The concert marks a highly anticipated return, as Oasis commences their reunion tour Friday night at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, a performance fans have awaited for 5,795 days.
In the lead-up to the show, soundchecks and rehearsals have been underway at the venue all week, offering glimpses of iconic tracks like “Cigarettes & Alcohol,” “Wonderwall,” and “Champagne Supernova” to those passing by.
“It’s sounding huge,” Noel Gallagher shared with talkSPORT radio, emphasizing the significance of the moment: “This is it, there’s no going back now.”
The Oasis Live ’25 tour set records as the UK and Ireland’s largest concert launch, witnessing over 10 million fans from 158 countries vying for tickets last summer.
While approximately 900,000 tickets were sold, the event was not without controversy. Many fans voiced concerns over the pricing of standard standing tickets, initially advertised at £135 plus fees, which were subsequently relabeled as “in demand” on Ticketmaster and priced at £355 plus fees.
The ticket sales prompted an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which suggested that Ticketmaster may have infringed consumer protection laws by marketing “platinum” tickets at nearly 2.5 times the standard price, without adequately explaining the absence of additional benefits.
Following the investigation, the CMA mandated that Ticketmaster revise its ticket labeling practices and pricing disclosures to fans. Ticketmaster responded by stating that it “welcomed” the guidance.
Nevertheless, the controversy has done little to diminish the excitement in Cardiff, where fans have traveled from as far as Spain, Peru, Japan, and the United States for the tour’s opening night.
“For me, Oasis embodies an overwhelming sense of optimism about youth and a passion for music,” stated Jeff Gachihi, a fan from Kenya making his inaugural visit to the UK for the performance.
“To craft simple music that conveys life’s simple truths is a formidable task. In my view, they accomplish this better than anyone.”
Joining brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher on stage will be former Oasis members Gem Archer, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, and Andy Bell, alongside drummer Joey Waronker, known for his work with Beck and REM, and his tours with Liam.
The band will be further enriched by a brass section and backing vocalist Jess Greenfield, who is also a member of Noel’s side project, the High Flying Birds.
Amidst the anticipation, setlist rumors have been circulating throughout the week, as Oasis anthems resonated around the Principality Stadium.
One rumored running order suggested that the band would commence with “Hello” and conclude with “Champagne Supernova,” with other potential highlights including “Acquiesce,” “Roll With It,” “Live Forever,” and “Supersonic.”
Noel is also anticipated to take the lead on vocals twice during the show, during shorter sets featuring tracks like “Half The World Away” and “The Masterplan.”
Oasis reigned as Britain’s most prominent band from 1994 to 1997, achieving multi-platinum status with their first three albums: “Definitely Maybe,” “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory,” and “Be Here Now.”
Liam’s distinctive vocals and Noel’s signature guitar riffs revitalized the charts with a rock and roll edge, injecting new life into British guitar music following a surge of introspective Seattle grunge.
Raised in Manchester, the band members formed Oasis as a means of escaping the perceived monotony of their working-class backgrounds.
“In Manchester, one typically became a musician, a footballer, a drug dealer, or worked in a factory. However, factories are becoming increasingly scarce,” Noel Gallagher once remarked.
“We didn’t originate in a university setting or anything of that nature. We’re not a collective of friends who gather to discuss musical ideas.”
“We established the group… because we were all receiving unemployment benefits, and after rehearsing, we believed we were quite accomplished.”
Oasis initially began as Liam’s band, known as The Rain. However, after witnessing them live, Noel offered to join, stipulating that he would assume the roles of chief songwriter and de facto leader.
This agreement propelled them to global recognition, culminating in two open-air concerts at Knebworth House in the summer of 1996.
Nearly five percent of the UK population sought tickets, with a then-record attendance of 125,000 people witnessing the band headlining a lineup that featured The Prodigy, Manic Street Preachers, Ocean Colour Scene, The Chemical Brothers, The Charlatans, and a Beatles tribute act.
However, simmering tensions between the Gallagher brothers frequently escalated into verbal and physical altercations.
For instance, backstage at a concert in Barcelona in 2000, Noel reportedly attacked Liam after he questioned the legitimacy of his eldest daughter. The guitarist subsequently departed for the remainder of the European tour, leaving the band to continue with a replacement.
Although they eventually reconciled, the insults and disputes persisted until August 28, 2009, when Oasis disbanded moments before their scheduled performance at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris.
“People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer,” Noel expressed in a statement at the time.
He would later recount a backstage argument during which his younger brother seized his guitar and brandished it “like an axe,” adding, “he nearly took my face off with it.”
Since then, both brothers have pursued successful solo careers while consistently facing questions regarding an Oasis reunion.
Liam described the prospect as “inevitable” in 2020, suggesting that the band should reunite to support NHS workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, he stated that his brother had rejected the proposal, despite a substantial offer from promoters.
“There was a lot of money knocking about,” he revealed on ITV’s Jonathan Ross Show. “It was £100 million to do a tour.”
“But [Noel] isn’t into it. He’s after a knighthood, isn’t he?”
The reconciliation took another five years and, with neither of the Gallaghers consenting to an interview, it’s hard to know what informed their decision to get back together.
Tabloid newspapers suggested that Noel’s divorce from Sara McDonald in 2022 led to a thaw in relations. Others have suggested the brothers simply wanted the Oasis story to have a more satisfactory conclusion than a dressing room bust-up.
“I’ve heard everything is hunky dory and they’re getting on great,” says Tim Abbott, former managing director of Oasis’s record label, Creation.
“I’ve worked with bands in the past that had separate limos, separate walkways onto the stage. I don’t think they’ll get to that. They’re grown men.”
Whatever sparked the reunion, the sold-out tour will see the band play 41 shows between July and November, spanning the UK & Ireland, North America, Oceania and South America.
“Probably the biggest and most pleasing surprise of the reunion announcement is how huge it was internationally,” said Oasis’s co-manager Alec McKinlay in an interview with Music Week.
“Honestly, we knew it would be big here, and that doesn’t take much intuition. But looking outside the UK, we knew they had a strong fanbase, we did all the stats.
“We were quite cautious about what that would mean when it came to people actually buying tickets but we were just bowled over by how huge it was.”
McKinlay added that the band had no plans for new music, and described the tour as their “last time around”.
They take to the stage for the first time in 16 years at 20:15 UK time on Friday night.
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