Category: Music

by Ian Gualtiere ’27 on September 19, 2024

The world was introduced to the Gallagher brothers in April 1994. Their band, Oasis, had just released “Supersonic,” a single that would define the era of British music for the next decade. A string of hit singles, EPs, and albums would propel the Manchester band into the stratosphere. Helmed by the creative lyricist and deadpan older brother Noel and brought to life by the nasal voice and erratic behavior of younger brother Liam, Oasis would take to the top of global charts thanks to the anthemic songs “Live Forever,” “Rock N’ Roll Star,” “Slide Away,” “Wonderwall,” “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” and “Champagne Supernova.” Several years of tabloid headline news, apparent legendary stories, and notable fights between the two brothers would continuously follow the band after every tour, rowdy night out, and family get-together. One notable explosion would come in 1996 at a taping of the popular concert television series MTV Unplugged, an event where Liam did not show up to rehearsals until a mere hour before taping, eventually arriving heavily intoxicated and unable to sing and prompting Noel to command the stage alone. The image heavily associated with the event would be Liam sitting in the balcony seats with the audience, badgering Noel on stage.

Yet the two would make up and continue playing in the band, even with constant flare-ups and personality clashes. By the turn of the century, Oasis had cemented themselves as one of the most popular bands in the world with over 49 million copies sold with only three albums: Definitely Maybe (1994), (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (1996), and Be Here Now (1997). For the next seven years and four albums, sales would begin to dwindle, audience and critical reception would start to turn, the band had various lineup changes, and the brothers would continue to vent their frustration out on each other, despite being in high demand for concerts and festivals. The summer of 2009 signaled the end of an era for Oasis after Liam contracted laryngitis and the band dropped out of a festival performance in Chelmsford, England. Several days later, another canceled appearance in Paris would prompt Noel to release a statement on the band’s website declaring that he was leaving Oasis, stating that he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.” With Noel gone, Liam would front the band with remaining members under the name Beady Eye for the next five years until their breakup, which prompted a successful solo career for Liam. Noel would create the band Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, which is still active today. The next 15 years would see bitter tensions between the brothers, public call-outs on television and social media, and proposed reunions for a hefty cost. For the time being, Oasis had remained a pleasant memory for those who experienced their popularity, and an incredible jewel to newcomers who discovered past performances on streaming, television, and documentaries.

These sentiments would culminate in a new generation of Oasis fans, calls for a reunion, and overall popularity starting to surge by the early 2020s. A new generation can witness the announcement of the band reforming and going on tour almost 15 years to the very day of its breakup. All social media accounts of the band posted a message with a new image of the brothers on Aug. 27, stating, “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.” The news soon followed with announced performances throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland with shows in Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, all set for the summer of 2025.

Tickets were set to be open for purchase on the morning of Aug. 31. An estimated number of 14 million people applied for a total of 1.4 million tickets that morning, with a mere 10 percent chance of obtaining at least a single ticket. The high volume of traffic across ticket sites caused many websites to crash, expelled people waiting in line, and accused hopeful buyers of being robots. Another issue was the apparent use of dynamic pricing within these systems that caused the price of tickets to drastically increase due to high demand. A statement released by the band claimed they were unaware of this issue, which caused many fans to give up their place in line due to extremely high prices.

These issues have caused many fans to voice backlash against Oasis. Ticket sites such as Ticketmaster, and the overall sequence of events that happened that morning caused almost all tickets to sell out in less than 20 minutes. As for those who were able to obtain tickets, they will be able to enjoy the new Oasis tour that will sweep across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland next summer while many more here in the United States are left to hope for their return from across the pond.