Richard Ashcroft Compares Verve Reunion To Led Zeppelin

The Verve's recent reformation “is the closest thing white lads have got to a band since Led Zeppelin”, according to frontman Richard Ashcroft.

Speaking to the BBC, Ashcroft also also described it as being “as fat as (funk musician) George Clinton”.

The band's reunion last year came as a surprise to many of their fans following their acrimonious split in the late 90s.

But Ashcroft said that the original line up each shared the same ambition to play their old songs and perform in front of big crowds again.

"That was one of the motivations for me, to get to those points again like when you have those brief moments onstage when you think, 'Wow this is great',” he said.

To date, the band's biggest performance since their reunion came at the Glastonbury Festival in June where they headlined the Pyramid Stage alongside Kings of Leon and Jay-Z.

Ashcroft said their performance on the Sunday night was "the biggest bungee jump I've done for a long time."

"It was one of the concerts that gave me a longer buzz than others definitely. It's almost like doing extreme sports or something,” he said.

"I've never donea bungee jump because I don't need to and that's what that performance was about, it was about jumping out of the aeroplane."

The Verve will release their new album, 'Forth', later this month.

(by Jason Gregory)

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