“The most stressful day”: The only musician who intimidated Noel Gallagher
When Noel Gallagher’s furry eyebrows burst onto the scene in the mid-1990s, they were in a constant state of scowl. Ever since he laid down the simple chords of ‘Supersonic’, Noel knew that he and his brother were onto something truly massive and culture-shifting with Oasis. Play their cards right, and they’d have a table up with the big boys of rock and never have to answer to anyone again.
They indeed played a blinder with said cards and exploded into the cultural zeitgeist in a way we arguably haven’t seen since. In many ways, they were the last bastions of disapproving punk rock, germinating their newfound fame with unwavering stubbornness and an almost romantic sense of petulance. Everyone who wasn’t in Oasis was branded a “knobhead”, while classic rock legends weren’t given room to offer advice for the band, though they simply didn’t need it.
The Beatles were perhaps the only band who slipped the wide Oasis net of criticism, for they were always heralded as the Gallaghers’ primary influence. In fact, for someone who cringes at transparent attempts at baseless fame and popularity, Noel did a great job at cosying up to McCartney via his daughter Stella, who, high of their own supply of importance, would let everyone know about it.
So you’d think Gallagher would reserve his knee-knocking nervousness exclusively for those with McCartney as a second name. But it was a relatively unlikely artist who drew the breath from Gallagher when inviting him to perform alongside him.
American songwriter Burt Bacharach invited Gallagher to join him on stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall to sing alongside him for a track. The pair sang ‘This Guy’s in Love With You’ which Gallagher called “one of my favourite songs of all time” and one that later admitted to ripping off for the introduction of ‘Half The World Away’.
The gravitas of the moment hit Gallagher that day when he was invited on stage, a moment he recalled as “By far, the most stressful day of my entire life.”
He added, “I still rank it as more stressful than the birth of children and all that or heavy lawyers meetings. If I can get through that day, I can get through anything.”
This took place in 1996, during the heady days of Oasis mania, one year after (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Poetically, this performance came just six weeks before Oasis’s historic Knebworth residency, which saw the band play to 250,000 over the course of two nights.
Whatever you say about Oasis’ legacy, the sheer sight of 125,000 people waiting for you in the vast expanse of a British estate would have had to go the butterflies in stomachs churning. But maybe, as Noel jetted off to the toilet for a last-minute pit stop, he could have looked himself in the mirror and said, “you’ve duetted with Burt Bacharach, you’ve got this”. Surprising, I know.
