Noel and Liam Gallagher buried the hatchet before more than 60,000 fans last night when they got Oasis back together for their first concert in 16 years.
The group presented a two-hour songbook filled with some of Britpop’s greatest hits, all of it culled from the group’s chart-busting catalog that breathed new life into the 1990s pop scene.
Performing in the Welsh capital of Cardiff at Principality Stadium, the group made it feel like the party had never ended.
The concert opened with a display of tabloid headlines about the fighting fraternity at the heart of Oasis. It ended with the statement, “The Guns Have Fallen Silent,” at which point Oasis took the stage to a stadium-shaking roar and kicked the night off with — appropriately — “Hello,” with its refrain, “It’s good to be back.”
The Gallagher brothers are famous for their battles, which have kept Oasis off the musical map for years. Their last performance was on August 22, 2009, at the V Festival in Weston Park, England. Although the group had a date to perform at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris one week later, they never appeared after Liam lunged at Noel backstage with a guitar in his hand. Soon after, Noel announced he had quit the band.
But all was fine between them in Cardiff. The brothers were in good form, not the least Liam, who offered quips to the audience between songs.
News of Oasis’s reunion created a mad dash for tickets that forced some die-hards to pay hundreds for the privilege.
Liam was apparently well aware of this and made sure to check in on the mood of the crowd.
“Was it worth the 40,000 pounds you paid for the ticket?” he asked at one point, causing the audience to respond with a defeaning roar of approval.
Fans got a preview of Liam’s infamous cheeky side just the day before. The singer was clearly delighted to learn that a fan at a Green Day concert two days earlier had been invited onstage to play guitar on the hit “Good Riddance,” only to launch into the Oasis hit “Wonderwall” instead.
“Best song of the night,” Liam posted on his X account.
He stepped aside from the mic for Noel to take lead on a few songs, including “Half the World Away.” He performed on a selection of electric guitars for the show, including a black Les Paul and what appeared to be his 1960s red-finished Gibson ES-355 semihollow with a Bigsby. Gallagher told Music Radar in November 2011 that he frequently chooses it for performance, noting, "Usually, I just pick my 1960's Gibson 355 — that's the basis for everything."
As for the Les Paul, it appeared to be his 1954 Les Paul Custom VOS Ebony, fitted with a Bigsby, which is the guitar he played when performing a cover of Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” with Oasis at Wembley in 2000.
One gripping and heartfelt moment came when Oasis played their 1994 top-10 breakthrough, “Live Forever,” as a photo of Diogo Jota was projected above the group. The Liverpool Football Club player died in a car crash on Thursday, at the age of just 28.
The evening ended on a high note with the band performing their biggest and best-loved hits, including “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova.”
Best of all, the battling brothers had not an unkind moment between them, making it — almost — like old times.
