Richard Ashcroft on why he told Noel Gallagher he was “the only person” to support Oasis on reunion tour
Richard Ashcroft has revealed that he told Noel Gallagher that he was “the only person” who could open for Oasis at their UK reunion shows.
Last October, the former frontman of The Verve was announced as the special guest for all 17 of Oasis’ UK and Ireland shows this summer, alongside Liverpool Britpop band Cast. He will open at all five dates at Wembley, as well as five in Manchester’s Heaton Park, two in Cardiff, three in Edinburgh and two in Dublin.
Now, in an interview on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X, Ashcroft has talked about the conversation he had with the Oasis guitarist in which he argued that nobody else is in a better position to take the prestigious slot.
“I see it as I’ve got a very important part to play in this,” he said. “You know, back in the day Oasis supported The Verve and then it flipped around and we supported Oasis at Earls Court, then I as a solo artist have played with Oasis.”
“I said to Noel, ‘You know, I think I’m the only person who could go in this slot. Especially for a huge outdoor show, because everyone wants you lot. And unless you’re coming with something, unless you’ve got something to offer, I don’t know what’s gonna happen’.”
Ashcroft has a long history with Oasis, having served as the inspiration for their 1995 song ‘Cast No Shadow’. One of Liam and Noel’s first national tours was as the support act for The Verve back in 1993, ahead of their 1994 debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’.
In 1995, The Verve opened for Oasis at The Bataclan in Paris before featuring as special guests at Scotland’s Irvine Beach. Ashcroft later provided backing vocals on Oasis’ single ‘All Around The World’ from 1997’s ‘Be Here Now’.
Ashcroft continued: “I think it’s great that we’re still around. I’ve been there almost in that whole story together with them. Right from the day one. Before their album came out, first album, seen that. They were kind of like mega successful before I was. They were on Top Of The Pops. By the time it was my turn, it was like they’d been all over it.”
“They sold millions of albums, blah, blah, blah, but the rarity of that, that you could have two bands, both in transits off playing to 300 people. Both saying, ‘We’re gonna do this.’ ‘No, no we’re gonna do that’. And for that to happen is incredible.”
Liam and Noel have both remained close friends with Ashcroft. In 2021, the ex-Verve singer enlisted Liam for a collaboration on an acoustic version of his 2000 song ‘C’mon People (We’re Making It Now)’ – which appears on his reimagined 2021 album, ‘Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1’.
Additionally, Ashcroft played a surprise support set when LG headlined London’s Finsbury Park in 2018.
Last week, the singer released his new single ‘Lover’, which you can listen to above. A new solo album is expected to be announced in the coming months.
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Max Pilley
NME
