Liam Gallagher draws in the stars for Pretty Green party

Liam Gallagher's launch party for his Pretty Green clothing label took place in London on Saturday night (November 7), drawing in a host of the former Oasis singer's celebrity friends. Among those who turned up to the bash at Kensington's Gore Hotel were boxer Ricky Hatton, Kasabian, TV presenter Holly Willoughby, Richard Ashcroft, Sugababes' Heidi Range and Miles Kane (The Sun).


More images can be found here. Article here.

'The Verve dot info' website to be incorporated into 'The Verve Live'

Recently, The Verve dot info website went offline. After having been around for numerous years, it became a ghost site around the time The Verve reunited in 2007. The site is now gone with no plans of returning in its present state. Many will remember the site for its generous information on the band, pictures, bootleg covers, forum, and band gigography.

However, not 'all farewells should be sudden.' The site is not lost. The Verve Live has acquired the website and plans to relaunch it later this year so that all the work and information put into the site will not be lost and fans will be able to enjoy the website's content once again.

Black Ships + Richard Ashcroft + site update

Three quick updates.

First, this just in from The Black Ships: "More Black Ships news to come soon...We're in the land of pre-production."

Second, in response to many Birthday wishes, Richard Ashcroft wrote back on his Brain blog: "Thank you all so much for your Birthday wishes and continued contributions to the site through Brain. God bless and be ready. Richard." Something is in the works.

Third, I lost a few images (or maybe more) on the site a few days ago. I just need a free afternoon to make the necessary fixes. No, the site isn't falling apart to neglect!

Verve celebrated 15th Anniversary of 'A Storm in Heaven'

This just in. It turns out that The Verve, along with their wives and girlfriends, stopped by Sawmills Studios for the 15th anniversary of 'A Storm In Heaven.' Article below, but it isn't solely Verve related, think Law:

The Law are ready to cause chaos

BLAAM! The fire extinguisher comes crashing down and there's a metallic clang as the padlock comes flying off.

A flurry of arms grabs the door and it's quickly wrenched open. Behind it are cases of lager, spirits and wine - enough booze to make even Mötley Crüe feel a bit queasy.

"We're in," grins the ringleader as he lays the extinguisher on the floor and eyes the prize.

This is the tuck shop at the world-famous Sawmills Studio. Some of rock's most notorious wildmen - including The Verve, The Stone Roses and Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant - have taken advantage of its stock to help inspire the recording process.

But in 30 or so years, the storeroom at the remote Cornwall studio has been broken into on just TWO occasions.

The first was in February 1994 when the then unknown Oasis found themselves feeling a bit parched while recording their debut album Definitely Maybe there.

It took another decade and a half for it to happen again. But this time there was no point in calling The Law . . . they were the ones responsible.

"Our management got a huge bar bill," sighs frontman Stuart Purvey. "We drunk the place dry." But the Dundee outfit, who were at the studio recording their debut album A Measure Of Wealth - out this week - admit they quickly came to regret the error of their ways.

"We miscalculated," confides bassist Simon Donald. "The studio was locked up for the weekend and they asked us how how much booze we wanted from the tuck shop before they locked it up.

"But in no time at all, we'd drunk it all, and after we'd run out, we kept thinking about how much there was behind the tuck shop door.

"So we screwed it . . . and ended up drinking until 9am. We thought that, because it was a Sunday, we'd be able to sleep it off. But a couple of hours later, The Verve turned up.

"It was exactly 15 years since they'd recorded their debut album A Storm In Heaven at the studio so they'd dropped in with their wives and girlfriends to reminisce.

"They're one of our favourite bands so we couldn't just lie in our beds - even though we were feeling really hungover."

No strangers to the path of rock'n'roll excess themselves, the Wigan rockers recognised kindred spirits and cheerfully overlooked the tell-tale signs of a weekend-long bender.

Six-string virtuoso Nick McCabe chatted about guitars with his Law counterpart, Stevie Anderson. Meanwhile the Tayside band's drummer Martin Donald talked to Verve sticksman Pete Salisbury, telling him: "On some of our album tracks, we've been using the same snare drum The Stone Roses used to record Fool's Gold. It sounds amazing."

"It was great to meet The Verve," says Stuart. "The trouble was that we were feeling wrecked and really terrible so we probably didn't appreciate it as much as we might've."

Source: News of the World, Article by Tim Barr

The Lion Man update

Richard Ashcroft's website has been updated once again, this time to 2.0. The last interface was difficult to navigate, but this time around it is much improved.

http://www.richardashcroft.com

Live aus dem Schlachthof...!?!?

This popped up out of nowhere. Rare footage of The Verve performing "Slide Away" on a German TV talk show called 'Live aus dem Schlachthof.' It also shows the beginning of "Stormy Clouds" as the credits roll. Presumably later that evening, the band performed at the Schlachthof in Frankfurt, February 25, 1994. Thanks to the uploader.

More rumors

Hold back on cuing "History" for the moment; though news of a breakup has spread like wildfire, no one has officially confirmed it yet.

A simple Google search uncovered further reports (about 20) here, all quoting MySpace or the Mirror yet again. In addition, Pitchfork's report here, Guardian's here, and Audio Scribbler's report here.

If The Verve have indeed split again, this will be their third. The band split up initially in 1996 and then again in 1999, but reformed in 2007, releasing an album 'Forth' and headlining the Glastonbury Festival the following year.

V Festival curse anyone? Ironically, the band's last UK show the last time they split was the 1998 V Festival.

Putting some Verve into it

The Verve drummer Peter Salisbury helped children get into the beat at a play scheme in Buxton last week.

Peter – an original member of the band whose hits have included the anthemic single Bitter Sweet Symphony – led a rhythm and rhyme workshop for children at the Fairfield Center, alongside local musician Pete Proudlove.

Derbyshire county councilor Tracy Critchlow said: "It was great that an internationally-renowned musician was willing to give up his time to share his expertise with young children and their families.

"The rhythm and rhyme session was brilliant fun for the children and their parents and carers."

Source: Buxton Advertiser

Backstage celebs at Glasto

Nick McCabe appeared at this years Glastonbury Festival, as a punter. Listed on the right hand side text here.

Black Ships 2010?

The Black Ships have not officially announced any recording or live performance plans, though it is thought they may be shooting for a 2010 release for a debut album.

The Verve finally call it a day?

Nick McCabe claims the reunited band is on "permanent vacation"...

It seems The Verve have once again split up... according to Nick McCabe, anyway. In a post on his MySpace page, the guitarist says, "The Verve seems to be on holiday and shows no sign of not being on holiday. I've been hesitant to breach Official Secrets-style policy with any missives from the, well, from any front, basically. Don't ask me anything about the big V".

McCabe and bassist Richard Jones have already started a new band, The Black Ships, while a story in The Mirror claims that "As far as Nick and Simon are concerned The Verve no longer exists. They think Richard was just using the reunion as a vehicle to get his solo career on track."

Source: XFM.co.uk

The Verve break up yet again?

Despite promising they would never part ways again, it appears as if The Verve have broken up. According to guitarist Nick McCabe, the band are now on a permanent vacation and don’t have any plans to head back to work anytime soon.

"The Verve seem to be on holiday and show no sign of not being on holiday,” McCabe writes in a MySpace post. “I've been hesitant to breach Official Secrets-style policy with any missives from the, well, from any front, basically. Don't ask me anything about the big V."

To add more fuel to the break-up rumour fire, the Mirror newspaper claims that McCabe and Verve bassist Simon Jones haven’t spoke to singer Richard Ashcroft since the Verve performed at the V Festival last August.

"As far as Nick and Simon are concerned, the Verve no longer exist,” a source told the newspaper. “They think Richard was just using the reunion as a vehicle to get his solo career on track."

"Their management called Simon and Nick in for a crisis meeting in September. They were told that Richard refused to tour or work with them again as long as Nick continued to drink. He quickly cleaned up his act. There have been too many problems to put behind them. If Richard came back with cap in hand they'd tell him to fuck off".

McCabe and Jones have already launched a new band dubbed The Black Ships, which also features Goldfrapp violinist Davide Rossi.

If you’re keeping track of all the Verve’s various break-ups, this one would mark number three.

Source: Exclaim, Article by Brock Thiessen

All over again for The Verve

AFTER promising their fans that they would never part company again, The Verve have reportedly split up for the third time.

Last September the band, led by Richard Ashcroft, reassured fans that they would not be "careless" enough to call it a day once more. But, according to reports, guitarist Nick McCabe and bass player Simon Jones haven't spoken to Ashcroft since they performed at the V Festival last August.

A source close to the band told a national newspaper: "As far as Nick and Simon are concerned The Verve no longer exists. There have been too many problems to put behind them."

Ashcroft has claimed that he wouldn't be a part of The Verve if McCabe continued to drink. But even now that McCabe has quit drinking the relationship between the two, and between Ashcroft and Jones, appears to be strained.

And earlier this month McCabe and Jones launched a new band featuring Goldfrapp violinist Davide Rossi called The Black Ships. The Verve has a turbulent history of disagreements and break ups. They first decided to call it a day in 1995 and then again in 1999, at the peak of their commercial success, because of in-fighting.

In June 2007 the band announced that they would be reforming and embarked on a sold-out UK arena tour.

The next summer they released their last album to date, entitled Forth, and enjoyed a fruitful return to the festival circuit playing at Glastonbury, T In The Park, and at the V Festival.

McCabe has recently written on his MySpace page: "The Verve seems to be on holiday and shows no sign of not being on holiday. "Don't ask me anything about the big V."

Source: Wigan Evening Post, Article by Adnan Aljilani

Potentially bad news

****! I never wanted to report something like this EVER but here goes. I'm not sure how reliable this is as The Mirror was the same paper that reported The Stone Roses getting back together only to provoke John Squire into saying that he would NEVER reform the band.

So as you read this, bear in mind this has been talked about for months, no official statement has been released, and Nick and Simon recently started a new project.

The latest news, as printed in The Mirror:

==

The gigs don't work- The Verve finally call it a day!

They’ve had more break-ups than Britney Spears has had breakdowns, but I can exclusively reveal that The Verve have now well and truly split.

The legendary indie band have been blighted by rows since forming in 1990. It turns out this time band members Nick McCabe and Simon Jones have not spoken to lead singer Richard Ashcroft since their gig at V Festival last August, despite trying on numerous occasions to hold out an olive branch.

“As far as Nick and Simon are concerned The Verve no longer exists,” a source close to the lads tells me. “They think Richard was just using the reunion as a vehicle to get his solo career on track.”

The Britpop boys announced a reunion in June 2007 and went on a sold-out tour, releasing number one album Forth last summer.

But the old tensions soon came back, centred on guitarist Nick’s wild partying.

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“Their management called Simon and Nick in for a crisis meeting in September. They were told that Richard refused to tour or work with them again as long as Nick continued to drink. He quickly cleaned up his act.”

But it’s not as if Simon and Nick are sitting on their bums waiting for the next reunion – they’ve already started up their own band, apparently called The Black Ships.

Nick writes on his MySpace page: “The Verve seems to be on holiday and shows no sign of not being on holiday. I’ve been hesitant to breach Official Secrets-style policy with any missives from the, well, from any front, basically. Don’t ask me anything about the big V. Just let me enjoy my non-alcoholic Piña Colada.”

Simon told fans: “The Black Ships are coming!”

My mole says: “There have been too many problems to put behind them. If Richard came back with cap in hand they’d tell him to f*** off.”

Surely if those feuding Gallaghers can play nice, why not The Verve?

Source: The Mirror, Article by Dean Piper

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Until this appears elsewhere, hold on tight. It could all be speculation due to Nick and Simon starting a new project.

The Black Ships get mainstream coverage

The Black Ships news has now reached the NME. Link here. For the note, the Goldfrapp connection is from Davide Rossi playing violin.