#john robb

here’s the whole rockfield chapter from john robb’s live forever: the rise, fall and resurrection of oasis.

Unlike most modern bands, Oasis were working-class art. Nothing was handed to them on a plate. There were no stylists or helpers or bank of Mum and Dad. There was no visionary team of supporters, no Tony Wilson, no Malcolm and Vivienne, no future in England’s dreaming – just a kid with an acoustic guitar sat in a council estate bedroom dreaming of escape with a vision, and his wild younger brother who was convinced he was a star, and was right.

“When I interviewed Noel, it was three months before it went online. When it went live, it was three days before they reformed, so it seemed like I should have known they’d reformed. Most people didn’t understand there was a time gap. “They asked me where I wanted to do the interview, and I suggested The Boardwalk rehearsal room, but the idea of Noel Gallagher standing there with a big film crew would have undoubtedly led to hundreds of fans arriving in a few minutes. Mr Sifters sounded like the best option. I used to go there myself as a kid. The shop never changes. It has all the original band posters on the wall from back in the day. The only new poster on the wall is an old one of Oasis. If you’re in a classic band, you’re on the wall of Sifters. “They weren’t going to give anything away, and I have a feeling that at that time, they hadn’t really decided yet. In January, they’d booked out a lot of the tour, just waiting to see if the band was up for it. When I say ‘band’, I mean ‘Noel’ because Liam’s always wanted to do it. He didn’t want to stop the band in the first place. “I didn’t want to hear the bitchy stuff. I wanted him to say something nice about Liam and the band for a change. And he did. He talked about what a great vocalist and frontman Liam is, and there was a lot of other nice stuff that didn’t make the edit. I mean, they’re funny, aren’t they, the Gallaghers? But it’s nice when they say good things about each other, too. It gives you a kind of warm feeling inside.”

Like Noel’s beloved The Beatles and the Jam, [the ideal of rock'n'roll] is about leaving at the top and never become diminishing returns. Yet this story has now gone weird. Somehow, by returning, Oasis have become the biggest band in the world. They have become the Beatles by doing the one thing the Beatles never did. Reforming.