Must listen chat between Nicky Wire of Manics and Noel Gallagher. Manics were on tour with Oasis at Maine Road and Knebworth, and then the disastrous American tour after that (Manics and Oasis were both on Epic in the US). Nicky remembers a lot of it, and in fact I mean to update the 1996 timeline and link this interview (SOMEHOW) because I feel like I'm learning a lot more about how that year looked like, seeing it from the eyes of someone that wasn't in the band but was in all the dressing rooms. And clearly, Oasis and Manics did (and still do) have immense mutual respect for each other, and despite being quite different bands (Oasis would never get as outwardly political as Manics did, they were provocative in a rock n roll coverpage way, but Oasis could never have written ‘ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart’. Manics were Welsh communists scoring hit records in America, it was so awesome. But in all the noise about the 2-3 weeks that they toured America—badly—i'd forgotten that they were touring with Screaming Trees. Their late frontman Mark Lanegan was in a bad way drugs-wise at the time too, legend goes that hardened rock n roll lifestylists would be terrified to go on benders with him because he'd outdrink anyone. And he was fucking scary, man. And with 0 survival instinct, Liam was poking the bear. Mark walked up to Noel one day, who was having the worst two weeks of his life on that tour with constant fights with Liam and press being both horrible and hysterical, and Mark says, I'm gonna kill your brother. Could well be a serious threat with the state Lanegan was in. Noel goes, ‘Let me inform me mam real quick— he's by the catering, btw’.
Mark remembered meeting Liam in his memoirs in 2020, and he described Liam as a ‘bothersome mosquito’. Liam's responded on twitter saying Mark was an uptight junkie, and Lanegan renewed his offer to fight Liam. Back in 1996, Liam had chosen to hide and never took him up on the fight. As many have said, ultimately neither Noel nor Liam were really physical fighters. They were rumoured to fight so much by the press, but fans that spoke to them and their inside circle revealed that the fighting was all press noise: they ‘hugged all the time’ and all the fighting was more like them ‘rolling around’ in mock-wrestling fashion. (We also know the one and only time at least Noel physically hurt Liam, he felt so guilty he left and ran away to London for the rest of the week. ‘Like a little mouse,’ as he has described himself later.) We also know that Noel and Liam got quite spooked watching the Robinson brothers fighting—real physical fights—when they toured with the Black Crowes in 2001-02. Not really fighters. Liam was just careful not to cross paths with Lanegan for the rest of the tour (what was Mark so angry about? Liam had called them the Howling Branches (Liam's got a knack for that kind of thing. He also called A$AP Rocky ‘Whatsapp Ricky’). Mark was furious. Although obviously, looking back he called Liam more of ‘an eccentric uncle’. Gentle fella.
All of this was also September 1996's American tour, and Noel and Nicky remember it. A must listen for 1996 fans like meeeee
