Oasis at Wembley

September 27, 2025

By Annie Bracken

To be honest I wasn’t a huge fan of Oasis in their ‘90’s heyday. The loutish behaviour of the Gallagher brothers and the decedent parties thrown at ‘Supernova Heights’ with the cool kids of the day didn’t impress me much. In ‘Morning Glory’ the lyrics ‘All your dreams are made when you’re chained to the mirror with a razor blade’ sounded dangerous and threatening. In my opinion, a band to steer clear of.

In the old days, there were stories of Liam just walking off stage and sitting in the audience with a drink and cigarette heckling his brother who was trying valiantly to finish the show alone. This behaviour eventually led to no talking between the two for over 16 years.

I remember just moving to London in the late ‘90’s to see Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit in bed on the cover of Vanity Fair- it was an incredible image. Then there were rumours of partner swapping with the likes of Kate Moss and Jude Law, etc. and it all seemed a bit raunchy for my taste.

However ‘Wonderwall’ was one of the best songs I have ever heard, and to this day would be in my top ten hit list of all time.

So when a reunion of the warring brothers was rumoured, I had no intention of queuing for days for tickets. I didn’t think it would be very entertaining as their personalities would clash, voices would be rusty or ruined by drugs, cigarettes and alcohol and the audience would be unsavoury.

I was prepared to read a scathing review of their first concert in Cardiff at the start of their 2025 much anticipated tour.

To my great surprise the reviewer said it was ‘one of the greatest nights of his life.’ Review after review said the same thing.

My friends in London were messaging me what a brilliant show the Wembley gigs were.

Hmmmm- maybe I was wrong.

So when I noticed they were coming back to Wembley at the end of September, I went on the Ticketmaster website and bought two of the most expensive tickets I have ever purchased in my life. I justified this cost as it was THE event of the summer and of course I had to be there to experience it.

I recently read that what truly broke up Oasis two decades ago was trying to ‘break’ into America. They never did, and the thousands of miles of travelling led to fighting and eventual disbandment. After their success in the U.K. with their ‘Reunion Tour’, they tried America once again at the end of the summer. There were half a dozen dates on the East and West Coast which were sold out, but the ticket price was significantly lower than in the U.K. Could this be the moment they conquered the US? Or would it lead to the meltdown of the Reunion tour? My tickets were at Wembley after they return from America. The Wembley dates were a huge success in July- will they still be at the end of September?

Initial reports from their gig at Chicago’s Soldier’s Field was positive, so they may indeed conquer America, 17 years later. A photo of a masked Leonardo DiCaprio at the Rose Bowl gig left me feeling that they were indeed a success.

Reviews of the Oasis concerts in Los Angeles were phenomenal!  It was described as a ‘biblical, unforgettable and religious experience.’ The show was a ‘stunner’ that thrilled audiences and drew celebrities.

Preparing for the gig in London, I chose a vintage ‘Queen’ t shirt and white ripped jeans, I felt the part. I swapped cowboy boots for Stan Smith tennis shoes, as I learned my lesson on my last foray to Wembley to see Coldplay. The blisters were no joke. I did ‘rock’ a beige leather jacket to finish the ‘rock chick look!’ My concert date surprised me with an Adidas ‘bucket hat’ in light blue. I was ready and set to go see Oasis!

Upon arriving at the stadium with my ‘million dollar tickets,’ I was told I only had floor access! What? I expected to be in a cushy suite for the money I paid. But having angrily assaulted the information booth attendant, I was firmly told I was in the ‘mosh pit’ on the floor and there were no seats remaining at the sold out show.

My date and I took this in good stride as we first queued for the bathroom and then in another long line to get two cups of water. The opening act, Richard Ashcroft of ‘The Verve’ was in full swing but we were stuck in the ‘beer line’ until his set was nearly over. Oasis concerts have set a record with beer sales, as over 250,000 pints have been sold per show. That night, several pints ended up being poured over my head!  Joyous concert goers seemed to think throwing cups of beer in the crowd was celebratory! Also there was not only vaping but actual cigarettes and joints being passed around. This was no ordinary crowd or in fact concert.

We could hear Richard Ashcroft’s ‘Lucky Man’ in the beer line and caught the end of ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ on the steps of the stadium, as we couldn’t enter until the end of his set. What an anthem!

Venturing out onto the 90,000 strong Wembley floor- we squared our shoulders, took a deep breath and held our heads up high, as we bravely made our way through the seething crowd onto the floor of the stadium, staking out the best place we could find to watch the show. Admittedly, this was much harder than it sounds.

‘Just keep your hat on,’ said my companion,‘and put your hair inside your hat to protect it’-presumably from the cups of beer being thrown.

When the lights finally dimmed, the crowd went into meltdown. While the band was ready to make their entrance, there were headline images of the tabloids reporting on the reunion tour flashing across the stage. There was an image of a speedometer featured on the three giant screens along with snippets from the news: ‘This is happening,’ ‘Hopes grow of an Oasis tour,’ ‘Gallagher reunion tour defiantly, maybe,’ ‘It’s ON!’ With a mind blowing montage of headlines flashing on the screen—‘The great wait is Over,’ ‘This is Not a Drill’- the Gallagher brothers entered the Wembley stage holding hands held high as Liam shook maracas. They then embraced warmly. The crowd erupted!

Liam, who doesn’t lack self confidence, has described himself on his Twitter account as among other things a ‘RNR star, godlike Rasta icon legend, biblical omnipresent prophet, spiritual majestic optimistic Buddhist Jedi and approachable zen lover humble.’ I think he’s anything but humble! He swaggered onstage in a mud coloured cape-like anorak and sunglasses (no bucket hat until the encore), and Noel in jeans and black jacket- simple but very cool! Gwenyth Paltrow recently mentioned one of her style icons was Liam Gallagher.

The band launched into ‘Hello’ with the apt lyrics ‘it’s good to be back- hello, hello, hello.’ With beer raining down, I recognised the first song and all the others after (except one) because I had been playing the ‘Oasis 2025 tour set list’ on Spotify while doing my daily run all summer. Liam, with a full frontal snarl, bags of attitude and swagger sang the opening track. It’s rare these days to find a band with half as much attitude. From there the band went into ‘Acquiesce’ with the lyrics ‘We need each other, we believe in one another,’ before the familiar chords of ‘Morning Glory’ rang out. If people weren’t already screaming, they certainly were at that point. The moment the music started pints of beer went flying as an act of joyous catharsis. I pulled my bucket hat tighter over my head. Some of those pints might have been waiting to be thrown since 2009 when the band broke up. As far as feel- good moments go, this was pretty much unbeatable and I had to just relax and go with the flow. Literally!  Everyone in the arena seemed to know the words to every song- me included. Liam and Noel’s voices almost seemed redundant.

The other actual ‘show’, I thought, was the crowd on the pitch. Between beer throwing, boasting on shoulders, arms around each other, hands waving in the air and manic dancing, the ‘mosh pit’ was a spectacle in itself. We were outnumbered 10 to 1 as far as women to men- it felt like a very rowdy Man City football match on speed. Mostly it was full of men who you would expect to see at a football match, full of beer and bonhomie; they were swaying and stomping the floor with their girlfriends on their shoulders. Most were wearing the Oasis ‘uniform,’ Adidas jackets, Fred Perry or football shirts and bucket hats. I had had enough of this behaviour at one point and politely asked one couple if they could scoot over so I could see the stage, only to have the man try to pick ME up and put me on his shoulders. I wriggled free but not without noticing the girl on his shoulders was wearing no pants! I tried to avert my gaze!

The man dancing in front of my date seemed as if he had an electric shock going through his body, and he grabbed anyone passing by to sing and dance with him. Pointing out every word at his dance partner with great glee.

‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’ came quickly after that and my concert companion warned me that this song would include the ‘Poznan’, where Liam tells the crowd to turn backwards and jump up and down (it’s allegedly a Manchester City thing as the Gallagher brothers are from Manchester.)

‘Be prepared to link arms with the man next to you and jump,’ said my friend, and indeed this did happen. Looking at a video of 10,000 people on the floor doing this in a wave of delight is unforgettable and extremely impressive. Actually being in the middle of it, is something else entirely! My white Stan Smith tennis shoes became sticky and I avoided stepping on some alien object in the middle of my feet. I never investigated what is was.

Then came ‘Slide Away’ and ‘Supersonic’ which of course had to be sung with a beer in hand if not a gin and tonic. At this stage I was proud that I was participating and actually singing every word, with the occasional fist bump just for show!

The hits came thick and fast. ‘Half a World Away’ and ‘Talk to Me’ was preformed to a swaying crowd with arms linked! Both of the Gallagher men’s voices were incredible and NO autoque to supplement their voices or backup singers was needed, as the audience knew their songs better than they did. I was surprised to see a horn section, including a saxophone light up on screen but that have may been for only a few songs.

For ‘Stand by Me’ I think I heard Liam dedicate it to their Mom, Peggy Gallagher. The screen was filled with family images and I could only think that their mother was a huge support who always ‘stood by her sons!’

Then came the calmer ‘Noel part of the show’ where the older brother and song writer preformed on his own. Noel, whose voice is described as a ‘warm and melodic tenor’ contrasted with his brother’s ‘nasally and aggressive style,’ showed he had a better range and technical proficiency; he hit the high notes. While Liam rested his vocal chords, his brother started with ‘Talk Tonight’ with the opening lyrics, ‘Sitting on my own, chewing on a bone,’ written about a night the band had a disastrous performance at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in 1994. A distraught Noel flew to San Francisco without telling anyone and planned to break up the band.  He was comforted by a lady named Melissa Lim. ‘I wanna talk tonight,’ he sang, ‘until the morning light, about how you saved my life.’ Awesome stuff!  Lim, an Oasis fan, calmed him down and talked him out of leaving the band. My concert companion, who is a writer, thought the story in this one song alone would make a great book.

Noel then sang my absolute favourite ‘Little by Little’ which has the deep lyric of ‘True perfection has to be imperfect, I know that that sounds crazy but it’s true!’ No truer words have ever been sung. He ended this amazing song with the chorus ‘Why am I really here?’ I’ve been thinking the same thing. At one point I noticed two men, complete strangers, hugging it out. The band certainly unleashesd emotions in their audience. It felt like a beer soaked Mecca.

Then Liam returned and dedicated ‘Live Forever’ to their friend Ricky Hatton, the boxing champion who had just passed away. It was a poignant tribute and encapsulated what many of the band’s songs do at their best; bring people together and make them feel big things.

From there we had the final song of the set,‘Rock n Roll Star’ which displayed neon graphics of the brothers at the start of their career and a ‘feel good’ strut of Liam around the stage indeed playing the ‘rock and roll star’ and shaking the tambourine.

The stage lighting was fast and furious and consisted of neon cartoon characters to family photos to flame throwing circus performers framed by images of the band. The screen was a set piece in itself.

The band didn’t elaborate or draw out any of their music, leaving the songs to be sung like they were first recorded 3 decades ago. Instead, they highlighted each one with images on the stage that corresponded and highlighted the music.

After a short break, with no one moving as an encore was inevitable; there were more hits to be played, of course.

They came back out to thunderous applause to sing ‘Masterplan.’ This was followed by my absolute favourite ‘Wonderwall’ with Liam suddenly appearing with the hood of his anorak pulled up and another hat over that. ‘Maybe, you’re gonna be the one who saves me…!’ He resembled a loutish Lawrence of Arabia and with sunglasses, only the top of his cheeks were exposed. ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ was sung so loudly by the crowd, that Noel just let the audience sing the chorus ‘So, Sally can wait, she knows that it’s too late when she’s walkin on by…’ the noise was defending: But with real joy. With the final words, ‘Don’t look back in Anger, Don’t look back in Anger.….’ Noel drew out the final verse, until the crowd could stand no more, and he finally concluded, ‘I heard you say…at least not today!’ Elation lit up everyone’s face, I also noticed some tears.

Noel thanked the crowd and introduced the band which consisted of Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs on piano and guitar, Gem Archer on guitar, Andy Bell on bass guitar and Joey Waronker on drums.

The evening ending with ‘Champagne Supernova,’ a soaring and delightful song. The finale displayed an image of a setting sun, Liam in silhouette with the tambourine on his head and actual fireworks lighting up the London sky.

The brothers gave each other a heartfelt hug as the sky above Wembley lit up. If I wasn’t an Oasis fan before, I sure as hell am one now!

This was not a usual concert, it was a cultural event. The revival of a ‘90’s supergroup who is an even bigger presence in 2025. Who knows what the future will bring for this reformed band, but the future looks ‘biblical!’ It was as cathartic and emotive as anyone could have expected. I was thrilled to have been a part of it! In Oasis speak ‘I went MAD for it!’

Follow @annieinthewhitehouse