Oasis, Wembley Stadium, review: Enough tears to fix the water shortage

Telegraph

4 days ago

I was slightly hoping, from a purely critical point of view, that the eighth concert of Oasis's much-hyped reunion tour – and their first of seven shows at London's Wembley Stadium – might somehow deviate from the raucous joy-filled carnival of the first seven.
Some on-stage tension between Liam Gallagher and older brother Noel, perhaps. Or a steadfast refusal by Liam to sing the right notes in the right order. Britpop's enfants terribles couldn't still be on blistering form, could they? Well, yes. Scorching form, actually.
This was raw, loud, bracingly unpretentious, thankfully apolitical… and proof that rock and roll is the ultimate democratic artform.
The stage set was simple. Liam, in fine voice and sporting a velvet beanie hat, may have looked like an urban gillie, but, my goodness, his voice was powerful. Some Might Say and Slide Away were momentous. And Noel seemed the most relaxed he's been all tour.
This was the gig at which all the band's celebrity chums were present. Sienna Miller, Noel's ex-wife Meg Mathews, and tennis star Jack Draper, were among the celebs. But they were, at best, a side show. This was all about the 90,000 fans.
I pulled pints at an Oasis concert in Finsbury Park in 2002 – after the band's mid-1990s imperial phase but before they imploded in 2009 – and it was among the most miserable days of my working life. Pouring rain and 50,000 gnarly drunk people. A corridor of police horses awaiting outside. No thanks. Here, the intoxication was celebratory. What changed? Nostalgia's a mollifying cushion. But mainly those fans grew up and had kids, many of whom were here. The sense of occasion was off the scale, and rightly so. Oasis are only playing 17 UK shows; they'd need to play 170 to satisfy last year's demand for tickets.
The band were tight, held together by rhythm guitarist Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs. He left the band in 1999 but, as tonight proved, provided the 'Oasis chug' that gave many of the songs their heft. Noel's solo numbers – Little by Little and The Masterplan – were the emotional heart of this extraordinary show. Live Forever, with Liam back on vocal duty, was dedicated to the late Ozzy Osbourne.
It's astonishing that all but three of the 23 songs played tonight were released in an 18-month blitzkrieg between April 1994 and October 1995, many of them as B-sides. Surely only The Beatles between 1962's Love Me Do and 1964's Can't Buy Me Love can beat that in terms of mass cultural impact. Or perhaps ABBA, following the release of SOS in 1975.
The rockers, like Roll With It and Rock 'n' Roll Star were phenomenal.
Yet the music's only one thing. These concerts matter for another reason. The economy's shrinking, taxes are rising, pubs are permanently shuttering, trains are creaking, supermarket food costs so much it's security tagged and Britain hasn't produced a decent mainstream rock band for decades. In other words, the UK feels about as effervescent as Keir Starmer's haircut right now.
Reasons to be cheerful? Lionesses, Lions and Bazballers aside, there aren't any. So, believe it or not, something as slight as a rock concert by greying men in their 50s can actually make a difference. Sometimes the shallow end is where the important stuff happens. If last summer belonged to the Swifties, this summer belongs to Oasis and their fans.
Here's a way to end the current water shortage. Attach a water butt to Wembley and catch 90,000's people's tears. When Noel sang Don't Look Back in Anger, and Liam Wonderwall, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Extraordinary scenes.
Will there be more after this tour? I don't know, but assuming vocal cords and brotherly relations hold firm, I'd bet they do three or four Knebworths next summer with a valedictory sign-off at Glastonbury 2027. They'd be daft not to. Prepare to refresh your browser. It was utterly mesmerising.