Getting High (37 page)

‘The next day I was approached,' Marcus remembers with a smile, ‘by a couple of sad-fuck promotion people who said, “I think you should have dinner with this guy to smooth it over.”

‘I said, “I'd rather have pins stuck in my fucking eyes.” I said, “I'm proud of this guy and I'm not embarrassed by it.” I said, “I would have been fucking cheering from the touchlines if I was there.” That's where Liam's quote about Kurt Cobain being a sad cunt came from.'

Marcus pauses. ‘And that's why the guy's wife burst into tears. She was a friend of Kurt Cobain's.'

Oasis played the Wetlands Hall in Brooklyn, New York. In this way, they circumvented Manhattan, the heart of the seminar. It was a paying gig, a fact Noel insisted on. No fat-cats getting in for free around here, mate. Sonya from Echobelly was in the audience, so were a few of the other British musicians.

Then it was a party and the next day, 21 July, it was on to Central Park to shoot a video for the next single, ‘Live Forever'. This was directed by an American, Carlos Grossy, for British transmission. Later on, they would reshoot the video in London with a British director, Nick Egan, for American transmission.

Egan also reshot ‘Shakermaker', when the band returned to the States. In both videos his ideas would be based on cult films by the director, Nicolas Roeg:
The Man Who Fell To Earth
for ‘Shakermaker' and
Performance
for ‘Live Forever'.

Grossy's video showed Liam sat on a chair suspended to a wall and then, in a symbolic foretaste of what was to come, the band buried an unsuspecting, uncomplaining Tony McCarroll.

Part of the shoot also entailed filming the band performing in Central Park. The band set up with their tiny amps and, in between takes, jammed on a few songs.

But Liam's mike was left off as there was nothing to put it through.

So what? Fuck the video. Let's do a free gig. It'll be boss.

No said Noel, and pointed out that they would have to hire equipment in and at ten-thirty at night, even if this is New York, it's out of the question.

Why?

Again, the temper, again the insults, again Liam stalking off, this time into a darkened and dangerous Central Park, calling Noel a sad pop star, telling people about, ‘That fucking Elvis over there.'

The band returned to Britain and Marcus immediately called Liam and Noel into a meeting. Their relationship had now reached such levels of bad temper that it was affecting everyone. They would have to get it back on an even keel or the band would implode.

The brothers agreed to ease off each other and went back to homes in Manchester and London. It wouldn't be the first time that America would severely test Noel and Liam Gallagher.

Britain was a different matter.

In the ten days leading up to 31 July, the date of the band's next big show, the T In The Park Festival in Hamilton, near Glasgow, the band shot a video at the Borderline club for ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol'.

Again, they used Mark Szaszy. They came early and set up their gear. Szaszy filmed them playing. In between takes, they fucked around with new ideas for other songs of theirs, ‘Fade Away', for example. This was Noel's homage to punk, a 100-mile-an-hour, heads-down rocker. Noel now changed the tempo, slowed the song right down, and as he did so the song's potential shone through.

Then he started running through a new chord sequence he had written and the band jammed on it. It sounded very Neil Young but there was undoubtedly something there. A year later people would know it as ‘Hey Now'.

Owen Morris walked in with his mix of ‘Whatever'. They played it through the speakers and everyone agreed that it was top. The drinks came out, and so did the pills and the powders.

After filming close-ups of the band, a specially-invited audience was then let into the venue. Meanwhile, the band were backstage being filmed with a host of models.

‘That must have been top,' someone said to Liam.

‘Fuck off mate, one of the stupid bitches dropped beer all over my shirt.'

Oasis came back to the stage and played to the crowd who reacted in the manner the band was now becoming accustomed to: with total enthusiasm.

The shoot finished and the band, now off their heads, went their various ways, made their various plays.

On 31 July, British summertime, it rained. Oasis were in Glasgow ready to travel to the T In The Park Festival. But there was a hiccup. The band's coach driver had pulled up at a garage and mistakenly filled his tank with diesel, not petrol. The band had to wait hours for the AA to arrive.

The gig served to cement even further their live reputation. The Celtic bond between band and audience defied even the rain.

On 9 August, more chaos, more headlines. Would it ever be possible for them to play a show smoothly? It didn't look likely.

Oasis are on-stage at Newcastle's Riverside and Noel has just gone into his solo on ‘Bring It On Down'. He's already aware of a guy down the front who keeps mouthing the words ‘Dennis Tueart' at him, this being the Geordie footballer who was a local hero but then played Judas and crossed over to Manchester City's 1974 football squad. His transfer was still obviously bothering this man.

Oasis haven't yet employed security guards to watch out for them. Why should they? Band and audience are the same, aren't we?

The crowd are pressed against the stage, except for this guy. Suddenly, he's on-stage and he's burying his fist into one of Noel's famous eyebrows. Pain shoots through Noel's head, blood gushes out, splattering the stage.

Next thing Noel know he's pummelling this guy with his fists, and Liam, of course, is next to him and wading in as well. Panic in the hall of Riverside.

The guy escapes and the Gallagher brothers back off to the dressing room.

Liam returns to say they won't be back.

The band then quickly head for the van as the angry crowd start spilling out on to the streets, annoyed at being denied their gig. So are the band, who cram into the van with Maggie. The van slowly wends its way through the people; the band, wisely, are out of sight, their heads just beneath the windows.

At the Irish Centre in Leeds the next night they sit in the dressing-room and listen to the Radio One broadcast of that show. Marcus meanwhile is on the phone. He wants bodyguards, and quick. The Leeds show is fine but the truth remains that while everyone had been gleefully building the bubble they had forgotten one thing: ‘It's a tough, tough world out there.'

And a very real one. This is Oasis's first reality check.

Noel Gallagher came to with a start and for a brief two seconds wondered where the fuck he was. The floor he lay on was freezing cold and for some reason there was a bath next to him. Then he remembered.

Round about four, with the ceiling spinning round, he had passed out drunk in his hotel bathroom. He was in Cardiff and, that's right, he had just played two gigs at the large International Arena across the road. On the Tuesday night, Heavy Stereo, a new Creation signing, had supported, while the following night the Manic Street Preachers played their first gig since losing, in mysterious circumstances, their guitarist, Richey James.

Oasis themselves had performed brilliantly over the two nights, but then they were so well drilled these days through constant playing, that they rarely played below a certain standard.

Noel shivered, pulled himself up and then checked his watch. They were flying to Dublin today and he was due in the lobby at one-thirty.

Battling, as usual, with his hangover, he showered and packed his bags. Then he realised that the ring he had left on the chest of drawers was gone. He searched the room carefully but still he couldn't locate it. Now he started to get angry. This was a personal item of his and someone had entered the room and stolen it. It was the only explanation he could think of.

No doubt, he bitterly thought to himself, it will sell in a Sotheby's auction twenty years down the line and sell for thousands. He had to admit that this fame game was really getting on his tits now. It had been fun at first but now it was turning into a real drag, a real fucking drag.

He came downstairs in a grumpy mood. Everyone was waiting on him except Liam. Very early that morning he had appeared in the lobby of the hotel with Patsy Kensit at his side and announced that they had decided to travel back to London before rejoining the group in Dublin the next night.

On the way home they had phoned Chris Evans' Radio One breakfast show. There had been reports in the papers that the couple had recently been arguing and that a split-up was imminent.

They told Evans the stories were totally untrue; they were in love and happy as could be. The DJ would later broadcast the interview to millions of listeners all over the country.

When Noel heard this story on the way to the airport, he was incredulous. ‘The dickhead, what's he fucking playing at?' he asked, shaking his head. ‘He's in love.' Noel sneered, ‘I'll give him in love, the twat. He's going to get some right proper stick for this.'

The flight over was uneventful and by seven that night the band were ensconced in Dublin's Westbury Hotel. ‘I'll give you a shout if I decide to go out,' Noel told Kevin the security man, ‘but I doubt it very much.'

Then Noel checked into his room, gave it about ten minutes or so, and then sneaked downstairs and out of the hotel. He needed to spend time alone, get his head in shape.

Noel moved quickly through the Dublin streets, the hood of his green jacket pulled up tight over his face. No one recognised him and the next day over morning coffee he was exultant.

‘Fucking gave Kevin the right slip,' he told Alan White and Bonehead, raising his fist in triumph. ‘Walked all over town, top time.'

It was 22 March 1996 and about eleven in the morning.

The band decided to go shopping and Kevin accompanied them. It was his firm, Top Guard, that had been given the Oasis security job. The majority of their clients were boxers, but as this was one of the biggest jobs they had ever landed, Kevin had. personally taken charge.

Halfway down the crowded main street, they were recognised. Kids stopped in their tracks and then surrounded them. If they went into a shop, mobs of them would wait outside.

By the time they reached the end of the street, about fifty kids were walking with them. Noel was the main target and he 258 manfully struggled to sign their scraps of paper, but it was getting ridiculous.

So they headed over to shops situated in a main student area where things might be cooler. On the way there, a guy in his mid-twenties stopped Noel.

‘I went to see Bruce Springsteen last night at The Point,' he informed him. ‘That's where you're playing isn't it?'

‘It is indeed,' Noel replied.

‘Well, I had the pleasure of meeting Bruce and I asked him what he thought of youse lot. He said, he was glad that there was a good rock ‘n' roll band around.'

‘Did he?' Noel said, with obvious disinterest.

At lunchtime, after visiting a few record and clothes shops, the boys stopped at a quiet cafe for lunch. They ordered the usual: eggs, sausages, beans, chips, bread, mugs of tea.

Alan White had just bought a Motown Records compilation and over lunch he pulled the inner-sleeve of the record out. On each side was printed the covers of other Motown albums.

‘Let's have a look at that,' Noel said. He studied it for a minute and then said, ‘We should do that. Put all the sleeves of our records on the next album.'

‘Yeah, but it wouldn't fill the page like that,' Bonehead pointed out. ‘That's all right,' Noel replied, ‘we could use the rest of the page up with sleeves of all our favourite records. It would look ace.'

‘Top idea, Noel,' Bonehead agreed.

Noel handed the sleeve back to Whitey. ‘Another great idea from Brian Cannon, our sleeve designer,' Noel said, sarcastically.

After eating, the boys wandered back to the hotel. When they arrived there were something like a hundred shining young faces waiting for them.

‘Noel,' they cried and rushed forward.

Kevin quickly placed himself in front of Noel and then guided him through the screaming mob. As he did so, the most beatific smile appeared on Noel's face as if he had been waiting all his life for this to happen.

Later on that evening Liam and Patsy arrived. They went up to their room and within minutes had got into an almighty row. There were tears and crashes, shouting and screaming.

Finally, Liam stalked off. To cool down, he sat in a chair by the lifts, glaring directly ahead of him. Anyone who approached him quickly backed off.

When he had finally shaken off his sullen mood, he went out for a drink and found himself in a bar with Michael Hutchence, the INXS singer. The two had a history. They had had a run-in at the MTV awards in Paris, earlier in the year, supposedly concerning Hutchence's girlfriend, Paula Yates, who had made no secret of her desire to bed Liam. This was their first meeting since that incident.

In the bar everyone conspired to keep them apart. But the wild-hearted singer wasn't having that, and soon there were words and insults thrown between both men. The next day's papers wrongly reported they had exchanged punches.

Meanwhile, the fans kept up their vigil outside the hotel. Some even spent the night outside and in the morning woke up knowing that as today was the first gig, at some point the band would have to make an appearance. There were fans at the front door and fans by the other exit.

It was a drizzly day but the fans couldn't care. They sang ‘Wonderwall', ‘Don't Look Back In Anger' and then ‘Wonderwall' again, and then they screamed because they thought they saw a band member peeping out of a bedroom window but it was only Terry the security man. So they groaned, started singing again.

At one-thirty the band assembled in the lobby which was situated a floor above the street. Downstairs in the car park, three massive cars had their motors running. Kevin and Terry ushered the band into the staff lift and they shot down to the car park.