I was lucky enough to see Oasis numerous times, and though I’ve seen Liam and Noel since their break-up, I can’t say either has come close to that feeling of seeing them on stage together. Last night, at the O2 Arena, and last week in Cardiff was as close as it’s ever come. I might have been finally converted into believing that a reunion not only might happen, but needs to happen.
There’s no band for my money in this country that has have the ability to pull the collective hopes, fears and dreams of us all into music like Oasis. Hearing Liam tear through tunes he probably hasn’t listened to in 30 years as if they were written yesterday is incredible in an era where even the most old-school guitar bands are rehearsed, choreographed and media trained to the millisecond. Despite the staging, and huge screens (all really impressive to be fair), it felt raw, and real. It’s the simplicity of the songs that shone through, like they were in his blood.
Kicking off with pretty much the first 20 minutes of Definitely Maybe, the gig launched like a rocket as usual. Before you realised it, he was about six songs into it, and he was playing ‘old songs’ that probably 95% of the audience had never heard. For old school fans like me, it was incredible to hear Liam in 2024 singing tunes like Lock All The Doors that felt so of-their-time from those early 90s demos when they sounded so young and raw. One of the other surreal moments of the night was Half The World Away, sung by Liam live for the first time. To me it feels the quintessential Noel song, but somehow it felt right he was singing it. In the same way that Noel can get away with most Liam-sung songs, because they’re coming from the bloke who wrote them in his bedroom.
The last 30 minutes are what will live in everyone’s memory though. To be able to pull out Cigarettes and Alcohol, Slide Away, Supersonic and Live Forever, all from the same album is pretty stunning, especially when you’ve got 15,000 people singing every single word. Again, it’s a strange sensation when months apart from each other, you see Noel playing Live Forever acoustically, with a choir and it really hits you, then you see Liam do it with a full band, heavy as, and it hits you in a totally different way.
Overall though, a few hours on, my memory of it is clouded by the feeling that something is still missing from it all. You just think about how that would all feel if it came together, both versions, both visions etc. The sensation as we walked to the tube station with thousands of people singing Wonderwall and Supersonic whilst the guy who wrote them was at home on his own, contemplating another solo record whilst all the fun was being had at this gig was strange. Just the daydream of imagining that same gig, but with Noel, Bonehead and one or two other original members is immense. There’s not a band alive that could come close to that.
I can’t think how Liam could have topped tonight, and it was epic seeing him and Bonehead back together for a full set. It was by a long way the best ‘retrospective’ gig I’ve seen of someone doing a classic album. I’d go again tonight if I could, but it would be hard to watch it all unfold without the feeling (that I haven’t had that much until last night), that it could be bettered by going all the way and celebrating the music together, as a full band. If not, then fingers crossed we get a WTSMG tour next year!