3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Rolling in the years: A history of Oasis in seven Irish gigs
Tivoli, Dublin, September 3, 1994
A week after the release of their debut, Definitely Maybe, the Gallaghers arrived in their spiritual homeland for their first ever Irish show, at the 700 capacity Tivoli Theatre in the Liberties in Dublin. Speaking to reporters Noel Gallagher joked they were 'here for the Tayto' — before he and the band negotiated nine of Definitely Maybe's 11 tracks.
The performance was significant for marking the first time Noel played an acoustic segment on his own — a staple of later Oasis gigs. He strummed his way through D'Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman — a heartfelt ballad from the perspective of a young boy dreaming of growing up and taking on the world.
Reports from the time suggest the crowd was on the rowdier side: one review starts with the journalist revealing they had been threatened with a broken nose after pushing their way to the front. Oasis finished with a cover of The Beatles' I Am The Walrus while Evan Dando of the Lemonheads watched the madness from the side of the stage. Tickets cost £6.50 — the equivalent of €15 today, and a far cry from the eye-watering prices for Oasis' Croke Park shows.
Slane Castle, July 22, 1995
It would be an overstatement to say Oasis blew headliners REM off stage at Slane 95 — but they were far more comfortable playing to a huge audience than the American band, who had emerged from an indie scene wary of commercial success and seemed to have their guards up throughout (it was the first date since drummer Mike Mills underwent an emergency appendectomy).
Oasis, by contrast, knew they were born for this and blitzed through a set that was both a victory lap for Definitely Maybe and a foreshadowing of the acclaim to come with (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, released three months later.
None of this came as a surprise. The walk up to Slane Castle confirmed the day would belong to Oasis as much as to REM, with t-shirt sellers enthusiastically hawking stick-on Gallagher 'eyebrows'.
The tone went from hairy to lairy as Oasis emerged from the wings, with troublesome punters up front chucking missiles at Liam. Subsequent reports claimed they were throwing stones, though some who were there remember it as coins. Either way, Liam wasn't having it, saying: 'If you don't like it, go f***ing hang yourself.'
The concert is notable for featuring an early performance by Noel of Don't Look Back In Anger — which, despite its unfamiliarity, reduced much of the vast audience to silence. It was a hint of what was coming — popular though they were, Oasis were about to be a lot bigger.
Páirc Uí Chaoimh, August 14 and 15, 1996
Oasis had just written themselves into British rock folklore with two concerts before a combined audience of 250,000 at Knebworth in Hertfordshire. Now they were doing likewise in Ireland with a double-helping of dates at Cork's largest outdoor venue, which had previously hosted artists such as Prince and Michael Jackson.
Oasis were fighting fit, and a blistering turn by support act the Prodigy laid down the gauntlet and pumped them up further. Mindful of the setting, Noel honoured local hero — and namesake — Rory Gallagher, who had died the previous year, by playing Cast No Shadow on an acoustic guitar belonging to the Corkman. It was a fine double bill for a ticket price of £22.50.
'Many of the band's extended Irish family were present and created a celebratory atmosphere,' wrote rock photographer Jill Furmanovsky, who photographed Oasis throughout that year and has collected many of the images for her new book Oasis: Knebworth. 'Those were marvellous shows.'
The Point, Dublin, December 3-5, 1997
The Gallaghers on stage at the Point in 1997. Pic: Collins
Oasis's reputation for unpredictability preceded them by the time they returned to Ireland with their bloated, cocaine-fuelled third album, Be Here Now. There had been multiple bust-ups between Noel and Liam while touring the United States, and Liam had cried off an MTV Unplugged session in August 1996, claiming he had a sore throat (he still made it to the recording, heckling Noel from the balcony).
His throat was bothering him again in December 1997, and he left Noel to front the band for the second and third of their three nights in Dublin. It was a reminder of how chaotic Oasis could be even at the height of their success and hinted at the tension between the siblings that would eventually threaten the group's future.
Still, for those who were there, the gigs carried the novelty of Noel singing an entire set (Oasis completists highly rate the live bootleg). Moreover, things would get worse — at a show in Glasgow two days later, they would leave the stage early under a hail of bottles.
Was this the beginning of the end? 'I'm bored with Oasis, and I can't wait till this tour is over so I can take a long break,' a disillusioned Noel had told an Irish newspaper backstage before the first Dublin performance. 'If someone told me that tonight was the last date and we wouldn't play again for another five months, I wouldn't give a f***....I know they're getting bored with me and Liam, and the Beatles influences, and the drug stuff, and all that other bollocks about us. I think it's time to give it a rest, give the fans some time off from us.'
Marlay Park, Dublin, July 16, 2005
Liam and Noel Gallagher of Oasis performing at Dublin's Marlay Park in 2005. Pic: Paddy Cummins
Oasis were adrift and lacking a purpose as they rolled into the joyless south Dublin venue — a purgatorial patch that sucks all the fun out of concert-going because it's such a pain to get to and from.
The Gallaghers weren't feeling it, though, to be fair, they were touring the listless Don't Believe The Truth album. Liam sipped mineral water rather than lager, and Noel bored everyone senseless with indulgent new songs such as The Importance of Being Idle, a tune about lazing the day away that lives up to its name with its plodding tempo.
More than 10 years on from their incendiary debut, Oasis were the elder statesmen now at a time when rock music was making a roaring comeback with younger, edgier bands such as The Libertines. It would be an exaggeration to say that the writing was already on the wall: there were no reasons to expect that Oasis would implode within five years. But the excitement had gone for them and their audience.
Slane Castle, June 20, 2009
Fans cheering on Oasis while they were on stage at Slane Castle, 2009. Pic: Collins Photos
There was a sense of things turning full circle, as just as in Cork in 1996, Oasis were supported by Prodigy, who once again threatened to blow the headliners off stage. Backstage, Noel and Liam weren't talking — each had their own caravan, separate from the rest of the band (and each other). The concert was fine — the gig was largely noteworthy for the massive logjams on the way back to Dublin, which meant many didn't get home until early the next morning.
It was only in hindsight that Slane 2009 would become a significant moment for Irish Oasis fans, with the band going through a nasty breakup in Paris two months later. As Liam would tell the Examiner'Noel was acting like a dick, I was acting like a dick,' he says. 'Two dicks in a room — fucking hell. Band over.'
Croke Park, Dublin, August 16 and 17, 2025
Oasis perform on stage during the opening night of their Live 25' Tour at Principality Stadium on July 04, 2025 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by)
After years of speculation, months of anticipation and weeks of hype, Oasis are finally making their way to Dublin for their first Irish shows in 16 years. They've been in blistering form since kicking off their comeback in Cardiff, to the point where people have almost forgotten the absurd ticket prices the band have been cheekily charging.
Giving the audience precisely what they want, the set has leaned on their iconic first two albums, with just a smattering of later work ( The Importance Of Being Idle has yet to make an appearance). Can any performance possibly live up to the expectations that have been built around these shows? Come August 16, all will be revealed.
