It's Good to Be Back
"THIS IS NOT A DRILL" are the first words Oasis fans are greeted with in Cardiff. After 16 years apart, very public spats, and even the odd vegetable-based jibe. Even for those in the stadium last night, it doesn't feel real.
'Fuckin the Bushes' blares out over the PA, and fans are told “, The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over.” This really is happening. Ever since that night in Paris, where Noel called it quits, the idea of seeing the brothers again on stage seemed like a long-lost memory or a distant fantasy.
I've got tickets to this tour, and they walked on stage last night. There was a part of me that thought, "This isn't going to happen; something will go wrong." Believe me, I've never been more glad to be proved wrong.
As a fan, the importance of the gigs cannot be underestimated. Oasis have always been a band for the people. Coming from a Manchester council estate, they took on the world and for a short time, won. Their music has been a soundtrack to my life, and seeing them on stage again was a dream come true. In just two and a half years, they'd gone from signing off on the dole to playing the biggest British concerts ever, two sold-out nights at Knebworth House. Despite playing to 250,000 people over 2 nights. The demand was huge, with 2.5 million people trying to get tickets. Oasis may have done 2, but they could have done 20 nights.
Oasis dreamed of being the biggest band in the world and aimed to do what their Manchester counterparts, The Smiths and Stone Roses, couldn't, become mainstream. They got there, and for a very brief moment, they were the biggest band in the world. It didn't last and into the 21st Century, Oasis became patchy, the brothers arguments became more public, the songs suffered for every 'Little By Little', you had a 'A Quick Peep' for every 'Falling Down' a 'Soldier On' get my point and even live the thing you could always rely on Oasis on turned into knife edge affairs. Would the band turn up? How would they sound?
The 90s output cannot be disputed, though; the first two albums and b-sides are some of the best songs from a British band ever. Noel Gallagher was writing anthems with almost every song; his talent was so abundant that he could afford to blithely confine stuff as good as 'Acquiesce' or 'The Masterplan' to an extra track on a CD single.
This new look, Oasis understood what they needed to do last night. Give those who were there first time round a trip back in time, but also give those younger, those who hadn't seen the band before, a reason to 'Live Forever'.
In a 23-song setlist, we get 1 song post-2000, 'Little by Little' sung by Noel. A song which had been given a new lease of life on Noel's solo tours. Liam's solo gigs had been for many the closest many of us had ever got to an Oasis gig. In particular, his 2024 'Definitely Maybe' tour, where he played that record in full and chucked in some b-sides for good measure. We all knew it wasn't the full thing, though.
The crowd in Cardiff last night was full of teenagers and twenty-somethings who were children when Oasis broke up, as well as Mums, Dads, Grandparents, and those in their 90s who were in their heyday. Gone is the crowd that was there in 2009, a very male-dominated, football-orientated, lager-fuelled mass, replaced by a more diverse and frankly better crowd. A crowd fuelled by unity and optimism, not warm flat lager and cocaine.
This Oasis setlist is all about the hits, kicking off with ‘Hello’ and swiftly rolling into ‘Acquiesce’. “Because we need each other, we believe in one another,” Noel sings back to Liam it’s been far too long. ‘Morning Glory’, ‘Some Might Say’, ‘Bring It On Down’, ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’, ‘Fade Away’, ‘Supersonic’, they come thick and fast, the momentum never letting up.
With no new album to promote and nothing new they feel obliged to play, these songs have transcended time. They’ve become part of the fabric of life: echoing from football terraces, spinning at wedding discos, soundtracking the quiet grief of funerals, and lingering in the final embrace of an all-nighter.
This was what we needed; the band sounds great, the songs have always been great, and watching footage back, it's clear they all want to be there. Noel has his moment with three absolute classics in the form of 'Talk Tonight', 'Half the World Away' and 'Little by Little', all of which have the same impact as the other set highlights despite lacking the Rock n Roll sledgehammer that is Liam's voice.
A majestic, Bowie-honouring 'Stand By Me' festooned with visuals of family snapshots, is a real highlight, 'Cast No Shadow' quickly regains sublime ground with both brothers taking vocal duties. The song's poignancy is even greater because, when it was written in 1995, Noel dedicated it to then-Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft, who was coincidentally supporting the band tonight
From there it’s a historic closing stretch: an almighty 'Slide Away'; the crowd carrying the orchestral refrain of 'Whatever'. These songs still hold up remarkably well. Most of them were written by a young disinfranchised Noel, living in Manchester, about how the working class were feeling after being under Tory rule for so long. Sound familiar.
‘Live Forever’ became the moment the band paid tribute to Diogo Jota, who tragically passed away in a car accident alongside his brother André earlier this week. As the song ended, Jota’s shirt appeared on the screen — a powerful, heartfelt gesture in what was arguably the band’s most significant moment in years. It was a beautiful tribute to a brilliant footballer, and, as countless tributes over the past days have made clear, a much-loved husband, father, brother, and son.
"Thank you very much to Gem Archer on the guitar, Andy Bell on bass guitar, our 14th drummer Mr Joey Waronker, and this fucking uber legend here," ends a humbled Noel, with the camera panning to Saint Bonehead."
This song is for all the people in their twenties who have never seen us before and kept this going for 20 years," Noel shares, introducing the opening encore track 'The Masterplan'. The band's gratitude towards their fans is evident, making the audience feel appreciated.
The show comes to an end with the three big hitters, the songs that have become part of the furniture. 'Wonderwall', the Noel-led anthem for defiance, 'Don't Look Back in Anger' and the glorious epic swirl of the everlasting 'Champagne Supernova'. They're back, and they are at their best they've been since the late 90s, exuding the same energy and enthusiasm that made them famous.
For those there at the start, and for those seeing them for the first time. Oasis put on one of their best ever shows. Delivering Oasis, at their very best. Of course, you could have heard most of the setlist across both brothers' solo shows in the past decade or so, but hearing them again with them both together is what makes these shows important and special.
There's a reason that the hype around these shows has been the way it has. It's hard to imagine a musical comeback as momentous as this. Could The Smiths fill seven Wembley Stadiums? A reunited Pink Floyd? Led Zeppelin, even? And what are the chances of those ever happening?
At a time when we as a nation needed this, the brothers Gallagher stepped up to the plate. The NME put it best in their review of the show: "Lord knows we needed a taste of that halcyon '90s hope and abandon in 2025 – especially for the raving and craving Gen-Zers. The world is a rotting shitty bin-fire and tomorrow never knows, but tonight, you're a rock'n'roll star."
Oasis's Cardiff Setlist was as follows:
‘Hello’
‘Acquiesce’
‘Morning Glory’
‘Some Might Say’
‘Bring It On Down’
‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’
‘Fade Away’
‘Supersonic’
‘Roll With It’
‘Talk Tonight’
‘Half The World Away’
‘Little By Little’
‘D’You Know What I Mean?’
‘Stand By Me’
‘Cast No Shadow’
‘Slide Away’
‘Whatever’
‘Live Forever’
‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’
‘The Masterplan’
‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’
‘Wonderwall’
‘Champagne Supernova’
Thank you for reading, when I started this blog 5.5 years ago I never ever thought I'd be writing about an Oasis reunion.
The 15 year old me, is buzzing and the 25 year old me is to. I'm one of the very very lucky ones. I'll get to see this show in Manchester in a couple of weeks. It's still blowing my mind that they are back, and back on stage together.
Jack.