Talking guitars with a Gallagher and other adventures

HONG KONG – I have a 1:30 p.m. appointment with Noel Gallagher at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong (along with K-Lite 103.5 associate station manager/program director Nigel Gamalong) and time is moving like a zebra on speed. With wings. Powered by ACME. Uh, did I say with wings?

A digression: K-Lite invited me to watch Oasis in Hong Kong as part of the station’s unparalleled, unrivalled promo called the K-Lite Sight ’N Sound Spectacular Series. (With us on the trip are contest winners Gary Magpoc, Edna and her daughter Nichole Mangulabnan.)

Dig this. K-Lite "Your New Alternative Now" station has taken its most rabid listeners to the ends of the earth to watch their favorite bands (with a bit of sight-seeing on the side): the Goo Goo Dolls in Canada, Creed in Las Vegas, Maroon 5 in Sydney, Sting and Franz Ferdinand in Hong Kong, U2 at the Madison Square Garden in New York (whoa!), the MTV Asia Awards, among other events.

Nigel took me to the John Mayer gig in Sydney, Australia and Coldplay in Bangkok, Thailand (much appreciated, dude). We were also together in that ill-fated Rolling Stones non-gig in Bangkok (sympathy for those old devils), but we had a blast with our good friends Twinky Lagdameo, Ali and Christine Yu. Sight ’N Sound Spectacular trips are not just about great gigs; they also involve good food, good tours and all-around good vibes.

And now trip no. 13.

We check in a hotel at the Hong Kong side, so we have to take the MTR to the Kowloon side. Teleportation is a welcome option, since it was nearly 2 p.m. I have the urge to either sing Noel’s Who Put The Weight Of The World On My Shoulders? or start laughing manically. Or run like Wile E. Coyote. Powered by ACME.

Nigel and I scurry like rats at the Tsim Sha Tsui station, and ask directions from the slowest-talking cop in the universe. We finally reach Four Seasons as Noel is talking to the last batch of interviewers. It looks like a lost cause. But for some mini-miracle, the elder Gallagher agrees to talk to us for five minutes. Which for the interview-weary guitarist is probably like asking a Nazi dentist to extend the root canal session. Just like that scene in Marathon Man.

"You’re the guys who’re late," Noel, in a snazzy gray suit, blurts out as we shook hands. Our friend from Sony BMG offers an explanation (something to do with the political situation in our empanada republic). All is forgiven. Phew.

I ask Noel about his guitar playing. He lights up (must be fed up with answering questions about his past scuffles with Liam and other tabloid fodder.) Trivia: Noel bought his first electric guitar in a shop called Johnny’s Roadhouse. He still has it.

"I wouldn’t consider myself a great guitarist," he shares. "You could say it, but not me (laughs). (In terms of guitar solos) the good ones are spontaneous, not the ones you have to work at. I don’t really like playing solos. Rhythm guitar is what I do best. It fell upon me in the early days to play lead. I leave it all to luck – if it sounds good, it’s good."

I ask Noel about playing different guitars in the Bangkok gig. He says he employs different tunings and differently positioned capos. Not out of the urge to be Slash or anything.

"I’d rather play my big red Gibson all night. It’s a pain in the ass because it means I have to (bring) six or seven great guitars (on the road). I still play my pink Telecaster, but I’m going to get it refinished, sanded down, and repainted when I get back (to England)."

Why does he think his songs appeal to people – from the UK to the HK?

"It’s all about melodies and the feelings," he explains. "I don’t put too much emphasis on the lyrics. (Take a band like) the Artic Monkeys. People in England are saying the lyrics are great. That’s fine if you speak English, but what if you don’t speak English? I think it’s no secret that the three biggest bands in the last 20 years have been Coldplay, Oasis and U2."

He adds that it is because of their songs and the melodies, the feelings they evoke. The reason why the Artic Monkeys, Radiohead and Franz Ferdinand can never be the biggest bands in the world. It’s because of their emphasis on words, according to Noel.

"(Their songs are fine) by me because I could understand the subtleties of what they’re singing about – everyday life in England. What if you don’t live in England? What if you live in the Philippines? It doesn’t mean f*ck-all to anybody, does it (laughs)? That’s why when you hear a song like Don’t Look Back In Anger, you feel it. The words really don’t count. Sally could be anybody. Sally could live in Hong Kong, or in the Philippines (for that matter). You could feel Supersonic anywhere. Cigarettes and Alcohol mean the same to people all over the world."

Noel Gallagher’s conclusion: melody matters, melody means the world.

"That’s why the Rolling Stones could never be as great as The Beatles because The Beatles got better melodies," he says.

Feeling Supersonic

The guys of Oasis are wearing natty suits as they rock the Asiaworld Arena in chilly Hong Kong. Liam, who wore an Adidas tracksuit for the Bangkok gig, is in a white outfit. Noel is in a gray number. It reminds me of that bygone era when the NME-coined genre "Britpop" held sway. But I felt that after two classic albums, and several flops (like the crushingly overblown "Be Here Now"), Oasis is a proper rock n’ roll band again – especially with session ace Zak Starkey keeping time.

Oasis plays the same set of songs at the Hong Kong gig. Only this: if the crowd in Bangkok were like Energizer bunnies, the crowd in Hong Kong are like Energizer bunnies also, low-batt nga lang. But the equipment is better. Noel’s guitars have a certain crispness and punch lacking in the other gig. Liam constantly coxes the people in the pit to let their hair down, at one point even throwing his star-shaped tambourine at them.

The band performs cuts from its comeback album "Don’t Believe The Truth" (Turn up the Sun, Lyla, A Bell Will Ring, Mucky Fingers, Guess God Thinks I’m Abel, The Importance Of Being Idle, and The Meaning of Soul), as well as staples like the lilting Live Forever and Wonderwall. The band is larger than life when it comes to anthems like these.

One of the high points of the evening is Oasis’ rendition of Champagne Supernova. When Liam spats out the chorus, the lights in the arena turn gold and a thousand voices tunelessly sing along. Noel does something pentatonic with his guitar solo. Just five notes spinning in infinity. Bends, vibratos, slides, double-stops, hammer-ons – old tricks that Noel Gallagher uses to bring forth new feelings. It doesn’t always take Steve Vai wizardry to be a great guitar player. Neil Young could play an apocalyptic guitar solo with one note (check out live versions of Cinnamon Girl). The Oasis guitarist is in the same vein.

The piece de resistance is Don’t Look Back In Anger. Don’t look back in anger? With a rejuvenated band like Oasis, look back in wonder is more like it.

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Special thanks to Roslyn Reyes and Jade Maravillas of Sony BMG, and Nigel Gamalong of K-Lite 103.5. Thanks also to Belle Ramos for the Ian Brown photo. For comments, suggestions, curses and invocations, e-mail iganja_ys@yahoo .com.