The Ben Mulroney Show - The Toronto cast - The big smoke has some mental health issues to deal with

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

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Your taste buds will thank you. Trust. The Walking Schwarmah. Only available at Osmos for a limited time. Happy Monday and welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Thank you so much for joining us to kick off the week. It is Monday, July 14th. Yesterday was my mother's birthday, which is a very happy birthday. Today, I guess today is the anniversary of the by sent the anniversary of the French Revolution that's what it is the 14th of July so happy happy anniversary to anybody

celebrating that happy independent was Independence Day no I can't remember Bastille day joyeuse fête de la Bastille to all our French listeners around the world absolutely I'm still there. I think I've told the stories of me being in France for the bicentennial. And I talked about how I had to watch a, oh, it was when Donald Trump was very bullish on having his own military parade.

And a lot of people were poo-pooing at saying, oh, that's only what the, that's what despots do. Well, the French do it. They do it a heck of a lot better than he did it. But that on that trip, I learned a couple of things. I learned that French police officers can drink wine while on duty. I know that because I had I had somebody taking me around the city. As I want to look at see as many museums as I could. I was a little kid and I was a history nerd and I was in this incredible place and we stopped for lunch and he ordered wine

and I thought that was a little weird, but it's the French. And the second thing I learned is that steak tartare is uncooked beef. I did not know that because we got to a bistro and I saw steak and I said, I want steak and it showed up and it was fine, I ate it, but it was not what I was expecting.

And so there you go, that was my foray down a memory lane. In the here and now, however, we are dealing with some of the worst air quality in the city of Toronto that I can remember. It is the winds are carrying smoke, I assume, from the Manitoba wildfires into Ontario, and it's reducing visibility, it's pushing the air quality health index to what's,

I mean, it's called a 10 plus. There's nothing above 10 plus. It doesn't get worse than this. This is like Beijing in the summer or Athens in the summer. And it's very high risk. It means that if you can stay indoors, you should stay indoors.

And if you're over a certain age, if you have complications due to secondary you know, secondary health issues, then you've got to monitor your health very closely. You got to make sure that the air filters in your house are working. This is quite the big deal. How did your eyes feel this morning? Dry, dry.

I got out of bed and as I was driving to work, I, my right eye was very, very dry. And then I fortunately was listening to 640 and the explanation was given to me courtesy of Greg Brady, that this is what's going on. And look, if you're still at home, you haven't gone outside yet, it looks really hazy. It looks like it's gonna rain right now.

And I don't think rain is in the forecast. It's not, this is just, this is smoke and haze from the wildfires that seem, you know, ubiquitous. And they seem like it's, it's part of every, every summer. Now it's just something we get used to. And the fact it's happening in neighboring Manitoba means this is what we're dealing with. But, you know, the wildfires are not happening necessarily in Ontario. They're happening in, in Ontario, they're happening in a neighboring province. But because we have a heart that beats and we understand the implications of wildfires,

I'm not sitting here saying, oh my God, Manitoba is ruining my summer. I'm not looking at it like, say, why can't these guys get their act together and realize that we all share this air and shame on them for ruining? Like I was going to go to a barbecue tonight and now I don't think I can go because because Wab Kanu has ruined my the air quality for me.

So I don't think that way as I said because I'm a human being and my heart goes out to those who are suffering and who are who- But then nobody would say that. Nobody would ever say something like that. Nobody would ever, you know what? It'd be nice to live in that world, but we don't live in that world. As a matter of fact, we share a continent with a bunch of people who think that way.

Most notably, representative Tom Tiffany, who was one of the original signatories to a letter that was sent to Kristen Hillman, our ambassador to Washington, saying exactly that, that people in his district are a little miffed that their summer months that they really look forward to have been ruined due to Canadian wildfires. Well, I don't know if he's doubling down, but I think he wanted to show people this is really serious. And he posted to his social media about, you know, being at a campground didn't look like a campground to me, it looked like

he owns a pretty nice cottage. That's what it looked like to me. Look like a Muskoka cottage that you know, I get very lucky to get invited to like once every three years. And, and what we listened to a little bit about Tom Tiffany complaining about the smoke. Boy, the smoke is bad. And this is what happens when you don't have good forest management. To my Canadian friends, I am not singling you out in regards to this. But in North America, both Canada and United States need to get their act together and start managing these forests the way we used to. Otherwise this is what we're going to end up with. Okay, so maybe he's pivoting a little bit.

Maybe he's pointing out that this is a North American problem. But the forest management thing, look, I remember, was it during the Jasper fire last year? I mean, it was clear after the fact that that was a forest management issue, that there was a, I think a beetle issue that could, there was dry tinder that should have been removed that had it been removed, probably wouldn't have seen

the destruction of Jasper the way we did. That's from what I understand about the sort of the post mortem of that fire. But by and large, this is an issue that just happens, right? And yes, there are people who start fires, in which case you prosecute those people. Like that's how, if it's due to human intervention, you prosecute those people.

But if we're living in a world where climate change is real and you're not gonna get any denials from me on that, then this is just something that happens now. And yes, we do have to be proactive. And as a matter of fact, tomorrow on this show, we are gonna be joined by the CEO of a company called AI6, full disclosure, I have a professional relationship with AI6,

but they are an AI company that uses artificial intelligence to fairly accurately predict wildfires and how they grow. And so we're gonna have him on the show to talk about the state of play and how AI could be a tool and should be a tool that we can leverage to mitigate these things, to get ahead of them, to predict them, and to hopefully stop them before they start. That's my hope, almost like a minority report situation

for wildfires, but that's on the show tomorrow. I wanna go back to a story that, you know, it was, it was a story that was most Canadian story of the week. And it seems like it's come to a nice resolution. We remember the drunk chicken little who took on on the golf course, who took on a former NHL enforcer and got his, well, he's, he should have the beating that he took because he was playing slowly and he was drunk and aggressive. a former NHL enforcer and got his. Well, he should have, the beating that he took because he was playing slowly

and he was drunk and aggressive, the beating that he took should have put him in the dirt and it didn't. He got thrown in a lake and came back for more. And the characters involved in this, the tone of their voice, their accent, the words they use, most Canadian video I've

seen in a very long time. And I say this with a big smile on my face. Well, the little guy who, who was like a Terminator, who just kept coming back for more. He has apologized. Let's listen to the mea culpa. Now my finest moment I know, um, looks real bad. Played 36 holes of golf, we drank way too much and my mouth ran faster in my brain. All jokes aside guys, I'd like to apologize

to all the folks on the course, anyone caught up in it and anyone who had to deal with me that day. I lost my cool and I've learned from it. Just one of those days where you shouldn't kept the card on the path, you know. Stay hydrated, keep a stick on the ice, maybe stick to eating too. I mean, he's straight out of central casting this guy.

If I were casting a movie and I was looking for the most stereotypically Canadian dude, I'm calling this guy and I'm not calling anybody else. God love him. Thank you for giving me the resolution to this story that I needed and I think that we all deserved. And there was a lesson in it for all of us. Keep your stick on the ice, stay hydrated

and maybe just play 18. God love the guy. All right, we've got a lot of news to get to. And coming up next, we're talking about statistics out of the TTC, how many mental health crises they have been dealing with. In my humble opinion, the numbers are under reported. We're gonna dig in next. Yes, play that a little more. I love it. Invincible Touch is such a great song.

Phil Collins, people sleep on Phil Collins. There's a whole generation that needs to get to know Phil Collins because one, if they do they'll realize one of the greatest drummers of all time and the fact that he had such an incredible career with Genesis and then on his own that doesn't happen often. And what's the cool stat of him with Live Aid? I don't know. He's the only person who played both shows. What?

He played London. Yeah. He drummed for Sting and then he got on the Concord, landed in Philly and played again that same day for Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin. I love it. And there's these videos online of young kids hearing him like listening to his music for the first time. And in the air tonight is the one like if you go find like look that up when all like it just starts quietly and then that

drum kicks in it just about blows people out of their chairs. Anyway, that's a that's a conversation for another day. But I want to remind everybody that you know,, this week we're taking a look at crime across this country from a number of different angles. And we can sometimes get bogged down on the legislation of it all. Right. Like talking at high levels about the criminal code and bail reform. But what I want to do oftentimes is I want to take it down to a level that every one

of our listeners can appreciate. And that means hearing from people who've been impacted by crime and home invasion is not something I ever saw reported on the news ever. 10, 15, 30 years ago. Now 30 years ago, I was less than 20 years old. I might not have been paying attention, but I am as sure as I'm sitting here, it is more of a problem today than it's ever been.

And having your home invaded once is traumatic enough. We're talking to somebody who had to deal with not one, but two home invasions and the impact that had on, on him, how he sees, uh, his home as his sanctuary, as his safe space, uh, his interactions with the police, as well as with the criminal. So that's coming up. What time is that coming up? At 10 o'clock. So do not go anywhere. That's 10 o'clock on the Ben Mulroney show. Let's talk about these statistics that

were released by the TTC. They're talking, they've sort of released the numbers of how many mental health interactions, these special constables that are that are that focus on the TTC. How many of how many of them have happened and they break down the numbers and in my humble opinion these numbers are way too low. There's no way that these numbers are accurate representation of what's going on across the transit system in Toronto. So we've got special constables, as you know,

who it seems their jobs are to just calm people down and ship people off to hospitals. And they're not really there to arrest anybody. So the incidents statistics run from January 2020 to April 2025. So actually pretty recent, right? The total number of incidents that involve special constables, 1, 2025. So actually pretty recent, right? The total number of incidents that involve special constables, 1,150.

Non-criminal events, 202. So we're talking about accidents, suicide attempts, intoxication, that sort of thing. 202 from 2020 to 2025. Mental Health Act Apprehensions, 190. That's over 25% of those incidents Mental Health Act apprehensions, 190. That's over 25% of those incidents are when graffiti cases are excluded. Then you got mental health related incidents rising.

So, okay, so the trend, whether or not you agree with the numbers, the trends are, make sense. Pre-pandemic, 29 a year. Post-pandemic, 44 a year. So we're getting close to doubling those numbers. Here's an issue again, here's a trend that we don't have to rely on the raw numbers

for trends or trends. Repeat apprehensions. One person was taken to custody three times in 24 hours, three times in 24 hours. So what exactly is the value of having the special constables there? If once the person has left, they return two more times. In terms of hospital releases,

a person at Dundas Station was admitted to a hospital with suicidal ideation. They were thinking of killing themselves. They were thinking of ending their lives. And they said, they're the ones who said, the hospital keeps releasing them. And so we wanna take some calls from you. Do you believe the statistics?

I mean, think about it, 44 a year? I mean, I've spoken to people who think that there's 44 a day in this city across the entire network of the TTC. You're telling me 44 a year. That is that is on its face. It seems inaccurate, but I'd love to hear from people who take the TTC far more than I do. I used last year took the TTC a lot. It worked in my schedule. Yeah. So give us a call four one six eight seven zero 6400 or one triple eight two two five talk.

I want to hear from you. Do you believe the statistics? What would you like to see happen to make the system cleaner, safer and more purpose driven? Let's call things what they are. The TTC is not supposed to be a place where people loiter. It is not supposed to be a place. Like if I saw kids just hanging in the TTC,

I wouldn't want them there. I want them out and about. They're not, people are not supposed to be using it as a refuge for anything. It is supposed to be a place where I get on the subway or I get on the LRT, or I get on the bus, and I go somewhere. And once I get there, I leave the station.

So people shouldn't be in there for any other reason. You shouldn't be in there longer than you need to be. That's the whole point. It's a transit system. It is not a housing solution. It is not a housing solution. It is not a mental health refuge. It is not somewhere to stay warm or stay out of the rain. This is a place where you're supposed to get in and get out.

And I would love to hear from you at 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK. Talk to me about your own personal experiences with the TTC. And we've got Martin. Martin, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for calling and happy Monday. Hey, happy Monday, Ben. Yes, I think as I've spoke to you before, I had a personal situation about three years ago with someone that kept being admitted to the hospital under a form, which is suicidal attempts. And the way it is, it's 72 hours observation, but this particular person in this particular hospital kept releasing them.

So there's a rule or maybe it's a law, I don't know, that says that if somebody has suicidal ideation, you're supposed to keep them under a watch for 72 hours to make sure that if it is something that they're considering, sometimes the simple passage of time will make it that they will change their minds or they will err on the side of their better angels. Yeah. And despite that, they kept releasing this person. Do you know why? Why they were releasing them? Yeah. Basically because the person convinced them that they were fine. And they were good with that.

Wait, wait, wait. The hospital convinced them they were fine? Well, no. The patient kind of convinced them that they were fine and the hospital bought into it. I mean, it's sort of one of those things that once you're in the system for whatever reason you can't get out for like that's how it's supposed to work. That's how it's supposed to work Ben but off the air someday you and I can have a longer conversation on this but I lived it. Oh my goodness well yeah yeah that that's here my friend. Thank you very much. I have a great week. Yeah, that's that is a little bit

Concerning it's more than a little bit concerning once you're in the system for suicidal ideation You're not supposed to be able to leave for any reason because the alternative even if you say you say you're good the prospect of getting that wrong means somebody is going to die and Nobody should that's the sit the system failed there. And if it failed in that one instance, and I have no reason not to believe Martin, if it's if it failed in that situation, it's failing elsewhere. Let's talk to Pete. Pete, thanks so much for calling in. Morning, Ben. I just wanted to correct one thing that the the form one or the one person

is apprehended due to potential harm to themselves or others that then the physician has the ability to hold them for up to 72 hours for assessment. But if they are assessed to be competent and not a danger to themselves or others within 20 minutes, then they can be released. It's not an automatic hold. So it's not it's not it's not a permanent hold. It's not an automatic hold. That is correct. But but doesn't that Pete, thank you for the clarification. You know, if I get something wrong, I want I want somebody to correct me. I

do appreciate it. But but explain it to me then because, you know, if somebody is seriously considering something, if they want to do it, feels to me like that's a pretty big loophole that we're taking a chance with that somebody could just charm their way out of a of a hole that they probably should be on. Is that not a concern? Well, there's many other layers to this, Ben, because we quite often are dealing with people who are allegedly suicidal. They claim to have taken X amount of pills that will not

actually harm them, but they make a phone call. So it's more of a call for help and that sort of thing. And they need an assessment, but the immediate idea that they are going to harm themselves, there's a big difference between threatening suicide and suicide completion. Most people who can do it don't tell people they're going to kill themselves they go off and do it and take care of it. Mental health right now is so horrible along with addiction problems and things like that there is no space. We need so much more space and the ability to manage. Yeah. Yeah. Well, listen, I want to thank you very much for adding that context and for correcting the record. I absolutely want that to happen each and every time we have

a conversation, especially on something as important to this. So I do thank you, Pete. And you're absolutely right. You know, if this is a crisis, which I think we all know it is, then we need to be we need to be dealing with it as if it were one. PC express shop online and get $15 in PC optimum points on your first five orders. Shop now at no frails.ca. Welcome back to the Ben Mulrooney show. And it's really interesting how conversations evolve on this show. We started talking about what I think were under reported health care, sorry, mental health incidents reported by the TTC.

I thought the numbers sounded low. So we wanted to ask people about their personal interactions or their personal take on those numbers. And we started getting phone calls from people talking more generally about mental health. And prior to that, I was talking about how this week on the show, we wanted to talk about stories of crime across Canada from the perspective,

at least partially from the perspective of those who have been affected by it. And so when you put those two things together, I'm so happy that our next caller joined us. This is Brett, who has his own personal account of being in the system, the mental health treatment system in Ontario. Brett, thank you so much for calling us.

Yeah, no problem, man. This is a serious subject that needs to be talked about more. And it is. It's finally starting to break the stigmatic. Yeah, it is so tell us about tell us about your your personal journey through your mental health. Okay, so I was diagnosed in 2006 with bipolar disorder. I also have been diagnosed with severe clinical depression. And I've been diagnosed with severe generalized and social anxiety. So like even this phone call right now is keeping me very anxious.

Sure. Now, I've been thinking about this for months, just, you know, I'm somebody who's been in the system for over 20 years now. Yeah. This is probably where I've been the best in my life, because I've started to be more open and transparent with with with my feelings with where I'm at mentally instead of hiding it and shame yeah and feeling like I'm a man I just need to sure of course that's you know

there's there's there's an element of you know we got a tough through it all of men are men are still men are still sort of shamed for showing that they're not okay so so Brett so you're you're in a place now, a good place, relatively good place because you're being more open, you're being more vulnerable and you're willing to get the help that you need. But that's, and I could be wrong here, but it seems to me like there are two issues.

There's that how are you doing and how are you doing within the system? So, because you've been in the system for 20 years, you've got some perspective that a lot of people wouldn't have is is the system as it relates to how you are treated, and the supports that you have? Is it better today than it was, say 20 years ago? No, no.

The system right now is chronically underfunded. Okay. So I'm going to give you a personal example. Please. The psychiatrist I had for nine years, he quit. He quit practice. He stopped practicing because it was taking so much of his time away from his family. Yeah. And so he he prioritized his own mental health, his health within his family, because the payoff wasn't worth it.

Well, that's a that's a heck of an irony, my friend, the fact that your mental health, the person who is charged with helping you with your mental health had to leave the system because it was negatively impacting his mental health. Correct. He told me he's leaving. I fully supported him. Yeah, it's it. Absolutely. You put your family first. Yeah. And this this is where I think it's so critical. And this is where I

have been blessed. Personally, I have an amazing wife who has supported me for the last 15 years. My parents have been my advocate my whole life. You know, my mom, she told me, she's like, by the time I was six years old, she knew something was different, right? She knew that something was off. And so like they fought tooth and nail. And this is where I guess my story is different, where I have a lot of support. And there are so many people who don't have that support. I would love to see more more just more groups, group meetings, you know, we need to get where Yeah, we're a problem really besters. Yeah. And that's where the attack needs to happen. And so you know, we need to bombard that area to raise that area. Brett, I want to thank you so much for being so candid, being so open, and giving us the

insights into this conversation, I think are really important. And I know that this call was difficult for you. But I do believe that if one person who's in a position of power who heard that that maybe you gave them some information that they didn't have. But I want to thank you for being really that that voice that we needed to hear this morning. Thank you so much. And I wish you nothing but the best on your mental health journey. Thank you very much, man. I appreciate just the ability to talk to you guys.

Thank you so much. All right, let's move on to one more call. We've got a call from Scott. Scott, you've got members of your family who are struggling with their mental health. family who are struggling with their mental health? Yeah, so I started listening to the first caller Martin and his call really tugged on my heartstrings because I have a lot of personal experience. So this is how it works when an

individual can cut themselves a number of times, not deeply, but superficial wounds that bleed with a knife. He can threaten to kill himself, he can threaten to kill his family. Police are called, police come. The chances of that individual getting formed, which is a 72-hour hold, as has been explained, are at best one in five, at best. They'll bandage you up, they'll throw you out of the hospital, the chances of seeing a psychiatrist in less than four to six

hours are very, very slim and when this individual did this a few times, he was a minor. So even under the age of 18, you can do that, the age of 13, 14, maybe this first time he went and And they just kept him right out of the hospital. And more than one hospital. Yeah, I'll mention the hospital, but both of them are in Mississauga. It doesn't matter where they are. Yeah. And look, I don't think any of us would be looking at those who are the frontline workers. I mean, they're doing

the best with what they have, right? And, and it's not, it's not necessarily the fault of the hospital, they have to, they are they're dealing with the reality, their their reality. And so I don't place the blame on doctors or the administrators have to make those really tough choices. It is it is if it is in fact a funding issue, then that is something that we have to bring up with the government. So may I ask how are things going with this family member? It's, it's, it's getting better. It's getting better.

Obviously, there's a there's a there's a massive component between mental illness and substance abuse. Obviously, many psychiatrists actually don't subscribe to that theory, surprisingly enough. Yeah, it's getting a little better but there's always a extra is always worried there's always uh... and then the system is completely broken that's complete failure uh... i i've been at numerous uh... groups with hundreds of thousands of dollars annual salary around the table

and uh... everybody kind of looks i a m shrugs her shoulders and uh... you know and that being, the system is completely broken. There are many, many people from different agencies in hospitals, CAS, that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to try and help. The system is broken. So, just to your point, this is not against individuals whatsoever. Most of them are really trying to work their way

through a system that doesn't allow them to do it. Scott, thank you so much, and I wish you and your family the very best. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show, and if you cast your regard back to the mid to late 90s, there was no bigger band in the world than Oasis. At one point, I believe, they believed they were world than Oasis. At one point, I believe they believed

they were bigger than the Beatles. And look, if you take a snapshot of any one time, the metrics will bear that out. But over the course of generations, I don't think there's many bands bigger than the Beatles. But I love living in a world where Oasis has gotten back together and are touring. And to talk about whether or not this is,

this is some, whether they're going to complete their tour or whether Liam and Noel Gallagher are going to return to form of the nineties and fight like cats and dogs and break up again, we're joined now by Alan Cross, music journalist, as well as the host of A History of New Music. Welcome to the show, Alan, how are you today? I am good, and I'm optimistic about this tour.

Well, so am I, Alan. So listen, I would be lying if I said I've been steeped in Oasis news for the past few years, but about a year ago, I started getting a little curious about the breakup of Oasis. I went down a rabbit hole of some documentaries that were streaming online.

And it did seem like in their time apart, these two guys had mellowed a little bit. I mean, you can never take the junkyard dog out of the junkyard dog, but it looked like as they've gotten older, they had mellowed a bit. And because of that, I was hoping, you know, that this tour could go off without a hitch. What are your thoughts? I think it will. This tour began its planning stages sometime in 2023.

This was going to be a massive thing from the beginning. So you needed to take care of a tremendous number of logistics before you even announced it. So first of all, you had to make sure that there was nobody else on the road that was gonna interfere with this. Coldplay is coming to the end of their Music with the Spheres tour. There's no Taylor Swift on the road.

There's no U2 on the road. There's no Rolling Stones on the road, nothing like that. So the runway was wide open. And the other thing that had to happen was that Noel had recording and touring commitments, Liam had recording and touring commitments. Those had to be fulfilled before they could announce anything. Noel had a very messy divorce that he had to get through before this could be announced. And when it finally was announced, which was a year ago August, almost everything was in place.

The biggest thing, of course, was the contract, which outlined everything that the Gallagher brothers needed to do over the course of this tour in order to get paid. And I can guarantee you this, this contract, which must be thicker than an old school phone book, contained all kinds of penalties and financial penalties for not completing the two. Right. Yeah. Of course, they are incentivized to stick this out.

And it looks like based on what I understand, they are putting in place the systems that will minimize any chance of flare ups, right? Like they have their own, they come to this, they've got their own drivers there, they don't have to spend time together if they don't want to spend time together, they've got people, they've got buffers between them to ensure that, you know, if they do need time apart, they have that space. which is probably all part of the contract. Now the one thing that we did not know was how was the band going to sound and look on stage and what kind of reaction were they going to get from the crowd? Well everything that has happened up until now has been off the charts great. The opening show in Cardiff, Wales was, you know, apparently fantastic. The shows in Manchester so far have been fantastic. And if you're getting that kind of goodwill from the audience, there's no reason to be upset about anything.

The group, you know, people have told me, and I just heard from somebody this morning who was at one of the Manchester shows saying that it was a, it was a religious experience because the band sounded so good and the audience was so into it. Yeah, I guess Alan, we got to look back at I mean, they burnt bright for a short period of time. I think many people hoped that we would have had many more Oasis experiences, both as albums and live events for far longer than we got. And look, they're older, right? When I said they've mellowed,

with the coded language I'm using is like, there was drugs and alcohol involved as there was, as there always is in rock and roll. And I'm pretty sure they both still drink beer, but I don't I don't know that they are as heavily into anything else as they were back then. That's got to play a big role in, you know, feeling more secure in the belief that they're going to stick this out. Yeah, they're not in their 20s anymore. They're in their, you know, approaching 50. So and the

other thing too, is that they both know and Liam have children. And these children have grown up learning that dad was in this wild band, but they've never had a chance to see them. So they don't want to disappoint their children. This is a legacy thing too. They know that if they can pull this off, they will go down in history in much higher esteem than they would have otherwise. Oh, and I have no doubt there's a documentary

that is chronicling every moment of this tour that will be released to great fanfare. And we'll get all the snippets of these guys acting, giving us the boyish, puckish fights that we enjoyed from Oasis without the blowup that breaks them up. Exactly. I think it's gonna be Netflix,

although there's been some confusion about that. There's gonna be all kinds of Contra DVDs. There's gonna be more live streaming events. There's to be all kinds of concert DVDs, there's going to be more live streaming events, there's going to be all kinds of stuff. And if you've seen the merch that these guys are selling, they're going to make over $100 million on merch. Wow. Wow. How long are they on tour for? Until November. So it's not even that long. I mean, it's not like a Taylor Swift two year endeavor. No, I think they're playing 41 shows. Okay. Not a heavy lift.

It's not. And there's a lot of space, a lot of time between the shows. Yeah. No one's doing any interviews. So there's no real opportunity for somebody to say something stupid. Well, it's not like they have anything to pay. It's not that they're not touring to promote an album, right? They're they're touring because the appetite is out there for it. Yes. And it is. Yeah. And so far, the reaction has been so fantastic that it has defied expectations. Remember, these guys went in front of 75,000 people in Cardiff without a warm up gig without a secret gig, with just some rehearsal

somewhere in a warehouse. And it was so on-brand, it's like, yeah, we're the greatest band in the world. Walk out there and play in front of 75,000 people without properly warming up. And it worked. Yeah, well, I guess the hope is, if they got back together just for the money,

the hope is that this experience will be so pleasant for them, that that brotherly bond will be tightened and strengthened. I mean, we all want rock and roll, but if the end result is that this band sticks together after this tour is done, maybe they're back in studio. Maybe there's a new album. Maybe it's a whole new oasis, era of oasis that we can look forward to because of this tour. There is so much that can happen between now and November, you know, before the gigs during the gigs after the gigs. And I'm sure that right now, after this rapturous reception they've been given, they're thinking,

maybe we could write this out a little bit longer with something else. Alan, you're a you're a rock and roll journalist, but I can hear the perhaps biased enthusiasm in your voice. Oh, yeah. I have I've been an Oasis fan since since, you know, 94. So I was very, I always believed that there would be a reunion simply because the money would become too great. Yeah. And it did. And here we are. Well, listen, let's end on a positive note, Alan. I hope that everything that you just described comes to pass.

I hope this goes off without a hitch. I hope it's as exciting for everybody who's got tickets. And I do hope that I hope that the end result of this is new music from Oasis, because I think a lot of us would love to hear what does what does Oasis music sound like in 2025. Thank you very much, my friend. And I hope you have a great week. Talk to you later. the twenty twenty five Nissan rogues motor trends number one compact SUV for the third year in a row. Why? Exceptional

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