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.
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.
George Harrison once said, and I quote, “It doesn’t take long from being 17 to 57. Forty years just goes like that. You know? Now I understand about 90 year old people who feel like teenagers. You know? ‘Cause nothing changes. It’s just the body that changes. The soul in the body is there at birth and is there at death. And the only thing that’s changed is the bodily condition. So, you know? All this stuff, about where, you know, age-groups fit or don’t fit, or where the music belonging to age-groups fit or doesn’t fit is stupid. All it does is limit the potential of the marketplace or the audience.”
I find this quote great from three different angles. First of all George sums up the extreme pace of time, and the fact that it flies. I can feel that it is extremely worrying that my own take on this is that each new year passes by faster than the one before. But at the same time I find a strong connection with him in the sense that I feel the same in the sense that I am the same person now as I was five, ten, or even fifteen years ago. Of course I’ve changed in bits here and there but I still carry the same dreams, hopes, and beliefs. Thirdly George attacks the people that appoint certain aspects of music to different age groups, may it be genres, bands, artists, or whatever. I can also interlink with this mindset and at times here in Stockholm when we have had Justin Bieber and Bruce Springsteen sell out three shows each within two weeks the topic is more than relevant. Of course each person that listens to music, and let’s be honest, any human being with a soul should have an interest in music, goes through phases. But I do not think it has anything to do with age, I think it has more to do with more important things that just a number.
Here are four songs that I always turn back to and listen to when I need a little bump on the shoulder, a boost up from the sofa, or just a quick fix in what we call life.
They are not my favorite songs, no, but listening to them will always make me feel good, even great.
Dire Straits – Walk Of Life Just the synthesizer intro gives me the goose bumps. So simple, yet so great. And this version with Eric Clapton on the side. It’s from 1988 and the birthday party of Nelson Mandela. Speaking of a different kind of walk of life. Patti Smith – People Have The Power Any song which will highlight the small over the big, the people over the corps, or David over Goliath, always gives me hope of that anything can be reachable. During this epic anthem Patti Smith truly does so when proclaiming: People have the power, the power to dream, to rule, to wrestle the Earth from fools but it’s decreed the people rule, but it’s decreed the people rule. Listen, I believe everything we dream can come to pass through our union, We can turn the world around, we can turn the Earth’s revolution Oasis – Whatever This song was never released on an actual album, however I reckon it’s one of their best ones. When those first chords ring out from the guitar a feeling of freedom washes over me in an awesome wave. When I listen to this song anything is possible. Every single dream I’ve ever had and aspired for can still happen. And it’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting. George Harrison – What is Life Most people would probably state Here comes the Sun as their favorite uplifting song penned by the late George Harrison. I don’t agree. His album All Things Must Pass released in 1970 holds an absolute gem in the truly great What is Life.
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.
En pojke från förr är tillbaks igen Han bara står där Och stirrar mig rakt ner i själen
Håkan Hellströms sjunde album är snart på väg att segla in i hamn och idag fick världen, eller i alla fall Skandinavien, en första inblick i hur skivan kommer låta. Den första singeln, Det kommer aldrig va över för mig, spelades tidigt på morgonen i P3 och har sedan dess rullat på repeat i lurarna under arbetsdagen.
När Det kommer aldrig va över för mig dunkar igång får jag exakt samma känsla som när jag hemma hos min kusin, femton år gammal, såg videon till Ramlar för första gången och då på allvar fick känslan, och vetskapen av att musik kan ta en platser långt bort, på bara några sekunder. Eller några år senare när jag sprang hem från plugget för att spela in videon till Kom igen Lena! som premiärvisades på ZTV. Eller några år efter det, när jag då, 18 år gammal, gjorde min amerikanske flatmate Ralph helt galen genom att konstant sjunga med till en loopande En midsommarnattsdröm. Jag träffade förövrigt Ralph, för första gången på många år, igen under en resa till USA förra sommaren. Det tog några minuter, sedan frågade han: “How’s that Hakan doing?“. Vi skrattade högt tillsammans.
När jag nu, 27 år gammal, hör ännu en Håkan-singel för första gången, får jag exakt samma känsla som för tretton år sedan. Musik kan fortfarande ta en till platser långt bort, och Håkan Hellström kan fortfarande få en iskall onsdag i mars månad att kännas speciell. Tillika är jag säker på att jag om många år kommer minnas exakt var jag var första gången jag hörde Det kommer aldrig va över för mig. För exakt så är det. Det kommer aldrig va över för mig.
America is outraged. The largest and highest CPV (celebrities per visitor) numbered festival in the country, the Coachella festival, is headlined by The Stone Roses. I think it’s a blessing but the 20-something hipsters and Average Joe’s in the U.S. think it is an absolute disgrace. Don’t they love guitar driven Madchester music with songs so catchy and monumental it’s doubt-able we’ll hear anything like it in the future? No they don’t, in fact they’ve never heard of it. Instead of cheers and an extreme eagerness for the festival to start the Americans are now asking: Who are the Stone Roses?
Since the news arrived that Manchester band The Stone Roses will headline the Coachella festival in April of 2013 Twitter has been flooded with outcries and honest questions on who and what The Stone Roses in fact are. The hashtag #whoarethestoneroses has gathered the best (or the worst, depending on how you look at it) tweets on the topic.
When I was reading the tweets on the matter yesterday I remembered my first interaction on the topic of Stone Roses vs. America. It was in 2007 and I was playing collegiate soccer in Jacksonville, FL. It was the first season with my new team (I had played two seasons with University of South Carolina prior to my move to Florida) and I loved it all. My team mates were amazing and the weather was even better, the next day was just as exciting as the one before. Life was good. Reminiscing about it now I highly doubt I’ll ever be in an happier place than when I was living college life and playing sports in America. But one experience was awful. It was the one when my two worlds collided. The people I loved vs. the music I loved.
Prior to each season all players in the squad gathered to make a warm-up tape. This warm-up tape was to be played one hour before the game would start, when all players were on the pitch warming up. It also gave a boost to the atmosphere and surroundings since everyone in the stands could listen to the music. Each player got to pick one tune for the record. We had a few days to decide before we at one practice would play the CD in the locker room before a session.
I decided to pick the song Waterfall by The Stone Roses. It’s not an up-tempo song but it gives me an enormous sense of well-being. The cooling sound of the first note, the guitar-intro that feels like a giant ship slowly conquering a cold dark sea, the soothing voice of Ian Brown when he sings the opening line: “Chimes sing Sunday morn, today’s the day she sworn…” I just love this song and it puts me in a great mood.
The reactions in the locker room when my song started was shocking. “What the fuck is this?” “Who would want to listen to THIS before a game?” “What band is this?”. It was completely awful. A disgrace. Anyone can talk shit about me, but don’t talk shit about my music.
“They are called the The Stone Roses”, I told my bewildered teammates.
The room got quiet for a few seconds before a striker in the squad said: “Who are the Stone Roses?”.
“They are from Manchester, England, and I consider them one of the best bands in the world”, I quickly said before I left the room to go out and get my ankle taped. But it wasn’t my foot that had been hurt, it was my heart. And my ego.
I remember that the song, even with all the critic, stayed on the warm-up tape and before each home game that season I got to hear it, and everyone else had to listen to it. I don’t know if it grew on my teammates, or the people in the stands, because I never spoke to anyone about it. I remember thinking it was a lost cause. Americans don’t like this kind of music. They rather see a dead rapper spitting out some rhymes via old recordings through a hologram than to watch and listen to this kind of music. It was sad to me then.
But hey, everyone’s different, and places are different. And isn’t that lovely in its own little way.
Different worlds will always be colliding, that’s just a fact. Let’s cherish it instead of argue about it. The Roses headlining Coachella is far more interesting than if they would play three more gigs at Heaton Park or headlined Glastonbury for instance. In England they are already huge, for fuck sake, there is even a cover band called The Clone Roses that fills up arenas all over that lovely island.
Now we will see something special. And new people will be able to listen to a band they have barely heard of. It’s a daring move and it might turn to shits. But hey, at least it is unique and unexpected.
So when Ian, John, Mani, and Reni conquers the main stage at Coachella in front of thousands of Americans and play their mega tunes they might not be in their natural habitat. But I am certain that some people watching the gig will enjoy it immensely. Why wouldn’t they? They are watching The Mighty Stone Roses after all. And that’s who they are.
Out and about with Stone Roses bass guitarist Mani and my mate Jimmy in Stockholm, 2011.
Watching The Stone Roses live at Hultsfred, Sweden, in 2012.
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 