.jpg)
I think [they were some] of the best, actually, because I’m a bit old school; I like playing in the dark. And in the dark, certainly at Wembley, you can really get a sense of the scale of the event from the stage. There [was] the odd moment where I thought, “Wow, it’s pretty momentous to be singing a song and almost have the whole stadium with me.” Because generally people are waiting for the thing they paid for and, yes, there’s polite applause, but there isn’t that.
What was the process of you becoming the main UK support act?
The person who really laid it down, with all these different lists of people they had, was Liam, and then Noel agreed. If Liam hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn't have been doing it; God knows who’d have been doing it. [Liam told me], “We’re getting all these people saying they’ll do it for free”, and I’m like, “I ain’t doing it for free.” Because whoever [supported Oasis] in America, I know damn well it won’t have been like what it was like for us in England. We are connected historically; our stories interweave. It’s quite a gift that Oasis gave me. Noel and Liam have given me an opportunity to reintroduce myself to a lot of people. [And] I’m really happy for them. Because those intervening years [of their feuding], it got a bit uncomfortable, as someone looking in.
They supported The Verve back in 1994, right?
I heard [Oasis] and wanted them to support us. Then Definitely Maybe came out and they were pretty big almost instantaneously, and we, The Verve, would support them. I think Noel saw it as, “Well, I’ve got an opportunity to put these freaky psychedelic guys on.” I’m not sure he expected me to then go and write the songs I did. Two bands, two Transit vans, and a bit of a toilet tour of the UK. The likelihood of one of them doing really well is slim. The likelihood of two, and the songs that came out of that – it’s pretty amazing.
Read more about the Oasis gigs and Richards new album and The Verve on the GQ website here.