Noel Gallagher Responds To Toronto Stage Attack | Oasis Cancel New York Gig

Noel Gallagher was assaulted by a fan at the V Festival at Toronto Island Park, Canada, on September 7th. The man rushed the stage midway through Oasis’ headlining set and pushed the guitarist to the floor during Morning Glory.

Noel landed awkwardly on his monitor speakers and suffered from a suspected fractured rib and some ligament damage. But like a trooper, he came back on the stage after a short interlude to finish the set. After the show, he was taken to hospital and treated for his injuries.

The attacker was immediately tackled by security guards and was later arrested and charged with assault. The incident was captured on video and is now on YouTube – embedded after the cut for your pleasure.

It’s actually quite scary to see how much of a push the guy gave Noel. What’s even more scary is seeing how Liam reacted: if the security guards hadn’t held him back then I think he would have smashed the guy’s face in. It was lucky that nothing worse than the injuries that Noel sustained happened – imagine if the guy had been carrying a knife or gun?

Noel has now responded to the attack in a blog post on Oasisinet. He wrote:

“Nowt down today, droogs. Spent all day in bed suffering from my severe tickling at the hands of that drunken Canadian who, it transpires, is a grown man of 47 years!! (And I thought I was the oldest person at our gigs!)”

“In his defence though, he’s probably having one of those mid-life crises things. Apparently it’s on YouTube. Imagine doing an assault on world television!?”

“Did get to watch four ‘Seinfeld’s though. And some American football, so not too dissimilar to a normal day back home. Have to get another check up tomorrow. I’m gonna ask for new bionic ribs,”

“Apologies for blowing out the show in London. You can thank your comrade from Toronto for that. We will return though. Probably in December. Anyway, gotta go. These painkillers are kicking in again.”

Noel seems to be in good spirits after what must have been quite a scary experience. The fact he can laugh about it all and take the mickey out of the attacker shows he must be in fine form. But Oasis are still having to cancel gigs because of his injuries.

They have now cancelled their planned show at Terminal 5 in New York. Anyone who has tickets can get a refund from the place of purchase. This incident is clearly affecting the band’s plans to promote new album, Dig Out Your Soul, in North America.

[Photo Source: Anirudh Koul at Flickr]