Fans have gone mad for the picture of “Manc royalty”
Bonehead shared the picture on his Instagram ahead of Oasis’ fourth night at Heaton Park(Image: @boneheadspage Instagram)
It’s less than an hour until Oasis take to the stage once again to wow crowds on night four of their Manchester residency, but some of the band have been sharing a sneak back-stage as the rub shoulders with fellow rock ‘n’ roll stars.
Oasis are coming towards the business end of their five Manchester shows with just two left before they pack up their tour bus and head to Wembley in London. They’ll also be playing dates in Dublin and Edinburgh before heading overseas for shows in America, Australia and Asia.
The Oasis Live ’25 tour was announced last August, two days before the 30th anniversary of their debut album Definitely Maybe. It was the biggest concert launch ever seen in the UK and Ireland.
Ten million people tried to secure tickets for their run of UK and Ireland shows, as fans came up against inflated ticket prices due to dynamic pricing and other sales issues.
Since coming out on stage at Heaton Park last Friday (July 11), fans have been flooding social media with clips of both Liam and Noel following their reconciliation after 16 years.
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But, behind-the-scenes, perhaps the most famous member of Oasis bar the brothers, Paul Arthurs, otherwise known as Bonehead, has been sharing some snaps with his fellow bandmates and Mancunian music royalty.
In a snap shared backstage at Heaton Park, a picture posted on Instagram captioned ‘Mad fer it’ shows Bonehead stood next to Tim Burgess, lead singer of The Charlatans, as well as Mark Berry, better known as Bez from the Happy Mondays, and Andy Bell, bass guitarist for Oasis.
Bonehead performing with Oasis at Heaton Park(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Fans were delighted to see the four musicians together, with one writing: “Legends. Have a tremendous night.”
Another wrote: “Ride charlatans happy mondays and oasis? My young self summed up in one image.”
As a co-founder of the group, and serving as rhythm guitarist and occasional keyboardist and bassist, Bonehead was a part of Oasis from their debut album Definitely Maybe up until 1997’s Be Here Now – leaving the group in 1999.
Despite leaving the band, Bonehead has continued to work with Liam in the years since. He temporarily joined Beady Eye in 2013 and also performed on his solo album As You Were.
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Following a health scare, Bonehead was forced to pull out of Liam Gallagher’s solo shows in 2022 and 2023 but returned for his 2024 tour celebrating 30 years of Definitely Maybe.
Meanwhile, Welsh songwriter and musician Andy Bell was the bassist for Oasis from 1999 until their famous break-up in 2009.
Andy, who is also a vocalist and guitarist for rock band Ride, also wrote at least one song on the last three Oasis albums. Following the band’s split, he joined Liam in his Beady Eye group from 2009 until their eventual dissolution in 2014.
Andy Bell on stage at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff(Image: PA)
Since then, he has released two solo albums, and also forces with Shaun Ryder, Zak Starkey and Bez to create supergroup Mantra of the Cosmos.
Bez is best known as the maraca player and dancer of rock band Happy Mondays, having been invited by lead singer Shaun Ryder shortly after the band was formed.
The Charlatans returned to Manchester a couple of weeks ago for their first big show of the year, at Castlefield Bowl for the return of the Sounds of the City run of outdoor gigs.