The noise from the audience when Oasis arrive on stage for their first reunion gig is deafening. You might have expected a loud response. This is, after all, a crowd so partisan that, in between the support acts, they cheer the promotional videos – the tour’s accompanying brand deals seem to involve not just the obviously Oasis-adjacent sportswear brand Adidas, but the more imponderable Land Rover Defender.

Even so, the noise the fans make as the reconstituted Oasis launch into Hello takes you aback slightly, and not just because Hello is a fairly bold choice of opener: this is, after all, a song that borrows heavily from Hello, Hello, I’m Back Again by Gary Glitter. But no one in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium seems to care about the song’s genesis: the noise is such that you struggle to think of another artist that’s received such a vociferous reception.

So, the success of the show seems more or less like a foregone conclusion. Anyone who saw them in the 00s will tell you that the old Oasis were a hugely variable proposition live: you never knew what mood Liam Gallagher would show up in, or how the current state of familial relations might affect their performance. But evidently as little as possible has been left to chance at these reunion gigs. No one – including, to their immense credit, Liam and Noel Gallagher – seems interested in pretending this tour is anything other than a hugely lucrative cash-grab, and clearly, you only grab the maximum possible cash if the tour doesn’t descend into the kind of bedlam to which Oasis tours were once prone.

Liam is on his best behaviour – “thanks for putting up with us,” he offers at one juncture, “I know we’re hard work”, a noticeable shift from the days when he was wont to rain abuse on the audience – and Liam and Noel have rhythm guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs stood squarely between them on stage, creating distance. You could say that removes combustibility, the hint of potential chaos that was at least part of Oasis’s appeal, but you might as well save your breath: no one would be able to hear you over the sound of people singing along en masse to a set that plays to the strengths of Oasis’s back catalogue.

View image in fullscreen Abundant songwriting talent … Noel Gallagher at the Principality Stadium. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

Few bands’ reputations have been better served by the rise of streaming, both in its favouring of curated playlists over albums – all the highlights and none of the rubbish, of which there was a great deal in Oasis’s later years – and in the way it decontextualises music, denuding it of its accompanying story or contemporary critical responses. The much-vaunted Oasis fans too young to remember the band first-hand definitely exist – you can see them in the audience – but you do wonder how many of them believe Oasis split up in 1998, rather than grimly trudging on for another decade, to declining artistic returns.

The show seeks to maintain this myth. It’s very much playlist Oasis, big on the first two albums and B-sides from the years when Noel Gallagher’s songwriting talent seemed so abundant he could afford to blithely confine stuff as good as Acquiesce or The Masterplan to an extra track on a CD single, and low on anything at all from their later years. Only the presence of 2002’s Little By Little indicates that Oasis existed into the 21st century.

You can still sense inspiration declining – 1997’s D’You Know What I Mean? sounds like a trudge regardless of how many people are singing along – but far more often, the show serves as a reminder of how fantastic purple patch Oasis were. Against a ferocious wall of distorted guitars, there’s a weird disconnect between the tone of Noel’s songs – wistful, noticeably melancholy – and the way Liam sings them like a man seething with frustration, on the verge of offering someone a fight. Even discounting half their career, they have classics in abundance: Cigarettes & Alcohol, Slide Away, Rock ’n’ Roll Star, Morning Glory. Enough, in fact, that a section where Liam cedes the stage and Noel takes over vocals doesn’t occasion a dip in the audience’s enthusiasm: during Half the World Away, the audience’s vocals threaten to drown the song’s author out entirely.

It ends with precisely the encore you might have expected – Don’t Look Back in Anger, Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova – which understandably occasions precisely the response you might have expected. A very perfunctory clap on the back – the only time the Gallaghers interact beyond playing the same songs – and Liam vanishes: a car is waiting by the side of the stage to whisk him away before the final notes die away, a triumph in the bag.

The long wait is finally over as Oasis reunited for their highly anticipated tour in Cardiff tonight. Brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher performed in front of thousands of fans at the first of two gigs in the Welsh capital. Oasis will also perform again tomorrow at the Principality Stadium before heading to Heaton Park in Manchester for five performances on July 11, 12, 16, 19, and 20.

The brothers will then head on to the rest of the UK leg of their reunion tour, which includes performances at London’s Wembley Stadium, Edinburgh, and Dublin. Noel was reportedly spotted by a fan at Cardiff Central station ahead of tonight’s gig. Fans are already queuing outside the Principality Stadium hours before the gates open, and we will be bringing you all the latest updates from the gig, including the build-up outside and the latest on setlist rumours, support acts, and news from inside.

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Even the most optimistic fans had begun to suspect Oasis would never go on stage again, given that as recently as January 2024, in this newspaper, Liam was pacing around slagging off his brother at considerable length. But the Oasis reunion did indeed come to pass, and the reaction has universally been one of wonderment. You’d expect that from fans – if you ended up spending north of £300 on a dynamically priced ticket, you’d decide you were going to have fun – but critics have also been united in their praise.

★★★★★

“You can still sense inspiration declining – 1997’s D’You Know What I Mean? sounds like a trudge regardless of how many people are singing along – but far more often, the show serves as a reminder of how fantastic purple patch Oasis were,” the Guardian’s Alexis Petridis said in a five-star review. “Against a ferocious wall of distorted guitars, there’s a weird disconnect between the tone of Noel’s songs – wistful, noticeably melancholy – and the way Liam sings them like a man seething with frustration, on the verge of offering someone a fight. Even discounting half their career, they have classics in abundance: Cigarettes & Alcohol, Slide Away, Rock ’n’ Roll Star, Morning Glory.

★★★★★

The set took on extra resonance given everything that has happened since [Oasis’s split in 2009]. Noel may have once called Liam a man with a fork in a world of soup, and Liam accused Noel of being a potato, but Acquiesce is a song about the fact that they “need each other” – and they do. Noel has a soul complex enough to write beautiful songs. Liam has a soul simple enough to deliver them with pure feeling. They are, ultimately, stuck with each other … As for Supersonic, the song that started it all, it encapsulated everything the Gallaghers evoked, perhaps without even realising it: attitude, surrealism, familiarity, the madness of the everyday.

View image in fullscreen Liam and Noel Gallagher. Photograph: Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP

★★★★★

Stop the clocks, the stars really did align, because yes, Oasis are back – and they’ve just reclaimed their crown as rock’n’roll stars. You can throw as many cliches as you like at this show and it still wouldn’t quite sum up what the 60,000-plus fans cramming into the Principality stadium in Cardiff saw, heard and felt, on Friday night. It was biblical, celestial, majestical – all of the superlatives that Liam likes to self-anoint himself with. But on this occasion, it was no hyperbole … I think it’s the first time I’ve seen a mosh pit stretch to the entire floor and right up into the seats such was the constant bouncing energy of an elated crowd not quite believing this was really happening, and that they were really here.

★★★★★

As the flares light up for Don’t Look Back in Anger into the spoils of colossal closers Wonderwall and an everlasting Champagne Supernova, the sweet escape comes to an end. Lord knows we needed a taste of that halcyon 90s hope and abandon in 2025 – especially for the raving and craving gen Zers. The world is a rotting shitty bin-fire and tomorrow never knows, but tonight, you’re a rock’n’roll star.

★★★★★

I don’t think anyone who managed to get their hands on a ticket for this reunion could feel short-changed. Because really it was a reunion between an audience and their favourite band, a reunion between Britain and rock’n’roll … It was very loud, it was simplistic to the point of banality and it was magically, exhaustingly uplifting.

View image in fullscreen Liam Gallagher. Photograph: Samir Hussein/WireImage

★★★★★

The real underlying thrill is of a historical moment fully revived. For all the laddish boorishness that Oasis undoubtedly encapsulated, the Britpop era, for millennials and gen Zers alike, is as halcyon as Beatlemania or the summer of love – a time of vivid colour, jubilant melody, political stability and affordable flats. And to be a part of this second wind of torrid Oasismania, hyped by effusive press coverage and leading to historic shows such as this one, is as close to actually “being there” as it’s possible to get.

★★★★★

The set list made me feel like I was being punched in the face – repeatedly – by the 90s. Liam’s vocals were out of this world – he ought to pie off Clarks and get an advertising deal with Halls Soothers because whatever he was sucking in rehearsals clearly paid off. And Noel, who has never failed to impress me performing live, was the cherry on the cake with his masterful ability on the guitar sure to inspire generations of young musicians to come.

★★★★★

Today, reports of gen Z loving Oasis have not been overplayed. There’s been a cross-generational vibe around these shows. Like Noel’s dream of melding dance music communality with punk rock attitude to kill off grunge in the 90s, seems to have been rebooted. Turn off and on again, and the aggro violence has gone, and what’s left is something fresh and cool and utterly exciting.

View image in fullscreen Oasis fans outside the stadium. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty

★★★★★

The city of Cardiff had been on a wave of excitement and bucket hats all week and the soundchecks coming out of the stadium were sounding class, proper bristles up on the back of your neck type stuff. But the real thing was intense and immense. A wall of sound burst around the closed Principality stadium … and Liam’s voice was faultless.

(No star rating)

The band sound, to use Liam’s favorite phrase, absolutely biblical. Within half an hour, we’re through Acquiesce, Morning Glory, Supersonic and Cigarettes & Alcohol at tremendous volume. Oasis’s arsenal of generation-defining hits is hardly a secret, but when confronted with them one after another like this, it was truly overwhelming.

The atmosphere after Oasis’s reunion gig in Cardiff was electric, with fans expressing joy and nostalgia, celebrating the brothers’ performance and connection.

www.theguardian.com

The atmosphere in Cardiff was electric as Oasis kicked off their long-awaited reunion tour, leaving fans in awe. After years of estrangement, the Gallagher brothers reunited on stage, creating a moment that resonated deeply with attendees.

6 Key Takeaways Speechlessness after Oasis reunion concert

Emotional experience for multi-generational attendees

Concert deemed worth the financial investment

Liam’s improved vocal performance noted

Nostalgic memories for long-time fans

Oasis’s impact on working-class audiences highlighted

Leigh, a local fan, described the concert experience as transformative, saying, “I felt like I was 18 again.” Attending with his daughter and her boyfriend, who were new to Oasis, he emphasized how the show exceeded their expectations. The concert, held on 2025-07-05 02:37:00, showcased a nostalgic blend of old and new, bridging generations of fans.

Fast Answer: Oasis’s reunion concert in Cardiff captivated fans globally, marking a significant moment in music history and reigniting the band’s legacy.

This concert raises an intriguing question: What does this reunion mean for the future of rock music? The emotional connection fans have with Oasis suggests a powerful resurgence of interest in live music experiences. Key takeaways include:

Reunions can reignite fan passion and attract new audiences.

Live music fosters intergenerational connections.

Oasis continues to influence the music scene decades later.

Oasis’s reunion highlights the enduring power of music to unite fans across generations, reminding US of the cultural significance of live performances.

As Oasis continues their tour, fans worldwide eagerly anticipate more unforgettable moments. Will this reunion inspire other legendary bands to follow suit?