But who cares about the economy? It was all about the music, and that sounded phenomenal. Quite brilliantly – or perhaps defiantly – the band didn’t once change the setlist during the tour. This preserved the wall-to-wall banger nature of it and ensured no fans would go home disappointed by them swapping out Supersonic for The Hindu Times. They had their setlist and they played the hell of out it.
But wait… it wasn’t all about the music was it? Because this is Oasis, and this is Liam and Noel, and we’re in it for the laughs too, and to spend many hours scouring the internet to analyse whether they’re actually getting on or not.
In this spirit, here are the best non-musical moments of Oasis Live ‘25:
Liam and Noel in physical contact shocker
Big Brother Recordings
Now, this was probably the biggest surprise of the entire tour. Now just having the warring Gallaghers sharing a stage together, after the big fight that split the band in 2009 and the years of acrimony and insults that followed, was one thing but to see them… HOLDING HANDS when they came on and the… HUGGING at the end? Madness.
It was interesting to see how it developed too, with video footage capturing these moment emerging after every show.
At the first night in Cardiff it looked like Liam had definitely grabbed Noel’s hand and lifted it up as they walked on. And the hug at the end was more of a tentative high-five, shoulder touch, awkward man thing.
But then Noel – who confessed on a radio interview (the only words emerging from their camp, bar a few Liam tweets (see below) that he was terrified that first night – suddenly seemed to get into the spirit of things. Soon they were firmly hand in hand walking on, bowing to each other, and embracing fully, even affectionately. Amazing what the screaming acclaim of 90,000 fans can do to improve personal relations.
Naturally, Liam – sober the whole tour, with ever-sharpening comedy chops – soon began to lampoon this part of the show, attempting to goose and snog Noel at various dates, and lick the back of his neck.
Good japes. But emotional too. Certainly after 15 pints of Wembley’s finest.
Now Liam’s always had a knack for balancing things on his head. Chiefly tambourines, which he again showed a remarkable talent for during the tour. If standing still with an instrument on your head were an Olympic sport – which it surely should be – Liam would collapse under the weight of the golds.
But that wasn’t all. No, Liam also sported a full hood over his head at Wembley and with the shades on this essentially put him in disguise. And then as they travelled around the world, he began sporting national hats like a true Brit on tour, including a hat with corks hanging of it in Australia and a sombrero in Mexico.
This might have seemed a bit ill-considered were it not for the maintaining of his deadly serious frontman face, fronting it out until the impression is given that yes, this is cool. If he’d have come on riding an inflatable shark, Adidas would be releasing a few limited edition version within weeks.
And speaking of sharks…
Liam’s shark story in Los Angeles
Elite stage banter has always been Liam’s calling. The more nonsensical the better. But at the Rose Bowl in California, he outdid himself with a parable about a shark he met on Santa Monica beach… by which he meant these weed-smoking hippies should turn around and do the Poznan.
And Noel’s subsequent Liam impression
This time about a horse called Noelo.
The tributes to lost icons
Now in all seriousness, the band’s performances of Live Forever during the shows became something of a tribute segment to friends and icons who died over the year.
.
During their first gig back in Cardiff, Diego Joto featured on the video screens accompanying the song, after he died in a car accident in early July. Then Ozzy Osbourne was saluted in their first show at Wembley. Ricky Hatton, a close friend of the band, was paid tribute to at the Wembley show on 27 September, with Liam adding on X: “Absolutely devastated to hear the news about RICKY HATTON it was an absolute honour to know him and carry his belts RIP CHAMP LIVE FOREVER LG.”
Most recently, the band stopped the show in Brazil to make a shout out to another close friend, Mani from The Stone Roses. “Our hero, the one and only,” said Liam
Bonehead’s been a low-key hero throughout the tour, with his little dressing room snapshots of the three guitarists behind the brothers: him, Gem Archer and Andy Bell.
Bonehead was also more of a high-key hero when he announced he had to leave the tour to undergo treatment for prostate cancer. He was back in time to play South America. What a trooper.
Liam pretending to snort drugs in a portaloo
Within all the social media slop, there were plenty of little gems featuring the band backstage. Plenty of mugging for fans on the way to the stage and then this priceless moment as Liam pretends he’s going to grab a nosefull in the toilets. Come on, Liam’s not like that now, it was only that brief moment between 1988 to 2024.
At the end of the final date of the tour, Liam handed over his tambourine and maracas to Noel, in a comedy gesture which is nevertheless suggestive of a job well done and relations well and truly healed.
Will they ever tour again?
Of course they will… see above.
