CHICAGO — One year ago, Oasis announced the group would be reuniting after breaking up a decade and a half prior in spectacular fashion.
And while news that the Britpop titans, namely brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, had settled their differences enough to perform together once again created a major stir in the U.K., there was some question about the impact it would have on these shores.
“Oasis announces reunion but will America care?” ran the headline to this very column late last August.
Given the lack of chart success and the size of the venues the band had historically played here — thebiggest regionally being the scaled-down winter indoor configuration of what is now the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion — the idea that they were now attempting to fill stadiums in North America seemed scoff-worthy.
What a difference a year makes.
From the very first date in Cardiff, Wales, on the Fourth of July this year, reviews for the gigs have beenuniversally acclaimed as Oasis took the U.K. by storm with multiple nights per city.
Across TikTok, Instagram, and every other social media platform, footage of audiences bouncing up and down at once, seas of them, and singing along to tracks like “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” “Live Forever” and “Wonderwall” has been unavoidable.
And it’s not just middle-aged hooligans looking to reclaim a part of their ’90s youth, teens and millennialsmake up a majority of the population at the shows.
Even those without tickets are getting involved.
A couple of weeks back, thousands of people on the streets of Dublin, left outside of Croke Park, werefilmed singing “Half the World Away” in unison as the band performed it inside the stadium.
The Gallagher brothers have been getting along better than ever before, laughing and joking, something that never happened during their first run.
Noel told a sports channel in England, his sole interview to date since the reunion was announced, that he “grossly underestimated what I was getting into.”
“It was kind of after about five minutes, I was like, all right, can I just go back to the dressing room andstart this again?” he told Talksport of the inaugural night of the run. “I’ve done stadiums before and allthat, but I don’t mind telling you, my legs had turned to jelly after about halfway through the second song.”
This Thursday night, Oasis plays Soldier Field in Chicago, the group’s first show in the U.S. since December 2008.
That’s where Rock Music Menu is reporting from this week. Like the other nine stadium dates in North America, it was long sold out and easily one of the hottest concert tickets of the summer.
Last weekend, at the first North American date in Toronto, rain began to fall during “Stand by Me” andquickly turned to a full-blown downpour, with the fans and band soaked.
Miserable as it might sound, it was described by attendees as nothing short of magical, “biblical” as they say in the U.K.
The closest shows to Philly take place this holiday weekend at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.,where Oasis will be joined by openers Cage the Elephant on Sunday and Monday.
At this writing, some final production release tickets were just about to be made available. And, of course, there’s the secondary markets and Ticketmaster’s Verified Resale option.
It would be well advised to take the trip up I-95, because as of right now, the tour is scheduled to end inNovember, following some huge venues in South America.
However, there have been rumors of the “Oasis Live ’25 Tour” stretching well into next year, including a series of concerts in Knebworth, the site of the two biggest shows in the band’s career.
It was August 1996 when Oasis played for 250,000 plus fans each night, a feat that quickly became the stuff of legend and cemented the group’s iconic status.
“Right, let’s talk about football,” Noel responded when the hosts of Talksport lightly pressed him on thepossibility of a return to Knebworth 30 years later.
All bets are on many more dates being announced, especially given the wild success the band is currently experiencing worldwide.
Here’s hoping another loop around the States factors in and, this time, lands a bit closer to South Philadelphia.
Vinyl of the Week
Keep an eye on this spot as each week we’ll be looking at new or soon-to-be-released vinyl from a varietyof artists.
It might be a repressing of a landmark recording, special edition, or new collection from alegendary act.
This week, it’s the official version of a heavily bootlegged show by The Who from the very early ’70s.
The Who: “Live at the Oval 1971”
Last week, fans were left disappointed as The Who postponed both the Wells Fargo Center andBoardwalk Hall shows of their “The Song Is Over” farewell tour.
And while it’s certainly not the same, there is some fresh live archival material that’s been released this month as a bit of a holdover until the new dates are announced.
“Live at The Oval 1971” is now available on all digital platforms, CD, Atmos and vinyl.
It’s the first-ever official recording of The Who’s sought-after set at Goodbye Summer: A Rock Concert in aid of Famine Relief for the People of Bangla Desh, which was a kind of sister event to the Concert for Bangladesh.
Both were to benefit the humanitarian crisis in the South Asian nation, with the former takingplace at Madison Square Garden in August 1971 and spearheaded by George Harrison, who called uponfriends like Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and his former Beatle bandmate Ringo Starr to take part.
As an across-the-pond answer, The Who headlined The Oval cricket ground in Kennington, South London, on Sept. 18, 1971, for the U.K. version of a Bangladesh benefit.
During the show, the band — Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon — performed a robust 15-song set, with highlights “Behind Blue Eyes,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Pinball Wizard,” and more for an audience of 35,000-plus.
Just over a month earlier, the band had released “Who’s Next,” and at the Oval played five songs fromthe album.
Renowned for their unpredictable and unforgettable performances, it concluded with Townshend and Moon smashing their equipment.
And while the recording isn’t the best by any stretch, it captures a key moment in the history of The Who.
Contrastingly, it would never live up to the bar set by the foursome’s “Live at Leeds,” one of the greatest live LPs in music history, which was recorded and released the year prior.
The two-LP “Live at The Oval” is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl, with a limited edition two-LP “sea blue and red-hot color swirl and splatter” vinyl also available.
The set can be found online and from all respectable retailers who carry vinyl.
To contact music columnist Michael Christopher, send an email to rockmusicmenu@gmail.com.Also, check out his website at thechroniclesofmc.com.
Source: Berkshire mont