Boozy scuffles, biblical shows and generation-defining anthems â itâs no enviable task cramming the story of Oasis into one film. From their unassuming formation in 1991 right through to the split in 2009, Liam and Noel Gallagher have carved a legacy like no other. The band are seemingly next-in-line to get the biopic treatment, after news emerged this week that a new film could be in the works, with the estranged brothers reportedly set up their own joint film company. With that in mind, weâve picked some infamous stories that should be nailed-on for inclusion, from the sublime right through to the ridiculous.
The Creation break that nearly didnât happen
Without their Mancunian charm, Oasis might have just missed their big break. Having rocked up to King Tutâs Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow without a place on the bill in 1993, the band demanded to be added to the running with the support of their rehearsal room buddies Sister Lovers. They only played four songs, having travelled all the way up to Scotland in the van, but that was enough to convince Creation Records boss Alan McGee, who offered them a recording contract there and then. Itâs one of those pivotal and decisive moments that every worthwhile biopic captures.
A boozed-up ferry brawl with football fansÂ
One of the early divisive clashes in the bandâs rich history came with a drunken brawl with West Ham fans on a ferry to Amsterdam â and wouldnât it be something to see the Jack-Daniels-and-champagne-fuelled scuffle on the big screen? Speaking in the 2016 documentary Supersonic, Liam said: âAs the fight broke out all I remember was it was a bit Benny Hill… It was fucking mayhem, man â I loved it! It was punk rock, man.â The fall-out played further into the legacy as an NME interview, which saw the brothers unpicking the events, was unofficially released on seven-inch under the title âWibbling Rivalryâ.
Crystal Meth nearly scuppers the American dreamÂ
A few months after their fabled Glastonbury debut in 1994, the band headed out on their first US tour, with the show at LAâs infamous Whisky-A-Go-Go proving quite the train-wreck. The night ended up being one of the shakier performances in the bandsâ history when they got their cocaine mixed up with crystal meth. Liam recalled in the Supersonic documentary: âI donât know who fucking got it but it was there and we all thought it was coke. Weâre doing big fucking lines of it and it just kept us up for fucking days.â
Noel skulks off to San Fran
In the aftermath of that disastrous LA gig, Noel upped sticks to the other side of California to visit a woman he’d met on the tour. In true brooding Noel style, he wrote ‘Talk Tonight’, arguably a watershed moment in his introspective songwriting: “Sittin’ on my own / Chewin’ on a bone / A thousand million / Miles from home…”
Years later, after Supersonic was released, the woman in question, Melissa Lim, told a local newspaper: âSan Francisco has a reputation of being a place where bands come to die, like The Band and The Sex Pistols. I wasnât going to let it happen on my watch. I told him, âYou canât leave the band â youâre on the verge of something big!ââ
Knocking about with Robbie Williams at GlastoÂ
While Robbie and the Gallaghers might have seemed to hail from different planets, just about anyone can find common ground on Worthy Farm. Snaps of Liam and Noel romping around backstage with Robbie put any assumptions of their rivalry far in the past and went down in history. Although their feud continued not long after â with Noel calling the singer the âfat dancer from Take Thatâ â it would be great to see this historic meeting of minds on the silver screen
Forgetting about the second night at Knebworth
You know the feeling when you wake up after a wild night not knowing what planet youâre on? The bandâs massive Knebworth gigs undeniably came to define a generation when the band played to 250,000 people over two nights at the Hertfordshire site in 1996. But at the time Liamâs sorry head completely forgot they had to do a second night. He later said of the event: âI’m very proud of it, I am. What do I remember? Not a lot, really. Nothing. I remember forgetting that we were doing a second night â I thought we were doing just one, so I got really drunk after the first night. But I can’t remember anything else.”
The Rolls Royce incident
A sinking Rolls Royce might have been seen in the swimming pool on the cover of their 1997 classic âBe Here Nowâ, paying homage to The Who‘s Keith Moonâs infamous antics, but Oasis also have a direct link with the opulent car make thanks to a Creation Christmas party. Noel had allegedly been hinting to Alan McGee that he wanted a Rolls Royce for some time and, sure enough, when he pulled up to the party there was one outside. McGee gave each band member a box containing Rolex watches. When interviewed by Jonathan Ross years later, Noel quipped, âItâs good ’cause he canât tell the time and I canât driveâ.
Johnny Marr: âTaketh Thy Les PaulâÂ
Itâs always handy to lean on those above you in times of need. Johnny Marr saw a few early Oasis shows and offered Noel some words of wisdom. In a later interview with Bee TV, Marr said that he told Noel: â’Itâs great, itâs fantastic â but youâve really got to get another guitar because you spend ages tuning up.’â Noel came back with: âThatâs all right for you to say â Iâm on the dole; Iâm skint.â Johnny ended up offering his own treasured Les Paul, which he himself got from The Who’s Pete Townshend. It became Noelâs main guitar and the one on which he wrote âLive Foreverâ.
In true Gallagher fashion, he broke the cherished axe a few months later by smacking someone over the head with it and, tail between his legs, asked Johnny for another one. Johnny sent up his âQueen Is Deadâ guitar with a note saying: âThis one is well heavy and if you can get a good swing, next time you will take the fucker outâ.
Kicked out of Abbey Road
Even when treading in the holy footsteps of their heroes at Abbey Road, the Gallagher brothers did things their own way. The band were allegedly banned after the sessions for âBe Here Nowâ, with Noel Gallagher revealing in an interview that the group upset studio bosses after âblasting out Beatles at four in the morning.â Abbey Road bosses eventually overturned the ban and welcomed the brothers back for the recording of 2008’s âDig Out Your Soulâ. Noel said at the time, âThey let us back in, but we had to pay in cash. If they threw us out, we lost all the money.â
The Paris altercation
Royalty rows, affairs, creative differences? Nah, thatâs boring. The moment that has deprived a generation of seeing these infamous brothers share a stage stems from Liam lobbing a plum at Noel ahead of their last show in Paris on the fateful night of August 22, 2009. It seems laughable that one of the biggest bands in rock’n’roll history could be toppled by something as silly as a thrown piece of fruit, but the dramatic scene would play out gloriously in the biopic. Liam did also allegedly storm into the dressing room wielding a guitar like an axe, which was likely more of a final tipping point. Listen up, scriptwriters!
The post 10 classic Oasis stories that the rumoured new biopic should include appeared first on NME.
