Oasis singer-songwriter Noel Gallagher arrived safely in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Rock in Rio (see related story, this page) with his band mates -- all of them -- on Saturday (Jan. 13) morning, and as usual he had a mouthful to say.
After a 2 p.m. press conference -- which saw the elder Gallagher smoking and drinking heavily as he patiently waited for a translator to relay the usual mundane questions of the singer from Portuguese to English while his band mates hung out poolside at the Sofitel Rio Palace Hotel on Copacabana Beach -- Gallagher sat down with allstar and explained why he has brought his band to South America.
"Well, I could put my professional hat on and I could say that it's really important to come and play for these people for the social aspect of Rock in Rio," he says while still huffing down a Benson and Hedges. "Or I could be honest and say, it's fucking really cold in England and it's really warm here."
Oasis, which has only played in Rio de Janeiro once in its career in 1998, will grace the world stage around midnight on Sunday (Jan. 14) -- the spot prior to the most anticipated gig of the festival: The return of Guns N' Roses (Gallagher joked at the press conference that a better world -- the theme of the festival -- would include "no guns... and no roses"). (And, in fact, this festival no longer marks the return of GNR, as the band made its real return on Jan. 1 in Las Vegas.)
In addition to the gig in Rio, the band will also hit festivals in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Caracas, Venezuela (allstar, Dec. 15, 2000) over the course of 10 days, although on such short notice, Gallagher regrets that no new songs will appear in the sets nor will they be deviated much from other than cut short for festival-length.
Truth be known, these gigs come at an odd time for the band, during which a little R&R and revitalization was supposed to be taking place. "We've done our world tour and it finished in August and we were gonna take a massive break and start recording about now, really," he explains. "And unlike every other pop star that you are going to interview this weekend, I'll be honest with you. We're here for the money."
Gallagher also confirmed that the band's planned world tour with the Black Crowes (allstar, Nov. 2, 2000) is indeed a go beginning May 25 and will carry on for two months this summer. "I'm being told from May the 25th to June the 25th that I'm on tour with the Black Crowes," confirms Gallagher.
"I don't know if the venues have been confirmed or where we are playing or to how many people but if we don't go on tour with them," he continues. "I'm definitely going to hang out with Rich and Chris [Robinson] at their houses anyway. If somebody tells me I will be going on tour with the Black Crowes, I will be going."
As for that new record, Gallagher reveals the band has now written enough material for an album (Noel has written seven songs, Liam has written nine, Gem Archer has written one, and Andy Bell has written one or two). Next stop: The recording studio.
"We would like to make a pure rock and roll record," he says. "To record it live, no overdubs, and just get the best performances and put it out like that. Now, whether that happens, I don't know. I think we've gotten a bit slow down the years with slow songs and ballads but until we actually get in the studio and turn the tape machine on, we don’t know what's gonna happen."
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