Music

It proved a right perfect evening, as the Brits might say. August 24—Oasis’s first of two sold-out shows at Toronto’s Rogers Stadium—kicked off the North American leg of their reunion tour by bringing the U.K.’s rainy weather, Manchester City’s Poznań tradition, and a two-hour set of Brit-pop classics, all under the watchful eye of a blue-and-white scarved cardboard cut-out of Man City manager Pep Guardiola.

What the famously feuding brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher didn’t bring on the Oasis Live ’25 global tour were any tantrums, insults, cricket bats, swinging guitars, or middle fingers after burying the hatchet following their 2009 band and brotherly bust-up, and blowing away fans by announcing the Oasis reunion a year ago. 

And so far, so fuckin’ brilliant is how Oasis Live ’25 is going. 

The U.K. tour began with two shows in Cardiff, Wales, July 4-5, and included five in their hometown of Manchester and seven in total in London (two are in September), all sold-out stadiums that hold between 75,000 and 90,000 people. This is nothing even close to a nostalgia act playing the casino circuit; Oasis could easily do a residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere (hint hint). People want this and now the brothers do too. Hence, they are playing stadiums in North American cities which they never did in the ’90s or 2000s, although they were a healthy arena act. But the mania has grown. 

Perhaps the man in charge of their beloved hometown English football team provides a constant reminder for them to get along, that they play for the same team—Oasis. 

While rock ‘n roll does keep you young, and perhaps a little immature (Noel is now 58 and Liam 52), it’s been more than three decades since their breakthrough 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe made instant rock stars out of the brothers who grew up in a government-subsidized council estate. Their follow-up, 1995’s (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, proved it wasn’t a fluke. They sold some 75 million albums worldwide in 15 years over seven studio albums.

With excitement off the charts for the pair of Toronto shows—Oasis last played here in 2008 at Virgin Festival, where a fan assaulted Noel onstage, sending him flying into the monitors and breaking three ribs—the massive screen that spanned the width of the stadium flashed “This is not a drill” and various news headlines speculating “Liam and Noel on speaking terms again” and rumours of a reunion. The brothers then emerged on stage, arms raised overhead, holding hands. Noel bowed to Liam and Liam gave his big brother a quick hug. 

“Oasis vibes in the area,” Liam—the parka-wearing frontman—greeted us, as “TORONTO” and “this is it; this is happening” appeared on the video backdrop. And then it did. It happened.

Opening, appropriately, with “Hello,” 50,000 people were on a high for the next two hours.  

Joining Liam and Noel, lead singer and guitarist/singer/songwriter respectively, are Oasis stalwarts guitarists Gem Archer and Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, bassist Andy Bell, plus new drummer Joey Waronker, keyboardist Christian Madden, and horn section Alastair White, Joe Auckland, and Steve Hamilton. Roughly half the 23-song setlist came from the band’s first two albums, unchanged from the U.K. shows.

They went into pogo-prompting “Acquiesce,” then “Morning Glory,” “Some Might Say” and “Bring It On Down,” before Liam had some instructions for the Canadians, who, as Noel griped, like hockey: How to do the Poznań, the Man City celebration love-in bounce, for the ripping “Cigarettes & Alcohol.”

The fans on the floor—many of whom had travelled from far and wide—knew the drill. The frontman goaded us by saying a geezer told him he wouldn’t be able to get Canadians to do it, “because they’re a little bit shy and a little bit scared,” and, “you all smoke pot now, so they’re all fuckin’ out of yer heads.” He then told us to “turn ’round, put your arms around each other, give each other a cuddle and just jump up and down; it’s easy.” 

“We showed ‘im,” he said afterwards in his glorious Mancunian accent.

The brothers otherwise said little onstage, producing music as good as ever, Noel on guitar and some vocals, and Liam’s cool arms-behind-his-back posture at the mic, the same as it ever was, as they went through “Fade Away,” “Supersonic,” “Roll With It,” and Noel taking the lead for “Talk Tonight,” “Half the World Away,” and “Little By Little.”

Liam dedicated “D’You Know What I Mean?” to the “warriors,” and he couldn’t have been more split-second prophetic before the rain began—a little at first, around “Stand by Me,” “Cast No Shadow,” and “Slide Away” and then it was windy and torrential. People put boxes on their heads. Some ran to guest services to get plastic ponchos. Some even used their merch bags or new Oasis swag to cover up. Even Liam put the hood of his signature parka up while they waited on some towels so they wouldn’t wipe out on the slippery stage

“It’s only a bit of rain, man. We’re from Manchester,” Liam said. As the weather got more unapologetic, he said “Don’t you just love it? A little bit of chaos when the weather comes,” while later joking that he was told he wouldn’t need a parka during Toronto’s summer, just “shorts, a Bermuda shirt, you’ll have a fucking lovely time.” 

Quipped Noel, “All this money we’re making and we can’t afford a bit of fucking carpet.”

And then as they played through the next hour—“Whatever” (incorporating a bit of the Beatles’ “Octopus’s Garden,” which they did in the ’90s too), “Live Forever,” and “Rock ‘N’ Roll Star”—the crowd settled in and went with it, enjoying the rain, dancing and pogoing, hugging and singing, spirits undampened by the damp. No doubt, it was the universe playing a hilarious joke, testing our willingness to get soaked to the skin after waiting 16 years for the brothers to make up.

The four-song encore—Noel singing “The Masterplan” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger” and Liam capping the night with the anticipated “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova,” preceding it by thanking everyone for sticking with them over the years. “It must be a fucking nightmare to support and followin’ that. Nice one for making this happen and allowing us to put the band back on the map again. Respect. We’ll see you in a bit.”

Next stop is Chicago’s Soldier Field August 28, then two shows in East Rutherford, New Jersey at MetLife Stadium, and two at Pasadena, California’s Rose Bowl. Then, the lads head to Mexico City, back to London, then three weeks later South Korea, Japan, Australia, Argentina, and Chile, wrapping up in Brazil in late November. By the time the tour is over, the Poznań will be a thing all over the world.