Noel Gallagher, left, and Ryan Adams dust off their shoulders for a joint mini-tour
Tonight, somewhere in Seattle, are two men with cool hairdos and expensive shades who should probably never meet.
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But they will. In fact, they will share a large arena stage together before travelling north into Vancouver, where large buses will bring them into General Motors Place for a Canadian tour that, on paper, seems almost destined for rock n' roll disaster.
Lunkhead Oasis leader Liam Gallagher and perennially shitdisturber Ryan Adams (with the Cardinals) join evil forces this evening to begin their late-summer Canadian party. And the city where it begins is a cold reminder of this combination's powder-keg potential for onstage self-destruction.
Oasis' first visit to Vancouver, back in 1996 at the Pacific Coliseum, is the infamous "coingate" where Liam and Noel walked off stage [Youtube] after being, according to the band, pelted by several inanimate objects. This was laughable at the time for many reasons, but mostly because being hit with a nickel didn't seem like the kind of thing that should faze five tough-talking, working class ruffians from the hard streets of Manchester.
Adams' meltdown in lotus land, however, was a mere three summers ago. Nearing the end of a lengthy tour for his double album Cold Roses, Adams lost his mind two-thirds through the show, when he began berating the crowd, his band, the soundman, then went for a smoke break before finishing off the debacle with a gibberish rant. The rest of the tour was cancelled the next day, citing health reasons. Cardinals bassist Catherine Popper promptly quit thereafter.
Both parties have since mellowed considerably since. It's been ages since Liam punched anybody notable in the face while Adams' latest, Easy Tiger, is supposedly the sound of him sobering up.
So maybe this tour could actually go off without incident. Musically, it makes more sense than one might think. While it's undetermined whether the Gallaghers are fans of Adams' genre-skipping records, Adams clearly went through a huge Oasis phase post-Gold. Not only did he cover Wonderwall (wonderfully most would agree) on Love is Hell, but he gives What's the Story Morning Glory a direct "homage" on the song Shallow (from the maligned Rock n' Roll).
The X-factor is Oasis' diehard fan base. If they start flipping Adams that reverse peace sign or scream for Champagne Supernova during his opening slot things could get ugly. Sadly, Toronto will not get a chance to witness this bad-ass rock supernova, as Oasis are slated for Virgin Fest while Adams heads to Boston before rejoining them in London, the final night of their jaunt together. But whatever happens, just remember the nasally words Liam repeats in the outro to Definitely Maybe's opening song ... It's just rock n' roll/It's just rock n' roll/It's just rock n' roll...