A series of giant video screens showed press clippings of the initial reports of the Oasis reunion to some pre-recorded music before the familiar opening chords of 1995’s Hello rang out… and then they were there: the famously combustible Liam and Noel Gallagher, back onstage together as part of Oasis for the first time in 16 years.
With the roof of the Principality Stadium closed for the night, and a few glimmers of sunlight peeping through its four corners, the cheers from 74,500 fans were deafening. From a personal mini soaking, I can testify that plenty of plastic beer cups were tossed into the air at that point.
It was an electrifying start, with Hello followed by fan favourite Acquiesce. ‘We need each other, we believe in one another,’ goes the chorus. ‘And I know we’re going to uncover what’s sleeping in our soul.’
After all the hype, the bickering and the furore over Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing system, this year’s most hotly anticipated reunion tour was finally under way in Cardiff, the first of two sold-out nights in the Welsh capital.
None of the contents of a fruit bowl, it appears, were smashed against a dressing room wall beforehand, as reportedly happened in one pivotal Liam-Noel flare-up in 2009.
Liam, the most charismatic singer of his era, and guitarist Noel last shared a stage when Oasis finished their set at 2009’s V Festival in Staffordshire with a cover of The Beatles’ I Am The Walrus.
The familiar opening chords of 1995’s Hello rang out… and then they were there: the famously combustible Liam and Noel Gallagher , back onstage together as part of Oasis for the first time in 16 years
With the roof of the Principality Stadium closed for the night, and a few glimmers of sunlight peeping through its four corners, the cheers from 74,500 fans were deafening
It was an electrifying start, with Hello followed by fan favourite Acquiesce. ‘We need each other, we believe in one another,’ goes the chorus
After all the hype, the bickering and the furore over Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing system, this year’s most hotly anticipated reunion tour was finally under way in Cardiff, the first of two sold-out nights in the Welsh capital
In the 16 years since, guitar bands have fallen out of fashion, and the charts are more likely to feature TikTok-friendly boy-next-door types and vibrant young female singer-songwriters.
But as the unprecedented demand for the 19 British and Irish shows proved, there’s still an enormous appetite for a rock and roll band with swagger, edge, attitude and genuinely great tunes – and the Oasis Live ‘25 tour fits that bill perfectly.
The traffic-free streets of the city centre had earlier been buzzing, the pubs packed with fans in bucket hats and Oasis-branded T-shirts, many in the sky blue of Liam and Noel’s beloved Manchester City.
On Quay Street, a busker sang Slide Away and Don’t Look Back In Anger in the sunshine. Inside the stadium, after a fine support set by former Verve singer Richard Ashcroft, a DJ warmed up the crowd by playing Oasis-friendly hits such as The Jam’s A Town Called Malice and The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows.
But the decibel level then rose several notches once the huge Oasis wall of sound emerged from the stage, with the two Gallaghers accompanied by fellow founder member Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs, Gem Archer, Cardiff-born Andy Bell and American drummer Joey Waronker, who nailed those hard-driving Oasis beats with precise aplomb despite being the only one never to have played with the band before.
Two more crowd-pleasing bangers, Morning Glory and Some Might Say, followed before a parka-clad Liam, traditionally a man of few words onstage, asked fans to link arms, turn their backs on the band and ‘do the Poznan’, a lively Polish football celebration adopted by fans of City.
‘Anyone here from Burnage?,’ he then asked, a reference to the part of Manchester where the Gallaghers grew up.
Liam, the most charismatic singer of his era, and guitarist Noel last shared a stage when Oasis finished their set at 2009’s V Festival in Staffordshire with a cover of The Beatles ’ I Am The Walrus
As the unprecedented demand for the 19 British and Irish shows proved, there’s still an enormous appetite for a rock and roll band with swagger, edge, attitude and genuinely great tunes
The decibel level then rose several notches once the huge Oasis wall of sound emerged from the stage
The two Gallaghers were accompanied by fellow founder member Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs, Gem Archer, Cardiff-born Andy Bell and American drummer Joey Waronker
With Noel in a blue denim shirt to his brother’s left, but not too close, the hits kept on coming, each one more rapturously received, with Liam in superb voice on Supersonic and Roll With It, the latter accompanied by pop-art visuals on the screens.
‘Thank you very much,’ said Noel, before stepping up to sing solo lead vocals on a mini-set which included Talk Tonight, a relatively obscure 1995 B-side, and an emotional Half The World Away – the theme tune to BBC sitcom The Royle Family.
It allowed everyone a breather before the tempo rose again, with Noel again singing Little By Little.
Back in their heyday, Oasis took on the job of lifting the spirits of the nation. With the Gallaghers putting their differences aside, these unlikely national treasures might just be about to do it again.
