The moment Noel Gallagher claimed Blur went too far: “I’ve lost all respect for them”
Noel Gallagher was never one to apologise when he said something out of line. Since he would happily tell you that no other band came close to Oasis and how much of a musical genius he was, that wasn’t exactly showing signs of him being the most compassionate musician in the world. Noel had his standards, and when he got heated with Blur, he admitted that his arch-rivals pushed it too far over the line when promoting one of their gigs.
Granted, it’s not really that easy to take Noel’s argument seriously. Half the time, it felt like both bands were goading each other as a sort of publicity stunt, but hearing Noel wish that Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon would contract AIDs and die is usually the moment when people talk about things going too far.
Despite Noel’s apology for his comments, it’s not like he didn’t have much to complain about. The infamous ‘Battle of Britpop’ was the kind of chart battle that was unrivalled that decade, and to see his band sink in favour of Blur’s ‘Country House’ was not going to do him any favours when promoting his new record.
For all the nasty things Noel said in the press, Blur could be more calculated in their retorts. Rather than try to lambast every member of Oasis whenever they could, they chose their battles when riling them up, including a publicity shot backstage at an awards show where Coxon is seen kissing Liam Gallagher, who stands expressionless in the photo.
Once Oasis took to the road to make the rounds for What’s the Story Morning Glory, the group had a show in Bournemouth that they wanted to cancel due to Blur playing the exact same night. As Paolo Hewitt recalls, Noel was livid, saying in Getting High, “Blur had again upped the odds. They had just announced their intent to play in Bournemouth the same night as Oasis. This was going too far now. Any more of this, and fuck the niceties”.
For what might have been the first time in many years, Noel seemingly made the level-headed decision to pull their gig. Since he didn’t want to risk both fanbases getting into fights in the street, Blur also discussed pulling their date with Oasis’ people, only for them to go on anyway. Whereas the chart battle was one thing, this was practically Albarn gloating in Oasis’ face at this point.
Noel was still bitter about the whole affair almost a decade later, remarking in the documentary Live Forever, “We pulled our gig, and they said they were going to do the same. Of course, we pulled the gig, and they didn’t pull their gig…That’s been it from then on. I’ve lost all respect for them from that day, really. And now people are expecting you to say, ‘Oh, it’s all in the past. Leave it alone. I’m like, ‘No, I haven’t finished with them yet’”.
Compared to his angry young man phase in the 1990s, Noel has seemed to be the more compassionate brother in the whole affair, even going up onstage with Albarn and collaborating on a Gorillaz project. Whether or not Liam has been willing to forgive and forget is a bit of a different story.
