Little did we know that when we went into Reading on the Wednesday that we’d be coming back to an Oasis tour announcement, with the first real confirmation something was happening being right in front of us on the screens at the festival!
There was no real hint before the festival beyond some strange comments on Liam’s Twitter account, which it’s fair to say people didn’t take too seriously as there had been so many similar things said over the years.
Noel had seemed surprisingly chirpy during his headline set at Y Not, “any Oasis fans here?” and “judging by the amount of bucket hats, we’re going to have a good night”. There was something different in his demeanour even then, as he’s not always been as positive about those in bucket hats…
Newspaper gossip
There was a bit of a foreshadowing of what was to come when we were sent a video clip of Noel talking very positively about Liam’s voice in an interview about the Definitely Maybe anniversary, again seeming a bit more publicly happy and positive about things.
Then over the course of the weekend we were sent headlines and links to articles saying the Oasis reunion was on, and even though we were a bit disconnected from it all being in a field and not using our phones too much, it was clear there was more in this than the previous similar articles we’d seen countless times over the years.
Hot topic in the arena
By the time we finished our shift and were ready to go into the arena early Sunday evening for Catfish and the Bottlemen and Liam’s sets, it seemed that all anyone was talking about was Oasis and this potential reunion. Walking through the campsites, at the toilets, in the bar queues, sat on benches chatting to people when eating our dinner…we were overhearing conversations everywhere.
Despite the ridiculous idea that Noel would be coming on stage to announce it, which we didn’t believe for a second, we did wonder if there might be some kind of hint that night if there was some truth in it all, either in what Liam said on stage or on the screens at the end. Turns out it was both in the end!
Liam’s Reading show
After some really bad sound bleed from the Chevron stage during the Catfish and the Bottlemen set, where we could just hear and feel thumping bass from the DJ over there instead of Catfish’s guitars, we realised we needed to get to the front for Liam.
At Reading they have a front section which really isn’t that big, and security guards helping to flow people through without allowing crushes by opening and closing gates at the entrance. This does a really good job of keeping it comfortable in that front area, as they just close the entrance gates for good about 15 minutes before the set starts (you exit a different way).
This is how close we got:
The screens
We noticed over the weekend just how good quality and massive the screens are at Reading, and our proximity to them meant that we could properly take in the graphics on screen, which have clearly been designed to give a full on visual show alongside the music.
Anyone who’s been to the Definitely Maybe 30 tour this year may have noticed this, but we were a bit far away at the Co-Op gig in June to properly enjoy that, but not this time. We could see Liam and the screens perfectly, which is rare at a gig never mind a festival headline set.
The songs
Even though we saw the tour in June also, where the set was almost the same, it was still incredibly exciting to see such an iconic played in full, along with b-sides.
We’ve seen Liam and Noel loads of times over the years, but despite that we’ve only seen some of these songs for the first time this year, and in some cases it’s been decades since they were played either at all or sung by Liam.
Complete with Bonehead on stage, the show kicks off with ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ and ‘Columbia’, both staples of Liam’s set over the past few years but somehow sounding even bigger this year.
Liam’s voice sounds INCREDIBLE by the way, this is 100% the right time to get Oasis back together. Since the pandemic ended he’s been back to his very best and it’s so good to see. When we saw him at Leeds Fest 2021 we were blown away by how good he was and that has continued throughout the years since.
After this it’s onto four of those lesser played songs, ‘Shakermaker’, ‘Up in the Sky’, ‘Digsy’s Dinner’, ‘Bring It On Down’…it’s a ridiculous run of songs and almost half the album is done in around 20 minutes. The energy in the crowd keeps up, especially Digsy’s. None of these songs have been sung by Liam for anywhere between 20 and 30 years.
These rarer songs are the ones that really stood out to me at this gig, as we’re unlikely to see them performed even with Oasis, or probably ever again. Some of the more well known ones, while never boring or unwelcome, you can take for granted, so it’s nice to have some real freshness to what you hear.
The band are sounding the best a Liam band ever has, there are backing singers and strings. It just feels like a massive show worthy of such a massive album. He’s on top form too, dedicating Digsy’s Dinner to “vegetarians”, talking about how it doesn’t matter how you do in your exams and more.
The b-sides and the dedication
Then came the hint we were all waiting for. After previously dedicating ‘Half the World Away’ to his “little brother”, and various other quips, Liam just dedicated it to “Noel Fucking Gallagher”. A big change in tone to normal, that did not go unnoticed.
When I first heard Liam was singing that I was sceptical, but I was wrong to be as his version of the song is amazing. A very different version, complete with strings, but it’s nice to see it work the other way round as we’ve had plenty of great alternate versions of Liam songs from Noel over the years. Another one follows with ‘D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?’.
Then it’s onto two of my favourite songs from The Masterplan album, ‘Fade Away’, ‘(It’s Good) To Be Free’. ‘Fade Away’ is one of the best Oasis live songs in my opinion and it was great to see it played again here, Liam’s voice and the loud guitars making it into one of the highlights of the evening for me.
‘Whatever’ would be in my top 5, possibly even top 3 Oasis songs and I always love to hear it live, sung by either brother. A great singalong as always and I love these visuals that reflect the single cover. It’d be great to get a vinyl reissue of that later this year with it not being on the album.
Back to the album
Then it’s back to the album for the more familiar to the crowd ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’, which brings the energy right back up as always.
‘Married with Children’ follows, a much louder and fuller version than on the album. Another that we’ll probably not hear again after this year, and another that we’re only getting to see now.
He says he was nervous about coming to Reading (as if!) because he’d been told the kids were all wild, but that it was actually really good. The crowd was very impressive to be fair, it’s actually my first time seeing Liam without a Northern crowd so I was happy to see the atmosphere being so high energy.
The rest of the show is a run through three of the biggest songs of a generation, ‘Supersonic’, ‘Slide Away’ and ‘Live Forever’, with the crowd in full voice as you would expect.
The announcement
‘I Am the Walrus’ brings the set to an old school Oasis style close, Liam leaves the stage as the band plays out the last notes and the visuals wind down…then as the last note finished this pops up on the screen with “Give the People What They Want” by The O’Jays playing in the background:
I still can’t describe the level of excitement for me and Steph when this showed up. After all the speculation throughout the day, the logo and font and the song in the background pretty much confirmed what we’d been hoping for for so long.
We basically spent the whole of Monday speculating over the where and when, getting more and more giddy at the idea of seeing our favourite band back together.
Liam’s set was incredible on its own, and we get one more run through Definitely Maybe in Malta in a few weeks, but this show will always be incredibly special to me because of the way it ended. It made everyone at Reading feel part of the announcement, as it went onto social media after we’d seen it.
What Oasis means
I’ve loved the solo shows from both Noel and Liam over the years, and I especially love Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. I’d probably say they’re up there with my favourite bands alongside Oasis and the Oasis songs he sang are always something I want to see. The Royal Albert Hall this year was one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to, and he’s been amazing at every show stretching back to 2011 at Manchester Apollo when he was just starting his solo journey. I’ve loved every album
Liam has given us those feelings back that only Oasis could, from that first gig at The Ritz in 2017 through to this incredible headline set, while also giving us some new classic songs of his own over 3 albums
But Oasis getting back together means so much to both of us, to see them back on stage together playing those songs is everything we’ve hoped for, and we’ve talked about it a LOT over the years. Me and Steph were both at Heaton Park in 2009, on the same night, but didn’t know each other, and now we get to see them together…if we get tickets.
Setlist
Here’s what he played:
Song on the screen at Reading
And here’s the song played over the announcement date and time on the screen at Reading after the show. It’ll always remind me of that night now:
Check out our Oasis Historic Concert Reviews to get an idea what its like to see them live!
