Oasis announce reunion – and reveal details of huge UK tour

Published

3 months ago

August 27, 2024

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Oasis have confirmed it’s happening – Noel and Liam Gallagher are reuniting, with huge shows planned for 2025.

The announcement comes just ahead of the 30th anniversary of Oasis‘s seminal debut album Definitely Maybe, released on 29 August 1994, and 15 years since the last time the brothers performed together before their infamous fall-out.

Both Noel and Liam Gallagher shared the news on their social media sites, saying: “This is it, this is happening.” They will play four Wembley concerts – as well as four Manchester gigs and shows in Scotland, Wales and Ireland in July and August 2025.

Oasis said: “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”

The brothers have been pictured together for the first time in years to mark the announcement, with the photograph taken in London in July.

Oasis reunion: Follow live updates

‘The time is right’

Revealing details about why the reunion is finally happening now, the band’s statement said there had been “no great revelatory moment”, but rather “the gradual realisation that the time is right”.

However, they said the timing “must be a subconscious influence”, coming so close to the Definitely Maybe anniversary.

The shows announced will be the only gigs in Europe next year, they said, potentially quashing rumours of a headline slot at Glastonbury. Plans are also under way for shows further afield later in 2025.

Details of who else from Oasis’s previous line-ups will rejoin them, or of other musicians in the pipeline, have yet to be confirmed.

Speculation about a reunion had grown in recent weeks, with music insiders leaking details of planned shows.

Liam had also dropped hints beforehand, telling a user on X: “See you down the front.” He also shared a post saying he “never did like that word FORMER”.

Now, the comeback has been confirmed.

It comes after a run of solo shows for Liam marking the Definitely Maybe anniversary, while older brother Noel, 57, was playing shows during the summer with his band, the High Flying Birds.

During one Definitely Maybe gig, Liam, 51, made a point of dedicating Half The World Away to his “little brother”, saying he was “still playing hard to get”.

But at one of Noel’s shows, when apparently asked about Liam by a fan, the Oasis songwriter said his younger brother should be “thankful for my genius” and told the crowd: “Just remember who wrote all the f***ing songs.”

What happened in 2009?

Formed in the early 1990s, Oasis rose to fame with songs such as Supersonic, Cigarettes & Alcohol and Live Forever, before second album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory gave them their first number one single, Some Might Say, the following year.

With other hits including Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger, Stand By Me, Lyla and The Importance Of Being Idle, became one of the biggest bands in British music history.

When and where will the Oasis gigs take place?

4 July 2025 – Principality Stadium, Cardiff

5 July 2025 – Principality Stadium, Cardiff

11 July 2025 – Heaton Park, Manchester

12 July 2025 – Heaton Park, Manchester

19 July 2025 – Heaton Park, Manchester

20 July 2025 – Heaton Park, Manchester

25 July 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London

26 July 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London

2 August 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London

3 August 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London

8 August 2025 – Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

9 August 2025 – Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

16 August 2025 – Croke Park, Dublin

17 August 2025 – Croke Park, Dublin

Their infamous break-up, prompted by a backstage brawl before they had even made it on stage at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris in August 2009, has only added to the band’s legendary status.

It happened when Liam damaged one of his elder brother’s guitars, causing Noel to dramatically quit – ending the partnership that had propelled them to fame and fortune.

“It is with some sadness and great relief… I quit Oasis tonight,” Noel later said in a statement. “People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”

Stop Crying Your Heart Out. Oasis are back

Katie Spencer

Arts and entertainment correspondent

@SkyKatieSpencer

With no less swagger than you’d expect from one of the biggest bands in British rock, “the great wait is over” is how Oasis put news of their reunion.

The prospect of Noel and Liam Gallagher ever performing together again had felt less likely with every passing year but, brotherly spats have now been put on ice.

The rumoured record-breaking 10 nights at Wembley are only four, for now, but how sales go will likely dictate whether or not extra dates can be magically made available. As Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told Sky News, “two lads from Manchester” are generously going to be “giving London a boost”.

So what are their motivations? While some may cynically interpret the 14 gigs as a cash-grab, the dates in so many different parts of the UK and Ireland certainly feel like a commitment to doing this for the fans.

So pull out your parkas. Stop Crying Your Heart Out. Because Oasis are back. The question of course being, given their history, whether the boys will actually manage to make it through the full run.

The feud continued over the years, with the pair exchanging insults publicly – Liam on social media, Noel more when asked about his brother in interviews – but reportedly never speaking in person.

When his documentary As It Was was released in 2019, Liam told Sky News he had wanted to “break [Noel’s] jaw” after he apparently refused permission for Oasis music to be featured in the film.

But after 15 years, they have now made amends – giving thousands of Oasis fans the chance to see them play live once again.

Previously unheard versions of tracks including Live Forever, Cigarettes & Alcohol and Rock ‘n’ Roll star from the first recording session for Definitely Maybe will also be put out on Friday, marking the anniversary.

In expectation of the official announcement of the reunion tour, Spotify said Oasis streams increased more than 160% globally between Monday and the previous week.

Entertainment

First Glastonbury tickets sell out in 30 minutes as new booking system launched

Published

8 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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First Glastonbury tickets sell out in 30 minutes as new booking system launched

Coach tickets to Glastonbury 2025 were sold out in half an hour, organisers have said, as they roll out a new booking system for festivalgoers.

They were the first group of tickets to be sold for the world-famous festival in Somerset, which is set to take place between 25 and 29 June.

This year, fans navigated a new system to buy the tickets as they were “randomly assigned a place in a queue” instead of having to refresh the holding page once they went live.

The organisers said in a post on X: “The Glastonbury 2025 tickets + coach travel which were on sale this evening have now all been sold.

“Our thanks to everyone who bought one.”

They added that National Express services would be available to bring festivalgoers from across the country to Glastonbury.

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Standard tickets will go on sale on Sunday at 9am. Last year they were sold out within an hour.

See Tickets said in a post on X that “confirmation emails are going out now to everyone who got @Glastonbury coach tickets this evening”.

Tickets for the annual event at Worthy Farm in Somerset cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee, and are sold exclusively through the See Tickets website, with no third-party sellers involved.

The new ticket system has changed the way people join the booking system.

Organisers previously warned hopefuls to log in “at least a few minutes” before the sale opened today and to avoid refreshing the page.

Festivalgoers were also told not to attempt to game the system by using multiple devices.

The sale follows chaos earlier this year when tickets for the Oasis reunion went on sale, seeing a multitude of disappointed fans as well as those who felt cheated after being charged hundreds of pounds more for their tickets than was originally advertised.

Anyone wishing to buy tickets for Glastonbury must have registered by 11 November, a rule in place to avoid touting.

Entertainment

Christmas adverts – the 10 most-anticipated ads as the festive battle for customers commences

Published

14 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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Christmas adverts - the 10 most-anticipated ads as the festive battle for customers commences

With just under six weeks to go to Christmas Day, the countdown has officially begun, with all the big brands rolling out their seasonal adverts.

Becoming something of an institution over recent years, many see the festive ads as the starting pistol for their Christmas preparation/panic, despite us only being halfway through November.

And with an estimated £10.5bn spent on this year’s Xmas ads, it’s not just about inducing a fuzzy warm feeling in viewers, but also about encouraging them to put their hand in their pocket.

As we brace ourselves for festive fun, we take a swift look at this year’s bevvy of commercial offerings, as the annual battle of the Christmas adverts begins.

John Lewis

A girl called Sally falls into a clothes rack reminiscent of CS Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, but instead of finding Narnia, she ends up in John Lewis.

Through family flashbacks we lean how much she loves her older sister, whose gift she has carelessly left it to the last minute to buy. Spoiler alert – as one would expect in an advert for a retailer, she finds a pressie.

With the retailer famous for its use of cover versions in their Christmas ads, this one is the origin story for a new cover, with a concurrent competition on TikTok to find an aspiring artist to rerecord a version, which will be featured on the Christmas Day airing and released by record label BMG too.

Waitrose

Marketed as a whodunnit – this big-budget production has a host of celebrity cameos, an intricate storyline and not one but two parts.

Comedian Joe Wilkinson, Fleabag star Sian Clifford and Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen all have a role in the ensemble, revolving around hunting down the thief of a “chilled desert”.

Being Christmas, when tensions are traditionally high, everyone has reason to have scoffed it. The culprit won’t be revealed until the second part of the ad is released, but in the meantime, activity at Kings Cross Station, in stores and on social media is set to keep the investigation very much alive.

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s goes big for its advert, calling on a beloved Roald Dahl character – the BFG, or Big Friendly Giant – to travel the country with a supermarket worker called Sophie (who pleasingly is a real store employee) in the search for the perfect festive treats.

A CGI BFG procures salmon, sprouts and cheese before a bit of magic helps him whip it all up into a feast, which he then gifts to an unsuspecting family through the window.

The first ones to release their ad earlier this month, the dulcet tones of national treasure Stephen Fry wrap the action, with a call to arms to stock up in readiness for Christmas.

M&S

Another national treasure – Dawn French – is back for this one, playing both herself and a festive fairy, who gives both French and her home a make-over ready for a Christmas soiree.

French, whose multi-Christmas-dinner eating antics on The Vicar Of Dibley put her into the Xmas annals, is transformed into “the quintessential hostess” with a bit of help from her little friend.

Banking on the idea that you can never have enough of a good thing, there are six instalments of the advert running between now and the New Year. Who doesn’t like a second – or sixth – helping.

Lidl

This one pulls on the heartstrings, with a little girl inspired to give a gift to a boy who appears not to have any, after an old lady gives her some magic bells.

Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom Hooper (he directed The King’s Speech), a CGI racoon and giant gingerbread man add a little action to events around the dinner table.

But the take home message is to think about giving as well as receiving, with the return of the retailer’s toy banks scheme set up at supermarkets with the aim of donating over 100,000 toys, to ensure no child experiences a giftless Christmas.

Aldi

Kevin the Carrot is back for a ninth year running, this time trying to save the Christmas spirit from a bunch of hard-boiled humbug villains.

With the ad narrated by actor Jim Broadbent, our plucky hero braves an oven, a Mission Impossible-inspired ventilation system and Bond-esque snow jet-ski dash across the mountains, all to save Christmas.

Helped by his wife Katie, he of course pulls it off. A fan favourite, soft toys of the root vegetable are sold in stores, and this year cuddly humbugs are on sale too.

Morrisons

It’s a song and dance number from Morrisons, courtesy of their singing oven gloves performing Bugsy Malone’s You Give A Little Love.

A choir of 26 Morrisons employees gave voice to the gloves, recording their rendition of the song at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.

Like Lidl, the retailer pulled out the directing big guns, hiring The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey to oversee proceedings.

Asda

Bagging the prize for the most gnome puns in one advert, Asda sees a flash mob of gnomes preparing the store for Christmas.

The resulting advert isn’t as irritating as it sounds on paper, thanks to nice performances by the two human characters in the ad – Maggie and Bill.

And as we know, Christmas is all about the merchandise, so the supermarkets are of course selling special Xmas versions of their garden gnomes to accompany their already 50-strong gnome range. Who knew?

Tesco

Tesco reminds us of those members of the family who are no longer here to join us on the big day, with a man carrying on his late grandmother’s festive tradition of baking gingerbread.

He becomes obsessed with the spicy treat, as it infiltrates every part of his day from his haircut to a trip to see the Christmas lights.

He eventually gets together with his grandad to bake a gingerbread house, revealing it to the family at lunch, thus keeping the tradition alive.

Greggs

And in the most unlikely festive cameo of the year, Greggs has enlisted Nigella Lawson to star in its first Christmas ad.

Rapturously endorsing their festive bakes, Lawson has her hands full of pasties, and her table full of take-away coffees, as she promotes the bakery’s festive-themed fare.

Whether or not you believe the 64-year-old TV chef really tucks into their sausage rolls in real life – the attention-grabbing collaboration looks like a wise move for the chain, whose sales have jumped in recent weeks as it continues its UK expansion.

Entertainment

Paul Mescal says being the star of Gladiator II as it premieres in London is ‘absolutely, wildly overwhelming’

Published

1 day ago

November 13, 2024

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Paul Mescal says being the star of Gladiator II as it premieres in London is 'absolutely, wildly overwhelming'

Gladiator II star Paul Mescal has said bringing Sir Ridley Scott’s legacy sequel to the big screen has been a “wildly… overwhelming” experience.

The star was speaking to Sky News on the red carpet at the film’s royal premiere which was attended by His Majesty the King, who had earlier hosted members of the film and TV industry at a Buckingham Palace reception.

When asked about making the move from indie films, like All Of Us Strangers and Aftersun, into one of the most eagerly anticipated films this year, Mescal said: “I’m excited to play with what the audience is expecting of me.”

“The royal audience is one thing… I think we’ve seen how an audience responded to the film, royal or not, and I think we’re excited for people to see it.”

A whole 24 years after Sir Ridley Scott’s Roman blockbuster starring Russell Crowe, Mescal plays Lucius who, much like the original, finds himself trying to win back his freedom after powerful emperors of Rome conquer his home.

With an actual-scale model of the Colosseum built for the production, the film comes with high costs and a lot of hype.

“I’m struggling with words at the moment,” Mescal admitted, taking in the occasion, having come from the champagne reception at Buckingham Palace.

“This has been an absolutely, wildly – I keep using the word overwhelming – but I think if this isn’t slightly overwhelming then I don’t know what the hell is. I’m having a great time.”

Sir Ridley explained his reason for casting Mescal was that he saw aspects of “a young Albert Finney” in him.

While the pressure is on for the sequel to do well at the box office, the director said he’s learnt how to deal with the weight of expectations over the years.

“Any film of [this] scale, it doesn’t matter how we play it down, it’s colossally stressful. You better embrace stress or don’t do the job.”

Before heading to the premiere, the King welcomed directors, actors, TV presenters, stunt performers and costume designers at the palace to mark the centenary of the Film and TV Charity, of which Charles has become patron.

Sir Ridley, actor Joseph Fiennes, actress India Amarteifio from the hit Netflix show Queen Charlotte, and TV presenter Claudia Winkleman were among the celebrities who attended the event.

Gladiator II is in cinemas on 15 November.