she and Doves' fourth album Kingdom of Rust adjudged to be 5-1 odds on to win the prestigious award.

Bat for Lashes' second album Two Suns is third favourite at 6-1 while the still unreleased debut efforts from rising stars La Roux and Florence and the Machine are also well fancied by bookmakers.

Though betting is already underway for the annual award - won last year by Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid - nominations will not be announced until late July.

Glasvegas' self-titled debut album and Lily Allen's sophomore collection It's Not Me, It's You are both 12-1 on to scoop the award with Friendly Fires, the Bug and the Horrors all 20-1 on.

New efforts by Gallows and Manic Street Preachers offer good odds at 50-1 while Oasis' recent album Dig Out Your Soul is a 100-1 long shot.

Source: www.inthenews.co.uk

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Marco Hosts Oasis Party ... But Noel Stays Away

The post-Slane celebrations continued into the early hours when Oasis star Liam Gallagher and The Prodigy stepped out for a meal at Marco Pierre White's Steakhouse and Grill.

The rockers were accompanied to the restaurant by their wives -- All Saint sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton -- and their children, as well as the girls' former band-mate Melanie Blatt, who had all jetted into town for the Meath gig.

Hell's Kitchen star Marco picked up the tab for the group, after he and business partner Geraldine Fitzgerald met the stars for lunch at the Four Season's earlier that afternoon. The celebrity chef, who had to fly back to London due to work commitments that evening, hit it off so well with the rockers that he invited them to enjoy dinner at his restaurant on him.

Passers-by spotted Liam Gallagher standing outside the Dawson Street restaurant having a cigarette.

Spat

The Oasis legend, (36) who appeared to be on great form despite his spat with brother Noel, was more than happy to pose for pictures and sign autographs.

The margaritas were flowing as the music stars enjoyed steaks and oysters, while the children tucked into fish and chips. According to other diners at the restaurant, there was none of the rock and roll behaviour you'd expect of the group. Nicole (34) is married to Liam Gallagher, while the Prodigy's Liam Howlett is married to Natalie (36) and the famous gang are regularly spotted socialising together in London.

Liam's brother Noel was nowhere to be seen however, with the two Oasis stars believed to have gone their separate ways immediately after the Meath show, to avoid any further confrontations.

The singers did not attend the exclusive after-party hosted by Lord Henry Mount Charles in Slane castle after the gig and even stayed in separate hotels.

The foursome and their respective family members and their entourage, as well as fellow The Prodigy band members, Keith Flint and Max Reality meanwhile, have been staying at the plush Four Seasons hotel in Ballsbridge since Friday.

The stars are said to have thrown a massive bashon Friday night, stealing the limelight from pop princess Britney Spears who had booked out the Presidential suite of the luxury hotel for her stay in Ireland.

Source: www.herald.ie

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Fans Deserve More For Money

What went wrong at Slane on Saturday night and Sunday morning? Until they finally admitted problems late last night, the organisers of the Oasis concert, as well as the Garda Siochana and Dublin Bus, said nothing. According to the loud protests from people who attended, a great deal.

Eyewitnesses tell us that, for many, pleasure turned to misery at an early stage. People had to force a passage through the walkway to the arena where they viewed the event. They found crowd control lax. There were too few bars and too few toilets, but too many people carrying bottles. Fist fights broke out.

But the most distressing part came late, when the fans tried to go home. Dublin Bus claims that it put 300 vehicles on the route and that everybody got away by 2am. This is strongly disputed by passengers who say that they encountered immense difficulty and delay.

Some describe arriving back as late as 5am. A few walked to neighbouring towns and somehow found taxis. There are stories of stragglers sitting by the roadside or even sleeping in ditches. And there are reports of disgraceful behaviour, like bus passengers throwing bottles on to the roofs of passing cars.

In view of Slane Castle's long experience of running rock concerts -- experience presumably shared by the Garda Siochana, private security and transport operators -- this is quite extraordinary. It also calls into question the value for money offered. Fans paid €80 admission and bus fares of €20. For this, they were entitled to comfort as well as music.

Source: www.independent.ie

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Soccer AM Archives

A interview with Noel Gallagher has recently been uploaded to the Soccer AM archives.

Source: www.skysports.com

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.

Happy Birthday Bonehead

Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs, born 23 June 1965 (44 Today), Burnage, Manchester, England and is one of the founding members of English rock group Oasis and rhythm guitar player from 1991-1999.

He is almost exclusively known by his nickname Bonehead, a reference to the short back and sides haircut his father made him have when he was young.

Childhood And Early Musical Career

Arthurs was born in Manchester to Irish Catholic emigrants. His father worked in the demolition industry. Arthurs supports Manchester United.

He left school in 1981 and worked as a plasterer. He started his first band in 1984 -called Pleasure and Pain. Around this time he began a relationship with Kate, who he would later marry. In the late 1980s, while working as a building contractor, he started a band with his friends, Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass), Tony McCaroll (drums) and Chris Hutton (vocals). They called themselves The Rain, after the Beatles' B-side. During this period, Arthurs owned a van which he used to transport the band's equipment to Hutton's garage where they would perform. The van was nicknamed The Bonemobile and was decorated by Guigsy with a psychdelic mural when they took it to The Stone Roses' legendary 1990 gig at Spike Island.

Oasis And Role Therein

When Hutton quit, he was replaced by Liam Gallagher. Liam changed the band's name to Oasis. Gallagher and Arthurs teamed up as co-songwriters. However, the band was still unsuccessful until Gallagher encouraged his brother Noel, who had just come back from travelling the world as a roadie for Inspiral Carpets, to join the band. Noel brought with him a collection of songs that were to make the band famous. Arthurs remembers the first songs Noel played to him being Live Forever and All Around The World.

He claims his favorite Oasis song to play was Columbia as the rhythm guitar part only consists of three chords. However, tour manager Ian Robertson has claimed that the first time Noel performed Champagne Supernova for the rest of the band - an acoustic version on the tour bus - Arthurs broke down and cried.

The Arthurs' front room was used on the iconic cover of Oasis' debut album Definitely Maybe. Arthurs had painted and plastered the room himself.

When Oasis performed the song "Whatever" for Top of the Pops, they mimed and one of the cello players from the symphony was replaced by Arthurs, who clearly had no idea how the instrument is supposed to be played. Towards the end of the song, he gave up the pretense and started using the stick to conduct. A woman plays his rhythm guitar.

Nonetheless, Arthurs is a multi-instrumentalist and is credited as having played piano and mellotron on (What's the Story) Morning Glory? and can be seen on piano in the video for "Don't Look Back in Anger". He was supposed to take lead vocals on one Oasis track, "Bonehead's Bank Holiday" - a jocular ode on the double vinyl issue of (What's the Story) Morning Glory. However, in the end Noel sang the song as Arthurs had been nervous about his first vocal performane and when Liam Gallagher took him for some drinks to calm his nerves they overdid it- samples of their drunken singing were used on the track. Noel claims to enjoy the song for its comedic value "Particularly the way he sings it, because he's beyond tone deaf." He highlights it as Oasis' "Ringo track".

On top of his role as musician he also fulfilled the vital role of band diplomat, saying "If it ever kicked off between Noel and Liam I was never scared to dive in. I was renowned for it."

Although Noel Gallagher has downplayed his relatonship with Arthurs in recent years (claiming to have shared only a few hours of conversation with him in their six years in the same band, a claim he has always made -more convicingly - about Guigsy), he gave rather a different impression in 1995, stating "being in a band with [Bonehead] is not miserable, 'cos that guy is like Peter Sellers and Rigsby combined, with less morals with either of them - he's just outrageous". Noel is also godfather to the Arthurs' first child, Lucy Oasis Arthurs.

Post-Oasis



Arthurs left the band in 1999, during the recording of Oasis' fourth album, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. In his official statement he claimed he wanted to spend more time with his family (his first son, Jude Arthurs - named after the Beatles' song Hey Jude - was born August 12, 1997). However, Noel Gallagher claims Arthurs left after a drunken row with Noel regarding a drink and drugs ban set by the band during recording. Noel had intended to ease the recording process by keeping Liam sober, and to make it fair, he insisted the rest of the band do likewise.

Arthurs could not cope and took to taunting Liam, drinking red wine and kicking other crew members doors in the early hours to pour booze over them[citation needed]. When Noel turned the tables and broke into Arthurs' room, waking him up by pouring wine over his head, Arthurs was so angry that he quit. His guitar parts were subsequently re-recorded by Gallagher.

Arthurs was replaced by Gem Archer, who was thereafter pointedly referred to as a "professional". The rest of the band downplayed the reaction to his departure, Noel commenting "it's hardly Paul McCartney leaving the Beatles". However, his status in the band was underlined when Guigsy also left, less than a month later, unwilling to continue without him.

Arthurs now lives in Manchester where he has built a studio under his house and formed Moondog One (named after Johnny and the Moondogs, one of the Beatles' former titles, before they rose to fame), which also includes The Smiths' Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke.

As of 2004 Arthurs teamed up with Thai superstar Sek Loso to play rhythm guitar alongside Loso's new English bandmates. The group is touring Asia, Europe, and the US in search of a label deal.

In early 2007 Bonehead had a visible presence in the North West of England for the first time since leaving Oasis 8 years previously. Bonehead's support for Andy Rourke's Versus Cancer fundraising concert saw the pair Busking together in Manchester's Cathedral gardens to raise Cancer awareness and to fundraise for Manchester's Christies Hospital. On March 30th 2007, the Versus Cancer concert was held at Manchester's MEN arena. Bonehead surprisingly played bass guitar (rather than the trademark rhythm guitar from his Oasis days) in a two-song-set early in the night. He was in a band billed as Electric Milk Band, which also featured former members of Happy Mondays amongst others. While Bonehead seemed at ease playing the instrument, it was so quiet that it was virtually inaudible in the mix. He also appeared to lap-up the crowds adulation (chants of "Bonehead" were heard as soon as the band walked onto the stage).

He has been playing DJ sets in clubs, most recently in London. His playlist heavily features Oasis classics like Live Forever, and collaborations between the Gallagher brothers and artists like Death in Vegas and The Chemical Brothers.

He also presented a radio show on BBC Radio Manchester with Terry Christian, Natalie-eve and Michelle Hussey. The show is Manchester Music and has had fellow Manchester Music artists as guests including intastella, members of Happy Mondays, The Smiths and The Charlatans amongst others.

Tickets are still available for a number shows on Oasis' largest-ever UK Stadium tour, click here for availability of tickets.