Last week, and almost exactly 15 years to the day they called it quits in wildly dramatic fashion, Britpop titans Oasis revealed they would be getting back together for a series of concerts next year in the United Kingdom. The news set off a firestorm of excitement across the pond among the media, longtime fans, and those too young to have experienced the group in their heyday.
Led by Noel and Liam Gallagher, the singer and guitarist/primary songwriter carried on the tradition of warring musical siblings served up by the likes of The Kinks and The Black Crowes, acts who made beautiful songs but often left each other black and blue physically and psychologically. The overseas popularity of Oasis was nothing short of colossal beginning in 1994 when they delivered the one-two-punch rock and roll masterworks Definitely Maybe, followed the next year by (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? breaking all sorts of sales and chart records along the way.
When not wrapped up in internal strife, the brash and ego-driven Oasis picked fights with rock and roll royalty like George Harrison, Phil Collins, and Radiohead. They declared themselves the greatest thing since The Beatles and, incredibly, were right, at least in England. Here in America, while certainly the most popular of the Britpop explosion bands in the mid-90s, they never caught on – or toured – enough to break big, despite an abundance of airplay on radio and MTV for songs like “Wonderwall” and “Live Forever.”
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In Philadelphia, where I grew up, Oasis first came to town in the fall of 1994 for a show at J.C. Dobbs. And while gigs at The Tower Theater sold well, the biggest audience turnouts the Brits received were an embarrassingly two-thirds full Wells Fargo Center as its inaugural concert in September 1996 when it was still called the CoreStates Center. Performances at what’s now Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, the group could only fill it when the lawn was closed for the winter in 1998 and 2008 or as co-headliners with The Black Crowes in 2001.
Everything came to a head between the Gallaghers on Aug. 28, 2009, moments before the Oasis was set to take the stage at Rock en Seine outside of Paris. Liam and Noel got into a typical argument backstage, apparently ending with the former launching a plum across the dressing room at his older brother before stalking out. But that wasn’t it, according to Noel, as Liam soon returned swinging a guitar “like an axe” at him. When the tour manager made the five-minute call to take the stage, Noel took that long to decide it was over and split the festival.
“As a result of an altercation within the band, the Oasis gig has been cancelled,” flashed messages on the screens at the fest grounds while Noel dropped a bombshell statement just hours later.
“It is with some sadness and great relief…I quit Oasis tonight,” it read. “People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”
Both brothers had varying degrees of success on their own, Noel with his High Flying Birds outfit and Liam when he decided to focus squarely on Oasis material live, like when he headlined the Reading Festival two weekends ago, performing the band’s debut in full.
Liam spent years insulting his brother’s height, looks, children, wife – anything to get a rise out of him. More recently though, he’s called on Noel to take part in an Oasis reunion, initially rebuffed then told, “He should get his people to call my people.”
Someone must have acquiesced, as Tuesday morning saw 14 shows in the United Kingdom announced, including four at Wembley Stadium in London. It was splashed across front pages there as news programs breathlessly led with the story.
“The guns have fallen silent,” read a statement from the band. “The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”
Tickets went on sale over this past weekend and sold out immediately. It’s expected more will be announced shortly. Wembley is rumored to be on hold for 10 Oasis dates, which would break the record of shows in a calendar year at the venue. Currently, Taylor Swift and the English pop group Take That are tied with eight shows in that stretch.
As for North America, it appears as if the team behind Oasis is hedging their bets. Only six shows are rumored to be on the docket, with just four in the States. But all of them are in stadiums, a bold move as the last time the band came through the country, they never drew more than 10,000 people, with most nights hovering around half that.
Still, it’s believed that the Gallaghers and Co. will be coming closest to our area with an evening in East Rutherford, N.J. at MetLife Stadium. They will also visit Boston’s Gillette Stadium, Chicago’s Soldier Field, and the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. The other two dates will be Toronto, Canada, and Mexico City.
It remains to be seen how much of a draw Britpop will be the second time around, but nostalgia can be a funny, unpredictable creature.
A version of this article appears in this week’s print and online editions of my syndicated Rock Music Menu column under the title “Oasis announces reunion, but will America care?“
The Chronicles of Michael Christopher 