The early tour doubts have faded, and the smiles have got bigger, as fans beg them to continue
Liam and Noel walk out in Cardiff on July 4 for the first night of the epic tour(Image: PA)
It was an image that brought joy to the hearts of millions of Oasis fans. Liam and Noel Gallagher walking out at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, their hands linked together and proudly thrust in the air for all to see.
“Yes beautiful people! It’s been too long,” Liam told the 75,000 strong crowd. Close-ups showed Noel was fighting back tears. No wonder he was emotional.
As it was a scene that neither he, Liam or their legion of fans around the world could have envisaged just a few short years ago.
It was August last year when the stunning news emerged that the Burnage brothers’ 15-year feud was over, and they were getting the band back together for a reunion world tour.
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It has been reported that Liam’s long-term partner Debbie Gwyther played a key part in helping patch up their relationship, with mum Peggy also claiming she was the ‘instigator.’
“I was the instigator, yes,” she reportedly told Ireland’s Mail on Sunday. “But sure, wasn’t it always going to happen at some time or other?
Liam and Noel embrace during their gig at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California earlier this month(Image: Getty Images)
“It was their choice, of course. Look you can’t force them to do things they don’t want to do.”
“It’s great, because nobody wants their kids falling out, do they?” she added.
The meetings and rehearsals where the much-lauded comeback was first discussed are set to feature in a documentary being produced by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. An insider told the Mirror that the footage is ‘very raw and deeply moving.’
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“This is much greater than a ‘let’s do it for the money’ comeback,” they said. “It centres on deep-seated emotions – jealousy, ill-will, anger – and then a deep desire for reconciliation.”
But such was the bad blood that had flowed from their row and acrimonious split before a gig in Paris back in 2009, many still had their doubts it would actually happen, even after the announcement.
A grinning Liam and Noel walk on stage in Mexico City on September 12 (Image: AP)
Bookies were offering odds of 10/1 that they would fall out and split-up again before the tour even began.
That’s why their united front in the Welsh capital on July 4 was such an emotional, uplifting and powerful moment for all concerned.
You could still get odds of 4/1 that they would not the finish the tour. But the last of their 17 UK dates is taking place tonight (Sunday), and when they walk off stage at Wembley they will have completed 28 of the 41 scheduled shows as part of Oasis Live ’25.
By the time its all over, they will have played to have played to an astonishing 1.9 million fans in 13 countries.
Noel is mobbed by fans outside the Stock Exchange hotel in Manchester city centre before their Heaton Park show on July 20. The pair stayed in seperate accomodation for the gigs(Image: Ryan Jenkinson | Manchester Evening News)
There have been no reported rows or fall-outs. The opposite, in fact. The grins on their faces as they walk out hand-in-hand, as they have done each night, seem to be getting wider and wider.
There have also been numerous tender moments on stage which fans have spotted – little hugs, fist bumps, and smiles – which fans say show they seem to be truly and genuinely enjoying each other’s company again.
Just how much time they are or have been spending together off-stage is not entirely clear.
They have often been seen travelling to cities where the gigs have been held separately. And it seems they have also been staying in separate accommodation, and even travelling separately to, and from, the gigs.
Noel Gallagher waves to fans on his way to the final Heaton Park show on July 20. The pair are also said to have travelled seperately to shows(Image: Babbo Cucina Italiana )
In Cardiff they are reported to have stayed in separate hotels around 20 miles apart. It was a similar situation in Dublin with Noel staying in Maynooth, Co Kildare, and Liam in Wicklow.
For their Heaton Park gigs, Noel shacked up in at the five-star Stock Exchange Hotel in Manchester city centre, which was mobbed by fans. Liam was nowhere to be seen.
Whilst the pair are believed to have been brought to and from the venues in separate cars which were part of a convoy seen going in and out each night.
On one occasion, Noel was seen raising his fist to fans in Prestwich from the window of a Range Rover on his way to the park.
But in Edinburgh, a video shot by one fan showed them embracing after they got out of their cars.
There are strong rumours there will be more dates next year(Image: Getty Images)
If the measures were intended to help reduce the potential for any flashpoints, they have certainly worked. But the all the evidence suggests they may not have been necessary in the end.
Noel has spoken warmly of how their relationship has blossomed again during the tour.
“Liam’s smashing it. I’m proud of him,” he told TalkSport in August. “I couldn’t do the stadium thing like he does it, it’s not in my nature. But I’ve got to say, I kind of look and I think, ‘Good for you mate.’ He’s been amazing.”
“It’s great just to be back with Bonehead [Paul Arthurs] and Liam and just be doing it again,” he continued. “I guess when it’s all said and done we will sit and reflect on it, but it’s great being back in the band with Liam, I forgot how funny he was.”
Liam also last night dropped the biggest hint yet that there is more to come when this tour wraps up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 23.
“See you next year,” he told the crowd at last night’s gig, sending fans into a frenzy and further fuelling rumours of dates at the Etihad Stadium and Knebworth in 2026, 30 years after they played Maine Road and Knebworth.
A staggering 14 million people are said to have tried for tickets for this tour last year, so the demand for more is unquestionably there from the public.
Of course, the reported £50m to £100m they have each earned for this tour will surely be a consideration in whether to continue. But as the 15-year hiatus showed, no amount of money was able to bring them back together.
So any further dates would surely be an endorsement of just how much they are enjoying being a band of brothers again.