Oasis reunion: Why now?
From the moment Liam Gallagher swung his guitar in brother Noel’s direction backstage at Rock en Seine 15 Augusts ago, the die was cast. Not only would the Gallagher brothers go their separate ways, putting an end to the tumultuous musical partnership that defined one of Britain’s revered rock acts. But the stage would be set for a triumphant Oasis return, the comeback to end all rock and roll comebacks, at some indefinable point in the future.
The ink had barely dried on Noel’s resignation statement before questions started coming thick and fast. Would they ever get back together? When, where, and how? What would it take to heal wounds that apparently ran so deep that Noel and Liam had to arrange separate times to visit their mother at Christmas?
Noel was implacable. Whenever the question was put to him, the answer was as close to “nothing” and “never” as he could get it, without leaving him open to the accusation of hypocrisy if he eventually relented to public demand. Even as recently as 2021, he told Project TV, “I just don’t feel like it.” And just any particularly optimistic fans still saw the glimmer of an opening through the door, he shut it completely. “Oasis is done, I’m afraid.”
Liam was born on a different cloud, though, and couldn’t understand his brother’s reticence at the idea of an Oasis reunion. When Howard Stern asked him about getting the group back together in 2017, the singer responded instantly, “Without a doubt, that’s my band.” This response was consistent with the line Liam has put out for most of the period since Noel walked out of that Paris dressing room.
The only problem is that Oasis also happens to be the band of the guitarist and songwriter Noel, who Liam has spent most of the past decade lampooning on Twitter. Arguably, the low point of the pair’s relationship came when the younger Gallagher called out his brother for not performing at Ariana Grande’s commemorative concert two weeks after the Manchester Arena bombing. Noel did perform at the venue’s reopening later that same year, though, something Liam didn’t appreciate either.
Back then, the return of Oasis couldn’t have felt further away. “We’ve gotta become brothers first,” Liam explained in an uncharacteristically salient observation. “Before we start talking about music.” Well, brothers they are again, it seems. Almost exactly 15 years to the day that the Gallaghers last shared a dressing room, Oasis are back in business. But what’s led us to this point?
Liam in the limelight
This time last year, Liam Gallagher’s album Knebworth ‘22 became his second live release to top the UK album chart, two months after he’d played two sold-out nights at the venue to 170,000 people. Knebworth was the scene of Oasis’ greatest success as a live band, as they staged two of the largest shows ever put on by an artist anywhere in the world in August 1996.
Even Noel had to give Liam his dues for emulating their band’s historic performances and suggested his younger brother didn’t “need” to reunite with Oasis when he was drawing such audiences of his own. And there were signs that Liam was finally coming out of his big brother’s shadow on musical terms altogether.
Six months later, he was back at number one with his fourth studio album, a collaborative work with Stone Roses guitarist John Squire. It continued his clean sweep of chart-toppers for studio releases in the UK, a feat Noel hasn’t quite managed to match.
And it proved that the Gallagher, who’s been harping on about his former band while trolling his brother on social media, wasn’t simply after attention or living off the Oasis name. Any talk of reconciliation on Liam’s part was now clearly more out of want than necessary.
Is Noel no longer flying high?
Meanwhile, his older brother proved he could still write a winning song or three on last year’s Council Skies. Noel’s fourth solo album was critically acclaimed and precipitated the biggest headline tour his High Flying Birds have managed to date.
Yet it was the first original material he’d put out for almost six years. Before its release, there was a growing sense that the well, which created timeless melodies like ‘Live Forever’, ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ and ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ was running dry. And for all the credit Noel received in the music columns for his return to form, he simply couldn’t compete with the number of records and tickets his brother was selling.
The theme of his latest album, which served a tribute to his childhood in the Moss Side area of Manchester, suggested he might be reflecting on times gone by through a more positive lens than he had done over the previous 14 years. And his stance in relation to Oasis was softening, too.
During an interview with Talk Sport in May 2023, he challenged Liam to call him about a possible reunion, a challenge he repeated backstage before a show in Seattle in June 2023 in an interview with KPNW radio. “I fucking dare you to call me,” he said, pointing at the camera. On his own thoughts about the reunion, he added, “I couldn’t give a flying fuck one way or the other.” Which marked a significant change from not feeling like it.
Rumours really began to swirl when the band’s former bassist Andy Bell predicted a reunion akin to the Stone Roses’ recent stadium gigs could be in the works. Clearly a phone call between the Gallagher brothers or their representatives had taken place. Something was up.
Many happy returns
And what better time to announce a comeback of such seismic proportions than around the 30th anniversary of your first record’s release date, precisely a decade and a half on from the week you split? And how about a headline set at Glastonbury to bring it on down, 30 years on from your first time topping the bill on the Pyramid Stage?
Oasis have form when it comes to timing releases around dates of historical significance for the band. Their Time Flies singles compilation came out 25 years on from record-breaking sophomore album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory, and the documentary Supersonic appeared six years after that, to celebrate the 30th birthday of their Knebworth gigs. And now that the music world is marking 30 years since the release of Definitely Maybe, the moment has arrived for the biggest announcement of all.
Oasis fans, young and old, would have been champing at the bit for this news whenever it came. And the timing of Noel’s change in stance, fundamental to any attempt to reunite the band, was more down to the thawing of feelings through the years, his waning ambitions as a solo artist, and Liam’s comparative success during recent album cycles. But there’s nothing like a big anniversary to add that extra sense of anticipation, as well as the nostalgic and sentimental value special dates hold.
Just ask The Beatles, who released their Anthology project and two new singles exactly 25 years after their break-up. And when it comes to Oasis, no one is more worthy of imitation than the Fab Four.
