Oasis reunion: Liam and Noel Gallagher announce comeback tour - full list of dates
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The 90s Britpop legends set tongues wagging after teasing fans with a date and time in the aftermath of Liam Gallagher’s headline set at Reading Festival over the weekend. Social media lit up with rumours of a reunion last week, with the ominous teaser sending diehard fans wild with excitement.
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It has now been confirmed that Noel and Liam are set to be together on stage on again. There are rumours that the famously-feuding brothers may also be lining up for a once-in-a-lifetime Glastonbury reunion.
The confirmed tour dates are:
- Cardiff Principality Stadium - July 4/5
- Manchester Heaton Park - July 11 /12/19/20
- London Wembley Stadium - July 25/26, August 2/3
- Edinburgh Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium - August 8/9
- Dublin Croke Park - August 16/17
Tickets go on sale at 9am on Saturday, August 31. They will be available via Ticketmaster and Gigs and Tours with fans recommended to register to avoid disappointment.
Oasis quickly became one of the UK’s biggest bands ever after bursting onto the scene in the 1990s, rising through the ranks to hit the top of the charts and eventually play one of the biggest standalone headline gigs the country has ever held. Oasis’ highly-anticipated return comes as they celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut album Definitely, Maybe which would go on to sell over 8.5 million copies worldwide.
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When did Oasis form?
Oasis formed in Manchester in 1991 under the name of Rain with a line-up that featured bassist Paul McGuigan, guitarist Paul Arthurs, drummer Tony McCarroll and singer Chris Hutton. The now-legendary Liam Gallagher would go on to replace Hutton as lead vocalist, at which point the band changed their name to the famous moniker.
After the band played their first gig at the Boardwalk Club in Manchester in August 1991. Liam’s brother Noel then approached his brother’s band armed with a catalogue of songs and offered to be Oasis’ songwriter. He would also go on to become the band’s lead guitarist and heavily influenced the distorted sound that would become a hallmark of the Britpop genre in the 1990s.
In May 1993, the band got their first big breakthrough after being spotted by Creation Records co-owner Alan McGee during a live show at Glasgow’s King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut. McGee offered Oasis a recording contract, with the members signing with McGee several months later.
Oasis released their first single, Supersonic, in April 1994, with their subsequent single Live Forever, becoming the first to reach the UK Singles Chart. Eventually, the band’s debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’ released on August 29, 1994, going straight to number one and becoming the fastest selling debut album in the UK until that point.
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What happened between Oasis and Blur?
‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’, Oasis’ second album was released in October 1995, alongside iconic hits such as Wonderwall and Don’t Look back In Anger, with the band’s popularity now in full swing. During this time, a famous tabloid-fodder battle with fellow Britpop act Blur was sparked, with the two bands releasing singles on the same day. Blur, who released Country House in the same week as Oasis’ hit Roll With It, won the ‘Battle of Britpop’, marginally topping the charts over the Gallagher brothers.
While Oasis were beloved as working-class icons, Blur were regarded by many to be a much more middle class affair, with Oasis dubbing the Damon Albarn-fronted outfit “art school w***ers”. After winning the Battle of Britpop, Blur performed on Top Of The Pops, with bassist Alex James further provoking the Gallagher brother by wearing an Oasis T-shirt on stage during the performance.
While Blur topped the charts with their album The Great Escape, it failed to reach the critical and commercial acclaim of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, with Liam famously singing the Blur lyrics “All the people, so many people..” at the 1996 Brit Awards during which Oasis won three gongs and Blur left empty-handed.
What happened at Knebworth?
Knebworth was undoubtedly Oasis’ crowning during during the height of their active years. The now-legendary gigs took place at Knebworth House on 10 and 11 August, 1996, playing to a recording breaking crowd of 250,000 people each night. The show remains as having the biggest demand for a live show in UK history, with 2.5 million people (around 4% of the UK’s population) applying for tickets, which could have seen Oasis sell out the venue for another 18 nights.
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They were joined by bands such as The Charlatans, Manic Street Preachers, The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy, with The Stone Roses and Mancunian hero John Squire also joining the band on stage for a rendition of Champagne Supernova. To this day, the gigs at Knebworth remain in many people’s eyes as one of the most ground-breaking in UK music history.
Why did Oasis split up?
While Oasis feuded with fellow Britpop stars in the press, there was another inner-band battle brewing between the Gallagher brothers. Cracks first started appearing in 1994, with Noel spectacularly - and temporarily - quitting the band during a US tour after Liam reportedly hurling insults at the band members backstage.
While Noel eventually returned, rumours of arguments between the famous brothers persisted. According to reports, during the recording of ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’, Noel hit his brother over the head with a cricket bat after Liam brought a group of people back to the studio while Noel attempted to work on the album.
Adding more fuel t the fire, Liam refused to play on stage with the band during their 1996 MTV Unplugged performance, with Noel telling the crowd: “Liam ain't gonna be with us 'cause he's got a sore throat, so you're stuck with the ugly four". However, the singer stood in the crowd and watched the performance and even heckled the band.
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In 2000, the dispute boiled to a head following a cancelled show in Barcelona. While the reason for the cancellation was down to injured drummer Alan White, the band were left to drink instead of performing, with nasty drunken argument surfacing, including Liam questioning the legitimacy of Noel’s daughter Anais. Noel then quit the band for a second time, leaving the Noel-less Oasis to complete the European tour alone.
The end of Oasis came in 2009, with Noel remarking that Liam was “the angriest man you’ll ever meet”, later saying “life would be easier without Oasis. Following a cancelled appearance at V Festival in the same year, the band shocked fans at Rock En Seine in Paris after an argument sparked backstage moments before the performance caused the band to cancel the show altogether.
In a statement following the incident, Noel confirmed that he had left the group for good, saying: “I feel you have the right to know that the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable. And the lack of support and understanding from my management and band mates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new.”
Over the past few years, rumours of a rekindled relationship between the two have surfaced to varying levels of truth, but it looks like Liam and Noel have squashed their beef for the time being. While the brothers went on to achieve success in their own right - Liam with Beady Eye and later under his own solo name, and Noel with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - fans are more than excited to have the brothers back on the same stage again.
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