As I sit to write this piece, Oasis’ Live 25’ tour ended ten days ago in Sao Paulo. It’s been 108 days since I saw the band myself, on their second of two nights at Dublin’s Croke Park. I’m very rarely speechless. Those that know me well can attest to that; you can’t shut me up half the time. However, I still can’t find the words to describe that gig. I’ve spent 108 days thinking about it. It’s a feeling I’ll chase for the rest of my life.
Like many Oasis fans, it felt like all my Christmases came at once when the band announced their reunion tour in August 2024. The guns had fallen silent. The great war had ended. It was not to be televised.
Critics of the Gallagher brothers were out in force around this time. “The ticket prices are astronomical,” they cried in unison. “They’ll never last a full tour without falling out!” they bellowed from the hilltops. However, the naysayers just had to roll with it after Oasis took the stage for the first time in 16 years at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Arm in arm, Noel and Liam Gallagher banished the demons between them, to the rapturous adulation of the Welsh crowd.
Oasis summer was so on, and it was oh so beautiful.
Cardiff. Manchester. London. Edinburgh. I looked on in awe as my social media feeds flooded with five-star reviews, videos of the Poznan, and absolutely biblical vibrations emerging from the tour.
When the morning finally arrived, you might laugh, but I was extremely nervous. I’ve been listening to Oasis all my life. I’ve dreamed of this day forever, and I thought it might never come. What if it wasn’t what it was cracked up to be? As soon as I put on my bucket hat, those feelings began to slide away, and little by little I prepared myself for the best day of my life.
Entering Croke Park, an arena where I’ve spent so many sunny afternoons following Kildare, was a fever dream. For those of you that know the GAA, you’ll know following Kildare is an unenviable burden on a man. The best way I can describe the gig was that it felt like an All-Ireland final, and everyone in attendance was the winner. If that’s the closest feeling I’ll ever get to Kildare winning an All-Ireland final, I can die happy.
What struck me as different about this gig was the spread of age groups amongst the fans on the Croke Park pitch. There was a massive cohort of fans who were clearly around during the band’s first run – sporting messy bowl cuts, parkas, and Stone Island merchandise, you could spot them from a mile away. I am 22, and I’ve been an Oasis superfan my entire life, despite only being six when they separated.
There were even kids, belting out every word with Liam and clad in “MADFERRIT” bucket hats with Adidas Gazelles. I truly believe no other band in the world can do what Oasis did. They brought people together from all walks of life. It was truly special.
When the band was about to come on stage, life got a bit too much for me.
As I began to get emotional, I turned to my right to see another man in tears. This middle-aged man must have been 20 or 30 years older than me, and there’s a good chance we had absolutely nothing in common.
However, in that moment, Oasis brought us together. That random man and I hugged it out, as Oasis’ walkout song F*ckin’ in the Bushes rang around Croke Park. Wherever that random guy is, I hope he’s doing well.
As for the gig (excuse the pun), it was a blur. I laughed. I cried. I did the Manchester City-affiliated dance, the Poznan, at Liam’s request, despite being a huge United fan. Biblical. Celestial. Godlike. Majestic. Iconic. Legendary. I’m running out of positive words, but you get the gist. No other band in history can separate for such a long time, return, and produce that masterpiece. It’ll never be done again.
What makes Oasis so special is not any particular band member, or even the music. It’s the feeling that they give you. To call it merely a concert would be an insult; this was an experience. As Noel himself said in the Supersonic documentary (a fantastic documentary by the way), “People will never forget the way you make them feel.”
As for the price, I paid €175. After the gig, I felt like I owed them at least double. If this is truly the end of Oasis, what a way to go out. If not, best believe I will be first in the queue for tickets.