Paul Weller explains why he hasn’t attended any Oasis reunion shows
Paul Weller has hailed the Oasis reunion tour a “cultural moment” and also explained why his dislike of stadium shows has put him off attending any of the gigs.
Weller, who recently released his latest album, Find El Dorado, last month, notably played on the classic Oasis track, ‘Champagne Supernova’. He is also close friends with Noel Gallagher, with the pair performing live together in the past.
During an interview with Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2 on August 4th, Weller was asked about their triumphant reunion. While he was full of praise for the legendary group, he admitted, “I’ve not been to see them, no.”
Weller revealed: “I’m not a big fan of big gigs, I said to Noel, a few weeks or months ago, ‘Are you going to do any warm-ups?’, which he wasn’t, but, I’d go and see something like that in a smaller venue, but I just don’t like big gigs. It doesn’t matter who it was, really.”
Expanding on his dislike of stadium shows, Weller said: “Inevitably, it doesn’t matter too much where you’re sitting unless you’re right in the front row, you just end up watching the screens. It kind of spoils a bit for me because I want to see whoever is playing or singing, and I want to be able to see them.”
When asked whether he wanted to be there to support his close friend Noel, Weller said he didn’t believe the Oasis guitarist needed any assurances, stating, “You know how it’s going to go for him, it’s going to be mad. I said to him that it’s going to be a cultural moment because the amount of people I speak to just out on the street, not necessarily who you’d think would be an Oasis fan, but they are all going to it, and it’s a big cultural moment, I think that will be remembered forever.”
The former frontman of The Jam then attributed the seismic scale of the Oasis reunion to the band having “great songs” that “people know inside out”.
He also said, “There’s probably not too many bands like them at the moment, y’know, kind of guitar music. I can’t think of any, not from the UK anyway, maybe Fontaines DC is different and people like that. So, I think it’s definitely a younger audience who missed out on that ’90s thing.”
Following the conclusion of five dates at Wembley Stadium in London, Oasis will head to Edinburgh this week to begin a three-date run at Murrayfield Stadium before moving on to Croke Park in Dublin. They will then head to North America for a huge series of stadium shows, before returning to Wembley for another two concerts in late September.
Meanwhile, last week, Weller announced Gig For Gaza at London’s Troxy, which will raise funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and Gaza Forever. He’ll be joined at the show, on October 17th, by Primal Scream, Inhaler and Maverick Sabre.
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