It’s less than a month to Christmas and Noel Gallagher is tuning up a guitar. But it is not his own guitar. As a roadie for the band Inspiral Carpets he has traveled the world during the past year. The tour has come to Argentina and the band is about to play Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires. Gallagher is 24 at the time and music is his life. He watches the gig from the shadows of the stage and listens to the audience singing along to every word of the song This is How it Feels.
Christmas comes and Gallagher is back in England. His younger brother Liam has started a band called The Rain. Noel listen to them and he’s not impressed. He approaches his younger brother and tells him that he himself has written a few songs that could work out well for the band. And for Liam’s voice. Noel joins in on the rehearsals and they change their name to Oasis.
It is not 1991 anymore. It is 2009. Noel Gallagher has come back to Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires. But this time he is tuning up his own guitar. The band he joined nearly 20 years ago are only months away from dissolving. Noel knows that. He will be the one that hits the last nail in the coffin. Noel also knows he will never play Estadio River Plate again. A solo career will take off, but it will not take off as it once did when Oasis exploded into the world.
When the band comes back for an encore Noel takes center stage. The arena is filled with the young and the hopeful. Liam has stayed behind. Noel will sing the first song of the encore alone. He looks out over an ocean of people. He’s not in the shadows anymore. He’s not a roadie to another band anymore. And this time the audience will sing along to every word of a song that he has written. Gallagher is 42 and music is still his life. And together with the audience they promise to Don’t look back in anger. The concert at Estadio River Plate was the bands biggest one outside of Britain and by many considered as the greatest gig of the Dig Out Your Soul-tour.
The year is 1998. The Gallagher brothers are continuing their coke quest around the world on the infamous Be Here Now-tour. The third Oasis album sparked a world wide inverted embargo that was exported to five continents for a total of 83 gigs. Nothing would ever, in the history of Oasis, come up to the same level of madness as the Be Here Now-tour. The album itself was made in haze of glory and if everything was super-sized on the album it was nothing compared to the tour.
The place is Melbourne, Australia. The British band first flew in to Perth from Hong Kong, a trip that caused younger brother Liam to be banned for life from airline Cathay Pacific. Liam’s rebuttal on never being able to fly with Cathay Pacific again was concise and clear; “I’d rather walk!”.
The band is drinking heavily during their Oceanic leg of the tour and one day Noel Gallagher wakes up hungover yet hungry for music. He goes for a stroll to find a good record store. The rest of the story is his to tell.
I went into this shop and picked out a load of records. I had a spectacular hangover but was in their for over an hour. These records were in fucking great nick, all vinyl. So I put them on the counter and this bloke said, “Can I have your name please?”. So I said it was Noel. And then he asked me for my last name and I said “Gallagher”. He punched it into a computer and I thought, “this is a bit fucking fascist!”. He then asked if I had an address, and I said, “Yeah, in England”. Then he told me my name wasn’t coming up on the computer and I said, “Why would my fucking name be coming up on your computer?”. Then he said, “Because this is a library”. I left all the records at the counter and went back to the pub where I should have stayed in the first place.
Watch this interview for an insight in Noel Gallagher’s state of mind during his Australian spell in 1998.
It is spreading like fire. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has, through the means of celebrities and social media, spread up north to the country of Sweden. As I was nominated by a mate of mine from the UK I stood at crossroads. Was I to continue this trend and pour a bucket of ice water over myself and create awareness for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or was I to let it be, donate a few bucks and just wait for this viral phenomena die out. Because let’s be honest, it will.
After pondering about for some minutes I decided, why not. Let’s fight fire with fire. If it will make people unite across the globe and create awareness of something millions suffer from, then its a good thing, a good cause. And for myself, as I saw Liam Gallagher do it I really had no choice.
I’ve read claims that the idea behind the challenge is stupid, you poor water to not have to donate money. But let’s be honest for a second again, who does that. Only a few I hope. Most people get wet and then pull out their wallet. Like it should be. And if you are unable to donate due to financial reasons, at least you spread the thread further and it will involve more people, and more money will be brought in.
I’ve also read claims that only narcissists take part in the challenge. I highly doubt that as well. Narcissists are probably the ones that take part and then have to explain in text why they acted that way. And seriously though, if more people now know who Lou Gehrig is, then the world is a slightly more knowledgeable place to be at. So keep on pouring ice and fight fire with fire.
On our left we have Ringo Starr, or Richard Starkey as his real name reads, the drummer of The Beatles and also the father of the man on the right. On our right we have Zak Starkey. drummer in Oasis from 2004 to 2008.
On our left we see Andy Bell, former Ride-member and bass guitarist in Oasis between 2000 and 2009. On our right we have the late Stuart Sutcliffe, original Beatles bass guitarist.
On our left we see keyboardist Jay Darlington, also known as Jesus, of Oasis, and to our right we have George Harrison, guitarist of The Beatles.
To our left we have Gem Archer rhythm-guitarist in Oasis and former right hand man to Noel Gallagher, On our right we have Paul McCartney of The Beatles.
Liam Gallagher, front man and singer of Oasis on the left. His idol and hero John Lennon of The Beatles is featured on the right.
So what about Noel Gallagher then? Well, nobody looks like him. He’s a unique specimen.
This journey starts on a rainy summer day in 2011. I was locked inside, laying in bed, slightly hungover, watching the world outside my room through my Twitter-feed, while listening to damp heavy raindrops dripping down the window. Suddenly I come across a link to a video with what to me was a completely new band called Sulk.
What I then hear when I press play are John Squire-esque guitars, Suede-choirs, a deep bass over a heavy hitting drum, and an overall sound that could be taken straight outta Nowhere by Ride. It was a mash-up of everything I loved. Mixed together it felt new and fresh. I was mesmerized. The song I was listening to was called Wishes. And I kept listening to it while the leaves switched colour, and those raindrops turned into snowflakes.
The more I listened to Wishes the heavier became my addiction. I needed more, and I needed stronger dosage. I told my friends about this new band and when I realized that they too loved them, the stronger became our friendship. And the stronger became my eagerness to hear more from Sulk. A while after Wishes was released second single Back In Bloom hit the shelves. And me oh my, this was just as good. I bought both singles on 7 vinyl and I even got one of them signed by all band members, as a gift from a lovely lady I saw at the time. Everyone in my circle of trustees knew I was hooked, and there was really no way out but to keep the consumption flow going.
I started searching the net for material. I listened to remixes of the songs, read article after article, followed the band on Facebook and Twitter, watched all the videos I could find from gigs and also from the earlier constellation of the line-up when the band was called The Ruling Class.
Days, weeks, and months went by and all while I was waiting for Sulk to release their long awaited debut album, life happened. I started to question why no record label had picked them up. Is the music I prefer and listen to that dead? I started questioning my own musical taste. Was I wrong? But how could I be since not only did all my friends love them (the ones which have a musical taste I agree with), they also got the approval from my other peers. Not the ones I have a pint and listen to music with, but the ones that write the music I listen to while I have a pint.
But as 2012 became 2013 Sulk announced that their debut album, titled Graceless, would be released on April 15. My feelings to this surprised me. I did not feel the happiness and relief I had believed I would. Rather I felt a feeling of emptiness and fear. Is this it? Is the journey over now? And what if the record is shit? Obviously I pre-ordered the record, both on vinyl and CD, and when I came home after work on Monday, April 15, postman Pat had delivered it to me. I opened the same window I had been staring out of when I first heard the band in the summer of 2011, almost 20 months ago. This time the sun was shining. I pressed play.
So was it any good? Well, that you’re gonna have to figure out for yourselves. But I will tell you this, it was well worth the journey getting there.
När jag var liten ville jag bli fotbollsproffs. Alla mina kompisar ville bli fotbollsproffs. De enda personerna jag då såg upp till, dessa personer var fotbollsproffs. När detta skrivs är jag 27 år gammal. Jag blev aldrig fotbollsproffs. Men vissa människor blir ju det, och idag tänkte jag ta några minuter till att skriva om det största proffset som figurerat under min livstid. Den mannen heter David Beckham.
1986 fick David Beckham åka till Barcelona efter att han vunnit en talangtävling i Bobby Charltons ungdomsakademi. I Barcelona fick han träffa sina idoler, de brittiska anfallarna Mark Hughes och Gary Lineker.
För Beckham var det självklart att det var just Hughes och Lineker som var de starkast lysande stjärnorna i den spanska storklubben.
Under hela sin uppväxt fostrade Ted Beckham sin son till att älska Storbritannien. Blott ovetande om att just hans son skulle bli den mest kända brittiska exporten sedan The Beatles.
David Beckham har precis avslutat sin sex år långa sejour i LA Galaxy och han gjorde det med att vinna titeln hemma på Home Depot Center i Los Angeles. Det var andra raka säsongen David Beckham fick lyfta MLS-bucklan. När han skrev ett femårskontrakt med Galaxy år 2007 ville han inte förändra fotbollens status i USA, han ville göra skillnad. Och så ville han fortsätta vinna. Han lyckades med båda. Det är just detta som gör David Beckham till ett sånt fullblodsproffs. Alla beslut han tagit i sin professionella karriär känns helt korrekta.
När Alex Ferguson insett att hans gunstling David Beckham blivit större än klubben han själv styrde och blev det problem. Ferguson sparkade en sko i Beckhams ansikte som i sin tur gjorde det enda rätta och lämnade England och Manchester. Han hade redan vunnit allt som gick att vinna med Manchester United. Han flyttade till Spanien för spel med några andra galácticos i Real Madrid.
Beckham gick till Real Madrid sommaren 2003. När övergången annonserades befann jag mig på den grekiska ön Kos tillsammans med två vänner. Jag minns inte speciellt mycket från resan i sig men jag har klara minnen av hur jag vid pool-kanten lusläste varenda brittisk tabloid jag kom över för att erinra mig mer information om denna människa som där och då befann sig i sitt absoluta prime. Beckham valde nummer 23 för att hedra sin idrottsliga förebild Michael Jordan. Och på bara några sekunder ville tusentals ungdomar världen över byta nummer i sina pojk- och flicklag. En bra bookie borde redan här ha vänt blicken västerut.
I Real Madrid blev han älskad av både fans och kritiker och allting kröntes med en La Liga-seger i sin fjärde och sista säsong. Det var i januari 2007 som Beckham på en presskonferens annonserade sin flytt till Los Angeles. Jag var på en fest i Jacksonville, Florida, när detta skedde och jag minns hur allting stannade upp och allas blickar vändes mot en stor flatscreen där David Beckham berättade om sitt val. Han talade med samma tonläge och röst som 21 år tidigare när han sagt att Mark Hughes och Gary Linker var de största stjärnorna i Barcelona. Jag minns inte speciellt mycket från festen i sig men jag har glada minnen av hur jag återigen beundrade David Beckham och i detta fall hans mod i beslutet att fortsätta sin karriär i USA. Ett land där fotboll aldrig varit bland de fem största idrotterna. Men Beckham skulle göra skillnad. Jag är villig att säga att utan David Beckham hade vi aldrig fått ta del av detta:
David Beckhams amerikanska kapitel har precis avslutats och 37 år gammal är det nu mycket möjligt att han påbörjar ett nytt kapitel i ännu en fotbollsklubb. Eller så avslutar han sin karriär och fortsätter leva sitt liv utanför fotbollsplanen med sin familj. Oavsett vad han bestämmer sig för är jag säker på att det är ett bra beslut.
Men vad är det som gör David Beckham så fantastisk utöver det faktum att han varit en fenomenal fotbollsspelare i snart 20 år och varför älskar jag honom? Jodå, det finns massor.
– David Beckham gifte sig med en vacker popstjärna.
– På David Beckham ser tatueringar coolt ut.
– När David Beckham fick frågan om vad han tyckte om kriget i Irak svarade han: Du ska inte fråga mig om det, jag är fotbollsspelare, det är det jag kan.
– När David Beckham inte vet om att han blir filmad så agerar han så här:
Som grädden på moset så älskar han Stone Roses och ser så här lycklig och glad ut när han får spendera tid med mina idoler:
Men mest av allt älskar jag David Beckham för att han blev allt det där som jag och mina vänner drömde om att bli. Och det verkar verkligen som han förtjänar det. I de flesta fall blir aldrig drömmar till verklighet, men oftast gör det inte så mycket. Bara känslan av att ha en dröm och blicka mot någonting gör att vi går framåt här i livet. På den fronten har David Beckham gjort skillnad för många människor.
Jag avslutar denna text med att visa mitt favoritögonblick med David Beckham. England ligger under med 2-1 hemma mot Grekland. Svennis får sparken om de misslyckas att ta sig till VM 2002 och en hungrande fotbollsnation är återigen på väg mot ett misslyckande. Matchuret står på 93 minuter när England får frispark. Englands lagkapten har sprungit överlägset mest under matchens gång och ska nu försöka förvalta matchens sista chans. Ett mål och England är klara för VM. Den pressen. Den tyngden på hans axlar. Det ögonblicket. Jag glömmer det aldrig.
The tour has come to Argentina and the band is about to play Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires. Gallagher is 24 at the time and music is his life. He watches the gig from the shadows of the stage and listens to the audience singing along to every word of the song This is How it Feels.
Sebastian Lindholm 