Oasis: Takin' It To The Streets

Ripped from the NY Post:

British rockers Oasis wanted to introduce their new album by playing it live.

But when a crazed fan injured guitarist Noel Gallagher last month, forcing their tour to be postponed, the band looked to the talent in the New York City Transit system for plan B.

Oasis paid several dozen subway musicians $100 apiece to play cuts from their new LP on platforms around the city yesterday.

It was a rare case of the covers coming before the band.

Thirty groups who regularly perform underground were given sheet music and a couple of days to practice before rehearsing with the band yesterday morning in a Brooklyn loft.

The band got a huge kick out of hearing all the different interpretations of their music, said Rob Mastrianni, 32, a beat-boxer with hip-hop rockers Next Tribe.

"Everyone has their own style, and nothing sounds the same as it will on the album," he said. "They were jumping up and down and shook our hands."

Jim Bauer, of the art/performance rock duo Dagmar 2, said he was thrilled to be the first to perform the album, which will be released next month, in what some described as a kind of pre-payola.

"We love Oasis, so why not help them out? And we're getting paid," he said. In keeping with the low-key approach, the band didn't comment about the stunt yesterday.

The band and Warner Bros. contacted the city's tourism agency, NYC & Company, a little over a week ago. The city had no trouble finding a slew of musicians willing to take part, officials said.