Noel Gallagher, on tour in Japan, asks fans to buy High Flying Birds merch…in a way only he can

06:09 cherishe 0 Comments

The former Oasis frontman throws in a f***ing cuss word, reminds everyone how extra he is, and Japanese fans love it.

English singer, songwriter and guitarist Noel Gallagher has been a polarising figure in the music world since his band Oasis first arrived on the scene back in 1994. Known for speaking off the cuff, Gallagher’s remarks have divided people over the years, with some people calling him out for being insensitive, and others championing his blunt, unfettered approach to fame and celebrity interviews.

Still, Gallagher has maintained a loyal legion of fans around the world, who’ve followed him through his many trials and tribulations, ranging from public bust-ups with his brother and Oasis bandmate Liam, through to his departure from the group in 2009 to start his own band, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

High Flying Birds released their first single in 2011, and now they’re on a world tour that’s brought them to Japan. And after arriving in the country ahead of their first gig on 15 May, Gallagher sat down to record a message for his Japanese fans, which has received thousands of likes and retweets on Twitter.

Take a look at the video below.

In the clip, Gallagher says how happy he is to be able to spend more than one or two days in Japan, given that they were only here for a brief festival stop last year. He then goes on to say how Japan is always one of the highlights of a world tour, before pinching his jumper between two fingers and saying, “I bought this yesterday. I always buy nice things in Japan.”

He continues with the larrikin sweet-talk for a bit, saying that even if the gig turns out to be a flop, it’s a success because he got a nice jumper out of it, while also mentioning the fact that he had some nice food and even a birthday cake the night before.

This all turns out to be a nice segue into the next part of the clip, where Gallagher gets to the point by asking his Japanese fans to buy some merchandise.

“You’ve been really supportive of the merchandise down the years. I couldn’t ask for any more. But I’ve just bought a new house in England, and frankly, it’s f***ing huge, like it’s sooo big.”

With that, he goes on to encourage people to buy shirts in different colours, keyholders, pencil cases, towels, all at “very competitive prices”, and tells them to “Be nice. I’ve always been nice to you. Never late, always sing in tune, always funny on camera, always bring good music, nice band members.”

“So anyway, think of that when you’re at the merchandise stall. See you later, Japan.”

Ordinarily, this type of approach would be enough to put you off the singer and his merchandise completely, but Gallagher’s candid personality and tongue-in-cheek humour have rubbed people up the right way in Japan, with people leaving comments like:

“This is so Noel. He never changes; wish I could be like him!”
“Love his character. Even the interviewer is laughing.”
“I bought mugs in three different colours to help fund Noel’s new home.”
“I went to buy merch online but it had all sold out already!”
“I find it so interesting that his ‘me me me me’ character is what makes him so hated overseas, but in Japan, they love it.”
“I’m not familiar with who this is, but I like him immediately!”

It looks like Noel’s approach won people over in Japan, and got them to dig deep into their wallets as well. And to his credit, Noel did appear to hold up his end of the bargain by singing some of his greatest hits in tune, including “Don’t Look Back in Anger” at Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture…

And a cover of The Beatles classic “All you Need is Love“, seen here at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture.

And even if fans didn’t buy any merch, they were able to turn Spotify Japan pamphlets from the gig into folded paper cranes called “Noel Oritsuru” (Noel Origami Cranes”).

With one more gig in the country scheduled for 17 May in Osaka, we have a feeling there’ll be more fans heading to the merch stall tonight, ready to dig deep into their sakura purses and Totoro wallets for branded towels, mugs and pencil cases. Which is good news for Noel…and his f***ing huge house.

Source, images: Twitter/@NoelGallagherJp
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