Almost a year after Oasis announced their eagerly-awaited return to the stage, the Gallagher brothers greeted 80,000 fans at Manchester’s Heaton Park last Friday as they made their return to the city where it all began.
It marked the first of five Heaton Park shows which will see Oasis play to a combined audience of 400,000 people. Supported by Britpop stars CAST and The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft, Oasis walked out on stage at 8:15pm as the sun began to set over the park.
Fans had travelled from as far as Japan, Costa Rica, North America, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Ireland, Italy and Australia to witness the opening show of Oasis’ five-night homecoming stretch, which concludes this Sunday (20th July).
Stepping to the mic, Noel Gallagher announced, “this is the place,” as Liam Gallagher confirmed, “Oasis vibes in the area. Manchester vibes in the area.” When introducing Half The World Away Noel dedicated the song to co-creators of comedy classic The Royle Family, “This next one’s for Caroline and Craig.”
The epic scale of the Oasis Live ‘25 production was showcased across the weekend, with the Heaton Park screens measuring 84 metres by 12 metres, a full 20 metres bigger than Cardiff’s Principality Stadium last weekend. The screens are the largest ever used at a concert in the UK.
Beyond the Live ‘25 tour, Oasis have made their way back into the Official Charts with three albums in the Top 5. Singles compilation album Time Flies… 1994-2009 shot to #1 this week for the first time since its original release in 2010. Their classic second album, 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Has jumped 12 places to Number 2, while their 1994 debut Definitely Maybe vaults 22 spots to Number 4.
The band have also gained three Top 20 hits in this week’s Official Singles Chart. Acquiesce – originally released as the B-side to the band’s first Number 1 single, 1995’s Some Might Say – climbs to a new peak at Number 17. And returning to the Top 20 are Don’t Look Back in Anger (18) and 1994 Top 10 hit Live Forever (19).
(What’s The Story) Morning Glory? has now been certified 18x Platinum by the BPI in recognition of more than 5.4 million domestic sales.
Oasis’ world tour continues throughout the year, culminating in Brazil at the end of November.
Image credit: Big Brother Recordings