SOME Might Say that Noel Gallagher’s not as rock ’n’ roll as he used to be – after he was spotted taking a hot water bottle into his first Oasis rehearsals.
Insiders revealed the singer, 57 — alongside Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Mikey Rowe — were locked inside a top-secret studio in London for six hours on Thursday, on the back of a week spent perfecting the setlist for their mammoth reunion tour.
9
Meanwhile, Noel’s brother Liam, 52, has flown off to his bolthole in the South of France, leaving his older brother to get to work first.
Our band source said: “Noel and Liam are rehearsing separately for now and won’t be going into a studio together until next month.
“Noel spent this past week rehearsing with Bonehead, Gem, Andy and Mikey.
“They’re all total masters of their craft, so it’s more about nailing down the finer details and making sure they’re all in sync.
“Once Noel has finished up, Liam will be coming in to rehearse with the band.
“The brothers will then get together — it’ll be the whole of Oasis then — for a rehearsal or two, and then they’ll be ready to go.”
Of Noel’s hot water bottle, the source added: “Rehearsal days are long and Noel is on his feet for ages — he’s got to stay comfortable.”
‘Beyond expectations’
The Sun understands that Noel and Liam do not wish to be seen together yet — instead aiming for the first image showing the once-warring brothers reunited to be on July 4, as they kick off their UK tour at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Last month, when they teamed up to record a new promotional advert for the trek as part of a mega-money deal with Adidas, they made sure they arrived and left at separate times.
And at a secret meeting in February, at the Nobu Portman Square Hotel in London, the pair did the same, arriving in separate cars at different times to stop them being snapped together.
Our mole said: “Oasis’ reunion is a landmark moment in music and that first photograph of them back performing on stage together will go down in history.
“Noel and Liam want to control that. There’s no chance you’ll see them together before that day if they can help it.”
9
9
9
9
Our exclusive photographs also confirmed The Sun’s tale from March revealing the band’s tour line-up — with drummer Joey Waronker stepping into the fold alongside Bonehead, 59, Gem, 58, and Andy, 54.
Mikey is a keyboardist who plays in Noel’s band, High Flying Birds.
Guitarist Bonehead recovered from tonsil cancer in September 2022, five months after he was diagnosed.
He said at the time: “I had a full scan ten days ago and it’s all clear, it’s gone . . . Into recovery now and see you all soon.”
Bonehead got back on stage with Liam the following year when he joined him for a sold- out show at Koko in North London in August 2023.
Our band insiders said Bonehead was the first person confirmed for the Oasis tour last year, when Noel and Liam finally agreed to reunite.
He was one of the band’s founding members and, when he left in 1999 alongside original bassist Paul McGuigan, the pair were soon replaced with guitarist Gem and bass player Andy.
Joey was then drafted in when Zak Starkey was ruled out.
Drummer Zak had been due to spend the end of the summer on tour in the US with The Who, but has now split from the band for good.
In April, following a clash with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey after a performance at the Royal Albert Hall, they announced Zak had gone.
9
But in a bizarre twist, he was brought back into the fold weeks later, only to sensationally depart again last week.
Zak, 59, has blasted the way the drama played out, claiming: “I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit to follow my other musical endeavours.
“Not true. I love The Who and would never have quit and let down so many amazing people who stood up for me through all this madness.”
The sticks then fell to Joey, who was not at the rehearsals this week.
He performed with Liam when he was touring for a self-titled collaborative album with Stone Roses guitarist John Squire.
A source said: “Joey is an incredible drummer and the band know they’re in safe hands. He is very close to Liam, who rates him really highly.
“Joey’s a good fit and the band are all getting on well. It’s coming together perfectly.”
Liam is currently holed up in France with his fiancee Debbie Gwyther and their rescue dog Buttons — with the rocker sharing pictures from his second home there.
When asked about the group’s rehearsals, he told fans: “Apparently they are sounding epic.”
The band’s upcoming shows, which sold out in minutes in the UK and worldwide, are expected to net the brothers £100million each.
As well as 19 dates on our shores, they will play multiple sold-out gigs in North and South America, plus Australia.
On the day the first tickets went up for grabs last August, 10million fans from 158 countries joined electronic queues in a bid to bag their place at the historic reunion.
Noel admitted earlier this year he was astonished by the demand, saying: “I thought it’d be a big deal, but I was a bit taken aback by just how much of a big deal it was.”
The band’s co-manager, Alec McKinlay, also revealed they had no idea that the overseas tickets would sell so well.
He said: “We knew it would be big here. That doesn’t take much intuition. But looking outside the UK, we knew they had a strong fanbase, we did all the stats.
‘So ready for this’
“We were quite cautious about what that would mean when it came to people actually buying tickets, but we were just bowled over by how huge it was.
“We could have sold out half a dozen Rose Bowls in Pasadena and probably eight MetLife stadiums in New York in a day.
“We saw the ticket stats, we were watching what was happening and the demand was way beyond our expectations.”
Oasis’ music sales have also seen a huge increase since the reunion was confirmed.
On the day tickets became available, fans streamed their songs 11million times in 24 hours — up 750 per cent.
It is expected the concerts — which are also taking place in the UK at Heaton Park in Manchester, Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh and Wembley Stadium in London — will give a massive boost to the economy.
Oasis revellers are expected to spend more than £1billion on the reunion tour.
Our insider said: “Oasis fever is really ramping up and, from July, the band is all anyone is going to be talking about.
“Noel and Liam feel so ready for this and they can’t wait to get out on stage and play that first night.
“As Liam will say, it’s going to be biblical.”
9
9
Content shared from www.the-sun.com.