“It didn’t take itself seriously”: the only stadium rock show Noel Gallagher liked
Noel Gallagher has rarely had a kind word to say about anyone. From major musical icons to brand new acts attempting to take their first step onto the ladder, he climbed to the top; the Oasis leader has always been there and ready to knock them down a peg. But one act is free from his critique, and it’s a random one.
In his time, Gallagher has dished out some harsh takedowns. He declared Robbie Williams simply “the fat dancer from Take That.” He called Eminem a “fucking idiot”. He even went after The Beatles when he called George Harrison “a fucking nipple”. Coldplay, Jay-Z, Radiohead, Maroon 5, Harry Styles, The Beach Boys, Phil Collins, Jake Bugg and many, many more – the musician has always been quick to critique.
Usually, his takedowns are targeted at big acts who are succeeding commercially. He moaned about Jay-Z when he got selected to headline Glastonbury or started taking aim at Harry Styles right when the pop singer was hitting new heights in his fame. Gallagher seems to have this ongoing complex about his origins, no matter how far from them he comes. Still holding tight to the fact that Oasis rose out of their working-class roots into global greatness, he seems to see anyone who seems to be doing well as lesser, phoney or undeserving, especially if they had even the slightest bit of help along the way.
That’s how he gets around laying the praise on one act that it probably would be assumed that he hates. In this case, he goes against the majority as, after the infamous iPhone coup of 2014, public favour definitely turned against U2.
But even before that, Gallagher was a fan, claiming the band’s 1997 tour made him change his mind about stadium shows. “I don’t particularly like stadium shows, but I liked PopMart because it didn’t take itself too seriously. I mean, it was serious from the point of view that there were 50,000 people there, but it didn’t pretend to be anything other than a rock ‘n’ roll show,” he said about their tour promoting their record, Pop.
“U2 get a lot of shit thrown at them, but here they are, 20 years on, still making alright records,” he said, with ‘alright’ being perhaps the highest praise any band could hope to get from a Gallagher. The praise was mutual as Bono once discussed seeing Oasis play, stating, “There’s a great joy there.”
But Noel’s opinion of them definitely ties into his belief that only bands who defied the odds deserve to be at the top. “U2 are the same as us in that they came from very humble origins and had to work their bollocks off to get noticed,” he said, bestowing upon them the same medal he bears as he allows them to walk free of his wrath.
Liam, however, would disagree as he once said, “I look at the likes of U2… Even years ago, they were going, ‘We’re coming back to claim f—in’ rock’n’roll’ and all that nonsense. For me, they haven’t wrote any masterpieces – for a band that f—in’ big, with all the f—in’ stuff they’ve got at their disposal, they should be writing masterpieces.” But I guess having one out of the two harshest critics around on your side isn’t bad.
