Press Conference Highlights
After V99 and T in the Park how will the Millennium gig be different?
Nicky: "Well' it's our headline gig, it's the biggest headline gig we've ever done. We've been 'together 10 years now and, you know, we're the longest soap opera in rock 'n' roll. It's a
perfect way to see out 10 years; it's a perfect way to see out the miliennium... It's the only 20
minutes we will play in the year 2000, or 40 minutes or whatever it is... We'll put everything into it, and it will be the best show we've ever done."
Are you going to split?
James: "No, unfortunately we're not. It's just going to be the last gig we do for a long time and we're going to start on the next record next year. We've been touring for 14 months and I've been touring for 10 years as well, so we're just going to take a long time off. Not splitting up at all."
Nicky: "We certainly didn't split up in Belgium [at the Werchter Festival]. If anybody thought we'd ever split up in Belgium, you are completely wrong."
Were you considering splitting up?
James: "Not at all. I wasn't. Nick thinks about it every other week, only when he gets homesick; I think. But I make him carry on, basically."
Nicky: "This gig, undoubtedly, will be a peak of our career. It will be hard to top it. We've still got a few records left in us yet, I think."
Are you going to release "Masses Against the Classes" the week åfter the Millennium concert?
James: "Yeah, we're going to release it in January. We're going to finish mixing it next week."
Is it very different?
James: "It's just hard - hard and cool. What people consider not to be on the last album, I suppose."
Nicky: "It's a lot faster than the last record, for sure. It's not the sort of record that's going to get loads of airplay. We're not going to do a video for it, we're not going to do loads of packaging or anything like that. We're just going to bung it out like The Clash used to do, really. "
When are you expecting to release the next album?
James: "It won't be released until 2001."
Are you going back to your old style?
James: "Umh..."
Nicky: "Unsuccessful, yeah"
James: "Yeah, were thinking of going back to 'The Holy Bible' and just being adored and
being poor."
Can you tell us any of the acts who are going to be supporting you?
Nicky: "Unfortunately, we can't, at the moment. We have got a bill together, there will be at least five bands on, plus various other activities. Hopefully we're going to show lots ot bits of our favourite films and stuff, lots of celebrity guest spots. There will be DJs. It will be like a gigantic pub really, it will probably be the cheapest pub in Britain. The ticket price is only £30."
"If you look at all the other Millennium events. I mean, there's one in Cardiff and it's £100 for Cream to watch a few people play records. And there's one up in Sheffield which is £100 and Cream in Liverpool is £100 [although at press time Cream claimed theirs was only £75], so we've done everything possible to keep this ticket price as low as we can."
James: "It's £30 to get in The Mason's Arms in Blackwood, you know." (laughter)
Nicky: "The prices for drinks will just be normal prices. Hopefully, there'll be lots of Ribena for me."
Is right that you've each had your names carved into a stadium brick?
Nicky: "We're definitely having one stone for Richey as well, which I think is going to be a nice touch... Whether he'd like it or not, I don't know, but it's going to be nice that he will be on there as well, because it's for the band."
Do you think the Millennium is worth celebrating?
Nicky: "When we were young, me, James and Sean, and Richey used to have the most miserable
New Years ever. We were the four saddos who couldn't get a snog off a girl for all the money in the world. It was only when we formed a band that we managed to get over that. Hopefully this will be the best one that we've ever had."
Do you expect it to sell out?
Nicky: "We never take anything for granted at all. That's why we've worked so hard over the
past 10 years, If we sell it out then we break even and we're perfectly happy for that...Hopefully, James won't lose his voice and everything will go smoothly."
Were you disappointed about the jostling for the billing before this was announced?
Nicky: "We've been planning this gig for two-and-a-half years - It was always something we wanted to do. Stereophonics have played Morfa, Catatonia have done Margam park and this was always about us, really. To keep the ticket price as cheap as it is, it had to be like that. You know, we can't afford to pay any bands...That's not true, by the way!"
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