Noel and Liam Gallagher have walked out on stage together in Cardiff – reuniting Oasis and ending a row which has lasted over a decade.
The Manchester brothers swaggered out into the Principality Stadium to incredible noise from the crowd, for the biggest rock reunion the world has ever seen. Walking on stage to their 2000 track, F***in’ in the Bushes, the band were welcomed by cheers from the sold-out crowds as thousands of pints were thrown into the air.
Having finished their first track, the crowd were treated to Acquiesce, which first appeared as a B-side to their first UK Number One single, Some Might Say. “Hey, beautiful people, it’s been too long,” Liam said as he addressed the crowd before performing their 1995 mega-hit, Morning Glory.
In true Liam style, he made a cheeky remark to the crowd, joking: “I see you’re all on the glue still down there!”
The brothers, who have only been pictured together twice since announcing the tour a year ago, got straight into the hits, blasting out Oasis anthems in the Cardiff sunshine and thrilling over 70,000 fans in the stadium, many of whom had been enjoying drinking in pubs around the venue all afternoon.
It was estimated more than 100,000 people travelled to Cardiff yesterday, with some hoping to get a last minute ticket or just to be there to celebrate in the pubs and bars as they parties late into the night with Oasis songs played on loop.
Fans Lachlan Weekes and Jayden Helm, who spent more than a day travelling from Sydney, Australia, to attend the concert in the Welsh capital, were among fans gathering ahead of the gig.
Mr Weekes said: “We’ve been planning it forever. We always said that if they got back together, we’d be at that first show.” Mr Helm said: “We’ve been lifelong fans – we’re 22 and 21, so haven’t really had a chance to see them before.
“We always said it was worth it to come, we wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he added. “To take time off work to come over here, it’s more than worth it.” The pair also visited Manchester, where the band formed in 1991, stopping off at Heaton Park as part of their personal Oasis tour.
Alex Schuetz, an Oasis fan from Germany, said you could not travel far enough to see the band. “The first time I saw them was in 1997,” he said.
“The last time was in Manchester 2009, just before they broke up. I even got a ticket for a small festival in Germany, and on the ferry to that festival, I heard they broke up. I was like, ‘Oh my god’ something was dying inside of me – it sounds a bit stupid, but it took me ages (to get over it).” He added: “I’ve come from Germany. You cannot travel far enough, I’ve been a fan since 1995.”
The brothers announced the Oasis Live ’25 tour last August, starting with two dates in Cardiff on Friday and Saturday, before heading across the UK and Ireland. In the tour programme Noel reflected on playing with Oasis and his brother, saying: “People will never forget the way you made them feel.”
He also mused about why so many people of all ages tried to get tickets for the Oasis Live 25 tour. Noel said: “A new generation recognises how Oasis wasn’t manufactured. It was chaotic, and flawed, and not technically brilliant. We were rough and ready guys from a rehearsal room, and people recognised it.”
Liam has been vocal for weeks on X, formerly Twitter, about the gigs. Asked how he felt to be performing with Noel again he said: “You know what it’s spiritual but I can’t help think about all those wasted years, what a waste of PRECIOUS time.”
Liam also claimed last year he was the one to wave the olive branch in terms of them getting back together. He said: “I called him but don’t tell anyone as I don’t want folk thinking I’m a soft lad and stuffs keep it between me n you cheers.”
The reunion announcement last year came 15 years after Noel quit the Britpop band, saying he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer”, following a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris.
While fans have been pleading for the group to reunite since they disbanded, website issues and controversial dynamic pricing brought outrage, with many failing to secure a spot.
After tickets for the UK and Ireland shows went on sale last year, some standard tickets appeared to have jumped from £148 to £355.
The controversy prompted the Government and the UK’s competition watchdog to pledge to look at the use of dynamic pricing. Following Cardiff, Oasis will visit Manchester’s Heaton Park, London’s Wembley Stadium, Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium and Dublin’s Croke Park throughout July, August and September.
The group will then head to Japan, South Korea, South America, Australia and North America. A movie, produced by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, is being made in conjunction with the reunion tour.
The rock band was led by lead guitarist Noel and his frontman brother Liam, during their 18 years together. Oasis signed to independent record label Creation Records in 1993, rising to fame with the release of their debut chart-topping album Definitely Maybe on August 29 1994 followed by (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Which became one of the biggest selling albums ever released in 1995.