Paul Glynn
Culture reporter
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Noel Gallagher has said he and his Oasis bandmates have been “completely blown away” by the response to their hit comeback tour after 16 years away.
Speaking to talkSport’s Andy Goldstein about the dates so far in the UK and Ireland, he went on to say he was “proud” of his younger brother, frontman Liam, adding “it’s been great to be back” in a band with him.
Oasis played at Croke Park, Dublin, last weekend and will head to North America next before returning to the UK for more Wembley Stadium dates in London next month.
The singer-songwriter admitted it was “difficult to put it into words” as yet, and that his legs had “turned to jelly” at the start of the first gig back in Cardiff, in July.
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“Every night is the crowd’s first night,” he noted. “So every night’s got that same energy to it, but it’s been truly amazing.
“I’m not usually short for words, but I can’t really articulate it at the minute.”
After breaking the Internet last year when tickets were released, in controversial fashion due to dynamic pricing meaning many fans missed out or paid over the odds, the brothers first re-emerged on-stage together at the packed home of Welsh rugby with their arms both raised aloft.
It came after many years of solo releases and very public bickering from the estranged Gallaghers.
The BBC’s music correspondent Mark Savage noted how the band sounded the “best they’ve been since the ’90s” on their return, which he wrote felt “like a reconciliation – or a sigh of relief – as the brothers buried the hatchet of a decades-long feud and reconnected with their fans”.
‘Grossly underestimated’
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Oasis have performed to hundreds of thousands of adoring fans, young and old, from all around the world
Speaking on Tuesday, in what is thought to be his first public comments about the comeback tour, which has also rolled into their hometown Manchester and Edinburgh, Noel Gallagher said: “I grossly underestimated what I was getting into.”
“After about five minutes, I was like, alright can I just go back to the dressing room and start this again?
“I’ve done stadiums before and all that but I don’t mind telling you, my legs had turned to jelly after about halfway through the second song [Acquiese, which sees the brothers duet together]. And I could have done with going back and taking a minute.
“But it’s been an amazing thing.”
‘Proud’ of Liam
Asked how he had felt about his brother giving him a little hug on-stage at the end of the first gig, Gallagher noted: “We’re not those kind of guys really, you know what I mean?
“It’s great just to be back with Bonehead [Oasis’s founding guitarist] and Liam and just be doing it again.
“I guess when it’s all said and done, we’ll sit and reflect on it. But it’s great being back in the band with Liam – I forgot how funny he was.”
He added that Liam was “smashing it” and that he was “proud of him”, joking that his apparent return to singing form must be down to “AI”.
The 58-year-old, who has been singing five of the 23 songs each night throughout the tour, continued: “Having fronted a band [Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds] for 16 years. I know how difficult that is.
“I couldn’t do the stadium thing like he does it; it’s not in my nature. But I’ve got to say, I think, you know, good for you mate. He’s been amazing.”
He brushed aside an attempt to ask what might happen with the band at the scheduled end of the tour in November.
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Liam Gallagher (left) and Noel Gallagher (right) together as their comeback began in Cardiff