Oasis emphatically dismissed any doubts as they launched their highly anticipated reunion tour in Cardiff.
Taking the stage after a 16-year hiatus, the band delivered a refreshed and invigorated performance, tearing through iconic tracks such as “Cigarettes and Alcohol,” “Live Forever,” and “Slide Away” to the delight of 70,000 fans.
The set opened with “Hello,” its chorus proclaiming “it’s good to be back,” followed by “Acquiesce,” a notable track featuring joint vocals from both Noel and Liam Gallagher.
The lyric “we need each other” resonated as a potential reconciliation, or perhaps a collective sigh of relief, as the brothers appeared to bury the hatchet on their long-standing feud and reconnect with their devoted fanbase.
Liam, in particular, delivered a ferocious performance, commanding the stage and attacking the lyrics with palpable intensity.
The audience responded in kind, with collective fervour greeting anthems like “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back In Anger,” both staples from Oasis’s seminal 1995 album, “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” – one of the best-selling British albums of all time.
The evening was defined by a series of singalongs, encompassing tracks such as “Some Might Say,” “Supersonic,” “Whatever,” “Half The World Away,” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star.”
During “Live Forever,” dedicated to Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota, the audience even vocalized Noel’s guitar solo in unison.
“You sound like a load of Charlotte Churches,” Liam remarked, impressed, following a rousing rendition of “Stand By Me.”
The frontman himself showcased a renewed vocal prowess, dispelling concerns stemming from previous tours due to Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune condition affecting the voice.
As longtime fans know, Oasis has never been known for elaborate stage theatrics. Noel, in particular, maintains a studious demeanour – yet, the band’s presence remains undeniably captivating.
While they emerged hand in hand, overt displays of brotherly affection were scarce, with the pair refraining from direct interaction throughout the two-hour-and-fifteen-minute performance.
However, simply hearing their harmonies once again, after years of animosity and well-documented strife, proved to be an emotional experience for many.
“Nice one for putting up with us over the years,” Liam stated, introducing the final song, “Champagne Supernova.” “We are hard work, I get it.”
As they exited the stage, the Gallaghers shared a brief embrace.
The band’s inherent volatility has always been part of their allure.
Their off-stage exploits often rivaled their music in terms of notoriety: They missed their first European gig after being arrested on a cross-channel ferry, Liam lost two front teeth in a fight with German police, and later abandoned a pivotal US tour to go house-hunting.
Part of the appeal was deciphering which act of their real-life drama was unfolding.
Yet, Liam’s behaviour frequently exasperated his brother.
“Noel is the guy who’s chained to the Tasmanian devil,” Danny Eccleston, consultant editor of Mojo magazine, once observed. “A lifetime of that would wear you down.”
The tensions culminated at a Paris concert in 2009, leading to Oasis’s dissolution after a backstage confrontation reportedly triggered by Liam throwing a plum at Noel’s head.
In the years that followed, they engaged in a protracted war of words across various platforms, including the press, live performances, and social media.
Liam routinely referred to Noel as a “massive potato” on Twitter and, more gravely, accused him of failing to attend the One Love concert benefiting victims of the Manchester Arena bombing.
Noel countered by labeling Liam a “village idiot” who “needs to see a psychiatrist.”
However, relations began to thaw last year, with Liam dedicating “Half The World Away” to his brother at Reading Festival in August.
Two days later, the reunion was announced with the band declaring: “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”
A frenzy for tickets ensued, with over 10 million individuals vying for the 19 UK dates alone.
Successful applicants were met with sticker shock, particularly when standing tickets initially priced at £155 were reclassified as “in demand” and relisted on Ticketmaster for £355, excluding fees.
On stage, Liam playfully addressed the controversy, quipping to the audience: “Is it worth the £4,000 you paid for a ticket?”
For many, the answer was affirmative. Cardiff was teeming with Oasis enthusiasts from around the globe – hailing from Peru, Japan, Argentina, Spain, and South Korea, among others.
An Italian couple had “live forever” engraved on their wedding bands. A British woman, expecting her first child, had emblazoned “our kid” – Noel’s affectionate moniker for Liam – across her pregnant belly.
The city was saturated with bucket hats and branded tracksuit tops. Outside the stadium, an enterprising busker drew a sizeable crowd with a set of Oasis covers, prompting a mass singalong.
Inside, the band adhered to a classic-heavy setlist, venturing outside the 1990s only once, with the inclusion of 2002’s “Little By Little.”
The songs have aged remarkably well.
The youthful energy of tracks like “Live Forever” and “Supersonic” crackled with intensity. And “Cigarettes and Alcohol,” penned by Noel in 1991, reflecting the discontent of Manchester’s working class under Conservative rule, resonated just as powerfully in 2025.
“Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there’s nothing worth working for?” Liam snarled, eliciting a resounding roar of recognition and approval from the audience.
Later, during “Wonderwall,” the frontman playfully altered the lyrics to say: “There are many things that I would like to say to you… but I don’t speak Welsh.”
Having witnessed Oasis on numerous occasions, this performance ranked among their best since 1995, when I saw them supporting REM at Slane Castle in Ireland, during their lead-up to the release of “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?”
The Manchester band eclipsed the headliners, instantly rendering them seemingly dated and irrelevant, in a show teetering on the brink of chaos after Liam threatened a fan who had thrown an object onstage.
While the band may have lost that element of unpredictability in 2025, they exuded a hunger and passion noticeably absent from their final shows in 2009.
Fans, and certain segments of the British media, are already speculating about the longevity of Liam and Noel’s newfound detente – but based on the evidence presented onstage in Cardiff, the Gallaghers are, belatedly, “mad fer it” once more.
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