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Gallagher’s summer tour will be taking him all over the UK and Ireland to places such as Glasgow, Belfast, and Manchester. He’ll also be making a historic return to Knebworth for two nights in June, the spot where Oasis’ classic 1996 concerts took place.

It’s all in support of Liam’s upcoming solo album, C’MON YOU KNOW, which is out this Friday. It’ll be his third solo LP, following up on 2019’s Why Me? Why Not., and should sport the previously released singles “Everything’s Electric“ (co-written with Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl), “C’Mon You Know“ and “Better Days“.  For those of you who have pre-ordered the new album before 3 pm today (from this link), you’ll have special access to the pre-sale which starts tomorrow at 10 am. Otherwise, the general sale will be up for grabs on Friday from 10 am if you go by this link.

There’s quite a lot of Liam Gallagher news out there at the moment which we can mention here. You can take your pick, from his recently announced collaboration with Adidas, helping them launch a new brand of trainers, to his new documentary on Sky – Liam Gallagher: 48 Hours at Rockfield. The latter will be released tonight at 9 pm, and will show Gallagher taking his sons Lennon and Gene to the very studio where Oasis’ classic second LP was recorded – Rockfield Studios. 

 

 

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The documentary will have the singer talking about his own unique perspective on life, especially on his notoriously hard-living lifestyle as he gets closer to fifty. “I am not into yoga and I don’t eat tofu. I drink lager and I like to have a good time. I don’t punish myself into being some super-skinny dude. I am what I am …. I will be like this when I am f***ing 80, hopefully …. There are some aches and pains, but in my head I am on it.”

Apparently, his sons are just as bitey as him when it comes to sarcasm, telling the world that “You don’t want to use the toilet after him” and that “You’d have a heart attack. We’ve got to save him, dementia is kicking in.”

If you’re interested in Liam’s upcoming tour dates, you can see them below. Suffice it to say, it seems a sure wake-up call to the world that the rocker isn’t done yet with his special brand of showmanship.

Liam Gallagher UK and Ireland Tour Dates
01/06/2022 – Etihad Stadium – Manchester
03/06 – Knebworth Park – Knebworth
04/06 – Knebworth Park – Knebworth
24/06 – Ormeau Park – Belfast
26/06 – Hampden Park – Glasgow
27/08 – Royal Hospital Kilmainham – Dublin
15/09 – Alexandra Head – Cardiff

Also, next month the band will be reissuing their first-ever single, “What a Waster“, as well as the accompanying B-side “I Get Along“. Released back in June 2002, the reissue will be giving it a fancy makeover, being re-pressed on black vinyl for June 3^rd. They’re also releasing a What a Waster Live from the ICA EP on streaming platforms as well, which has some live versions of the songs. If you want to pre-order either of them, you can look here.

Band co-frontman Pete Doherty has been a bit busy on his own recently, releasing an album with French composer Frédéric Lo titled The Fantasy Life of Poetry & Crime (more of which you can read about here), as well as getting married last September and announcing the upcoming release of his memoirs – titled A Likely Lad.

Having been sober for the past two and a bit years has obviously given him a chance to reflect on his past as The Libertines’ debut album and single turn twenty. He’s been revealing plenty of details from his past, such as losing his ear lobes in intoxicated brawls and finding solace watching The Simpsons whilst in prison. Either way, it seems like it’s helped out his old band, what with their recent celebrations and there even being talks of new music being made.

As for The Libertines’ other frontman, Carl Barât has had slightly less luck as of recent, having had two of his guitars stolen ahead of some rehearsals with his group Dirty Pretty Things and making a public appeal for them.

If you’re interested in seeing The Libertines celebrate in person, you can see their UK tour dates down below, with tickets available here. Doherty has also been playing some solo dates recently, having been around Aberdeen, Hull and Cambridge over the last week. Sadly all his UK dates have gone now, but you can still catch him in Russia, France and Ukraine over the next few months, tickets for which can be gotten here.

All UK dates for #UPTHEBRACKET20 are on sale now xhttps://t.co/eur3BKaH6I pic.twitter.com/iZQni1Kt4l

— Libertines (@libertines) April 4, 2022

The Libertines UK Tour Dates
04/06/2022 – 1 Big Summer, Plymouth
11/06 – Rock & Roll Circus, Newcastle
30/06 – O2 Academy, Bristol
01/07 – Castlefield Bowl, Manchester
23/07 – OVO Wembley Arena, London
05/08 – Bute Park, Cardiff
06/08 – Bingley Weekender, Bingley
08/08 – O2 Academy, Edinburgh
28/08 – Victorious Festival, Portsmouth
02/09 – Godiva Festival, Coventry

First of all, Mick Jagger knows all about the comparisons to Harry Styles. For a relatively new artist to have been compared to both Jagger and The Beatles at different points in his career, you could argue that Styles is on the right track. Either way, Jagger doesn’t agree, only accepting a “superficial resemblance“ between the two.

He explained further that Styles “doesn’t have a voice like mine …[and he doesn’t] move on stage like me; he just has a superficial resemblance to my younger self, which is fine — he can’t help that.”

Another point of pride over Styles was Jagger’s androgynous look back in the day, saying “I mean, I used to wear a lot more eye make-up than him. Come on, I was much more androgynous”.  

But don’t worry, there’s no bad beef between the two. Jagger admitted that “I like Harry — we have an easy relationship”, so the Rolling Stones/One Direction crossover fans can rest easy tonight.

However, there was one topic Jagger couldn’t ignore – the death of Rolling Stones’ drummer Charlie Watts, who passed away aged 80 last year. Watts had played with the Stones at every gig since his joining in 1963, but Jagger has now stopped expecting “him to be there any more if I turn round during a show”.

“I do think about him. Not only during rehearsals or on stage, but in other ways too. I would have phoned him up and talked about last night’s Arsenal game because he supported Tottenham and I’m Arsenal. I miss him as a player and as a friend.”

The band are celebrating their sixtieth anniversary in style, with a UK/European tour as well as a new box set release collecting all their singles from 1963-66, which will be released via ABKCO Records on June 10^th. You can pre-order it here.

The tour starts off in Spain next month, taking them around the likes of France, Germany and Switzerland. It will also feature their first show in Liverpool for over fifty years, with Echo and the Bunnymen supporting. The UK dates for their new tour can be seen below, with tickets available here.

Getting ready…

STONES SIXTY pic.twitter.com/GexYHNRCbk

— The Rolling Stones (@RollingStones) May 21, 2022

The Rolling Stones UK Tour Dates
09/06/2022 – Anfield Stadium – Liverpool
25/06 – American Express Presents BST Hyde Park – London
03/07 – American Express Presents BST Hyde Park – London

And you can bet the importance isn’t lost on the band’s members either. Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien posted a long message on Instagram, recounting the days when they were making the album and working their way towards becoming one of the most respected musical forces out there.

He described the time as feeling “like an age away.. 1997 belonged to a different era .. we were just kids.. with unswerving focus and drive”. There are also some special insights into the creative process behind the album, noting certain influences such as Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew (1970), The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds (1966) and Portishead.

Also, if you’ve ever wondered how the album managed its distinctive sound, the answer may lie in geography. O’Brien notes some of the unusual places the band found to record in, such as “inside a vast metal box for storing apples … [or] the magical St Catherine’s Court owned by Jane Seymour“. So if you’re trying to record some music and can’t find yourself a proper studio, don’t bother – they’re overrated apparently.

O’Brien had some kind words to say about long-term Radiohead collaborator (and currently working with The Smile) Nigel Godrich, who helped co-produce the album: “he did a beautiful job .. think it was his first production work .. we knew he was the one”. They were right – Godrich’s been a mainstay in their production credits ever since, right up until their most recent album A Moon Shaped Pool (2016).

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And if he’s being this nice about their co-producer, he might as well say something about his fellow bandmates, referring to them as his “Brothers, Philip, Colin, Jonny and Thom .. All love“.

 

 

 

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Despite a lack of new studio LPs as of recent, it’s not like Radiohead’s members have been starving the public of new music as of late. O’Brien’s debut solo album Earth was released back in 2020 and was followed by a brief tour in North America before Covid cut it short. It received good marks from the likes of NME, whose 4-star review said it proves O’Brien to be the band’s “secret weapon“.

As for Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, they went along and made themselves a nice new band with drummer Tom Skinner (of Sons of Kemet). The Smile released their debut album last week, titled A Light for Attracting Attention and more of which you can read about here. They also began a European tour last Monday. They may be getting older, but that doesn’t mean the music has to stop just yet.

Apparently, the Gibson ES-355 guitar previously belonged to Noel Gallagher and was broken during the band’s final conflict back in 2009, as the rising tensions between the two Gallagher brothers led to Noel leaving the group. The group were just minutes away from performing a set in Paris for the Rock en Seine festival, leading Bloc Party (who were also performing that day) to tell a confused crowd of their last-minute cancellation.

Noel recalled this period as follows: “I didn’t feel a sense of relief because I knew there was a shitstorm coming. And there was going to be a lot of nonsense talked about it. One of the biggest bands ever imploded, finally. And I couldn’t go back to England because the press had descended on my house and my missus was there with my kids.”

The significance of the guitar wasn’t lost on the gallery’s co-founder Jonathan Berg, who said that it epitomised a “cult moment“ in music history. “Things had been brewing for a while between the two brothers. It exploded backstage, one of Noel’s guitars got broken and that led to the group breaking up.”

Arthur Perault (also a co-founder of the gallery) claims that Noel didn’t want the guitar anymore because it reminded “him too much of Oasis“.

Despite selling for £325,000, the auction still didn’t beat some expectations, with estimates reported last month that it could go over £415,000. But it still did well on the starting price of £125,000, so you can’t put the brothers down too much for having an inexpensive argument.

Either way, the consequences of that fight can still be felt today, and not just in the auction. You can read here about Liam Gallagher saying he still hasn’t seen Noel in around ten years.

However, to be fair to them both, their solo careers have been taking them along nicely ever since. Liam’s been working with Dave Grohl on his single “Everything’s Electric“, and will soon be on his third solo LP with the release of C’mon You Know later this month.

Noel’s new outfit Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds has released three albums since 2011, and their greatest hits album Back the Way We Came: Vol. 1 (2011-2021) was released last year, topping the UK Albums Chart. Even if they’re not together, it doesn’t seem like you can shut either Gallagher up for long.

Hip hop group N-Dubz, made of Tulisa, Dappy and Fazer, were making their hits throughout the 2006-2011 period, with songs like “Playing With Fire” and “I Need You” amounting to tens of millions of views on YouTube. Despite having been apart for over ten years (splitting back in 2011) they officially announced a special reunion yesterday on Instagram.

The post features a video of the band landing from a helicopter before a black screen announces their upcoming single for this Thursday (titled “Charmer“), as well as a UK arena tour set for November.

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The new single was written by the group, and produced by Rymez (known for working with artists such as D Block Europe, Stefflon Don and Adekunle Gold). BBC 1 Xtra will have the privilege of premiering the song on Thursday, so you can stay in tune for that via this link.

As for the live shows, it’s been called their Back to the Future Tour, dates for which you can see at the end down below. Tickets will be on sale for all on Friday, and you can access them via this link.

The news has certainly made the fans happy, with one reportedly saying “This is the best day of my life“. According to a source for The Sun, “Fans have been calling for this for years but timing has never been right. Finally all Tulisa, Dappy and Fazer are all onboard and the music they have recorded is genuinely some of their best yet”.

As for the tour, that’s “going to be massive. They have seen all the success other groups have enjoyed coming back and want a piece of the action”.

N-Dubz UK Arena Tour Dates

07/11/2022 – Utilita Arena – Newcastle
08/11 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow
10/11 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
11/11 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
12/11 – Utilita Arena – Birmingham
14/11 – International Centre – Bournemouth
15/11 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
17/11 – The O2 – London
18/11 – Utilita Arena – Sheffield
19/11 – AO Arena – Manchester

For those of you hoping the brothers might have buried the hatchet, Liam puts those hopes to rest, admitting that “The last time I saw Noel was at a football match about ten years ago. It’s a shame, isn’t it?” However, Liam argues that “The good times outweigh the bad times. I think it’s best to just leave it at that.” Unfortunately, it seems his brother doesn’t agree.

To be honest, it doesn’t seem like Liam is the only ex-Oasis member that Noel hasn’t been keeping in contact with. Noel revealed on the Matt Morgan podcast that the last time he saw Oasis guitarist Bonehead was in “the last five years …. I haven’t seen any of them. I haven’t seen Guigs since the day he fucking left“. To be fair to him though, it doesn’t seem like Guigsy has made much of an attempt to keep in contact anyway, allegedly quitting the group via fax.

Despite not speaking much, the brothers still had something to do with each other recently, starting up a production company for their Oasis Knebworth 1996 documentary last year (which turned out to be the year’s highest-grossing documentary).

Liam argues that he was there to check on his brother. “I can’t remember the name, but he wanted to call the film something fucking ridiculous. I just went, ‘Fuck that – it should be just called Oasis Knebworth 1996’. Simple. He was calling it, ‘Ooh, The One With The Fucking Golden Ticket, Operation Fucking Gold’. Obviously he owns the key when it comes to the songs and that, but the image of it – I think I play an important part of [that].”

Other things Liam talked about in the interview include an interesting theory on how he became so passionate about music. “One day, I’m in school having a cigarette and minding me own business …. A couple of lads were looking for a bit of a fight …. and one of ’em hit a hammer over my head. Then a couple of weeks later music started creeping in …. I’m like, You know what? I like that song, that’s pretty cool. Whoever it was whapped me on the head, I’d like to thank him.” Not one to try at home, obviously.

Otherwise, Gallagher’s got a new documentary coming out featuring his two sons, titled Liam Gallagher: 48 Hours at Rockfield. You can look at his website for any other incoming news about the Britpop star.

Despite having a new memoir out next month (called A Likely Lad), Doherty seems to have given audiences a bit of an early teaser into his personal life with this new interview, discussing topics such as watching The Simpsons in prison as well as his new drug-free lifestyle.

According to him, a big open secret to sobriety is lots of love and support, crediting his marriage to Katia de Vidas back in 2021 as being a big help, saying “Marriage is the bolster; I have the love and support of someone I love. I’m blessed to be alive, not sat in a hedge in Old Street, injecting into my groin.” He’s also in recent times credited his collaboration with French composer Frédéric Lo (more of which you can read about here), as well as spending lockdown in Normandy, as helping separate him from his former lifestyle.

On the whole, Doherty’s big problems are hopefully a thing of the past, with him seeming to have put it all behind him now. “I’ve managed to get out of the addictive cycle – which I maintained all along I was quite happy in – but I was pretty fucked, and I’ve never really admitted to that.” He describes his current state as “a phase of rejuvenation”.

Even in his darkest moments though, he had some sources of comfort, namely a popular American sitcom. Aside from smoking, the occasional airing of The Simpsons was one of the best pastimes on offer apparently, with Doherty getting “excited when they showed The Simpsons at 6 pm. My cellmate would say: “What are you watching this for? It’s shit,” and I’d say: “No, it’s subversive and interesting.”

There are also some details on his childhood when he would often move around Europe and England, as well as fights with paparazzi and an interesting detox method in Thailand; “my two security guards took me from Heathrow … to projectile vomit with the Thai monks at Tham Krabok …. You’re supposed to do it three times and vow to the gods that you will never take drugs again upon pain of death”.

As for tour dates, The Libertines are celebrating the twentieth anniversary of their debut album (Up the Bracket) with a special performance in London’s Wembley Arena. If you fancy seeing them live then you can look here. As for Doherty, his UK dates can be seen below, with a performance tonight in Liverpool’s Arts Club. Tickets can be found here.

Pete Doherty UK Tour Dates
16/05/2022 – Arts Club – Liverpool
18/05 – The Lemon Tree – Aberdeen
19/05 – Tower Ballroom – Hull
20/05 – Cambridge Junction – Cambridge

Described as a “dance-driven alt-pop song“ by NME, MIKA said that with the track he wished to “write a song that could make you cry and dance at the same time. It’s a song to make the world, in all its harshness, feel better. Something that will always be there to comfort you. I wrote this for you, as you listen in your room, or in a club: it doesn’t matter it’s just about you.”

If you like the track then be sure to tune in for his performance on tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest, which starts on BBC One at 8pm. MIKA will be presenting alongside the Italian singer Laura Pausini and Alessandro Cattelan. Among their other special guests will include last year’s winners Måneskin, who will be performing their latest single “Supermodel“.

Some of the contestants include the UK’s very own Sam Ryder, who gained fame on TikTok posting videos of himself singing songs such as Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time“. Apparently many say he has a good chance of even bagging first prize, but not as much as the Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine, whose song is called “Stefania”.

Of course, recent political events on the world stage can’t have been ignored, with Kalush Orchestra’s Oleh Psiuk having his say on what it means to represent his country during a time of crisis. “To represent Ukraine in the international arena is always a responsibility, but to represent it during the war is just the highest responsibility possible.”

As for MIKA, he hasn’t released a new studio album since 2019’s My Name is Michael Holbrook, and he only had one single to his name last year, so this latest offering should be exciting news for fans of the “Grace Kelly“ star. He’s also got some tour dates lined up around Europe, visiting the likes of Switzerland, France and Italy between June and September. If you fancy looking into some of these, you can find tickets here. As for those of you who don’t fancy switching countries to see him, he’ll be performing in London’s Roundhouse venue this July 3^rd.

“I Am Veronica“ will reportedly be the opening track to Morrissey’s upcoming solo album, Bonfire of Teenagers. The LP has had a bit of difficulty getting a release date, what with Morrissey having left his previous record label BMG back in 2020, more of which you can read about here. This means that the record is up for grabs to the highest bidder (at least as of May 2021 when it was announced, as there doesn’t seem to have been any announcements of a successful bid as of yet).

Morrissey’s said of the new album that “The worst year of my life concludes with the best album of my life. Morrissey is unsigned. The album is available to the highest (or lowest) bidder.” Being the ever-confident performer, he told audience members last night on his new single that “We hope you like it, and if you don’t – you must die!” – fair enough!

However, his hopes of excellence don’t extend to the single’s eventual commercial performance. In seeming response to a crowd-member shouting “I hope it will be a hit“, Morrissey said – “It won’t be“.

If you fancy proving Morrissey wrong, you can stay informed of further updates concerning the album through his website here. If you’re keen on seeing him live (and happen to be in the US at the moment), he’ll be at it again tomorrow in San Luis Obispo’s Fremont Theater. Tickets for the tour, and any more dates, can be found here.

Despite playing some of his old band’s songs, it doesn’t appear that The Smiths are likely to be playing them all together any time soon. Johnny Marr recently said there was “zero chance“ of a future collaboration with Morrissey, which seems a fair bet considering their recent public spat. Morrissey’s open letter to Marr warning against further mentions of him in interviews received a flippant response, with Marr tweeting “An ‘open letter’ hasn’t really been a thing since 1953, It’s all ‘social media’ now. Even Donald J Trump had that one down. Also, this fake news business… a bit 2021 yeah?”

Dear @officialmoz . An ‘open letter’ hasn’t really been a thing since 1953, It’s all ‘social media’ now. Even Donald J Trump had that one down. Also, this fake news business…a bit 2021 yeah ?#makingindiegreatagain

— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) January 26, 2022

It’s a bit of a disappointing end to one of the defining bands of their decade, but there you go. If you fancy putting both their new solo albums together so the eighties feel just that little bit closer, Marr’s latest album Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 was out last February and can be ordered here. Otherwise we’ll just have to hope someone bids soon for Morrissey’s latest offering.