Noel Gallagher has poured cold water on speculation that Oasis could reunite to headline Glastonbury, saying he would instead be interested in performing at the festival as a solo artist. Speaking during a Facebook Q&A on Monday to promote his forthcoming second solo album, Chasing Yesterday, the guitarist said he would accept an invitation to headline on his own. “Yes, if I was asked, yes. If you are listening Michael Eavis, I’ll do it,” he said.
Reflecting on Oasis’s past appearances at the festival, Gallagher suggested the band never lived up to expectations. He recalled their first headline set, when they played six songs from the then-unreleased album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, including a lengthy rendition of Champagne Supernova, and noted that Don’t Look Back in Anger was met with silence. “By the time we played it a second time, our moment had passed. So I’d be up for doing it again,” he added.
When asked directly about the possibility of an Oasis reunion, Gallagher was dismissive, answering simply: “What reunion?” However, he confirmed he had recently spent time with Beady Eye, the band featuring his former Oasis bandmates, including brother Liam. He said they “all talk nonsense for hours” but was quick to add: “Though not about a reunion, for anyone trying to seize on that.”
On Chasing Yesterday, Gallagher described the sound as “very eclectic”, saying it was not one thing or another. The first single, In the Heat of the Moment, will be released in November, and the closing track features former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, whom Gallagher described as “brilliant”. The album is Gallagher’s first as producer, though he admitted he found the experience challenging. “I enjoyed the freedom with it but I didn’t enjoy managing the sessions,” he said.
Gallagher also revealed that one song, Lock All the Doors, had taken 23 years to finish, and that another track, previously bootlegged by fans as It Makes Me Want to Cry, appears under the title The Dying of the Light. He ruled out giving the album away for free, saying: “My records in particular cost too much fucking money to make to give them away for free.”
