The Oasis Reunion is one of brotherly love. My son, Joey Waronker, is now drumming for the Gallagher Brothers. He began when Liam invited him to join he and Jon Squire to record an album two years ago and tour the UK. In January 2025, Noel requested a visit from Joey in London to meet. In mid-May Joey returned to London to begin rehearsal for this monumental event of brothers reuniting and coming together through music to heal the past. My husband Jered and I attended the concert in Toronto on 8/25 to witness and share in the ecstasy of the crowd’s celebration they have been waiting for. As an artist from the Sixties experiencing Beatlemania, I find this experience as a parallel. 

Donna Loren 
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You are spot on. When the shows were first announced, I was caught in the initial hype and so close to dropping serious $$ for tickets/travel to NYC. 

Then I started thinking, beyond the “Morning Glory” album, what have they really accomplished?  Not much as you noted. This band has such an aura because of the brotherly drama which I think leads to the hype. You didn’t mention Eagles “Hell Freezes Over” but this is such a money grab. God bless them if people are willing to pay it.  It just won’t be me. 

Frankly, the more successful band is the opening act Cage The Elephant. And that is who I’d rather see. So, I’ll pass on the Oasis hype and catch Cage this fall as they do their own tour. I can pay a fraction of the cost to see them in a more intimate venue playing 2 hours of material, which isn’t enough time to cover the strength of their repertoire.  

Thanks for your work. 

Kevin Smith
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It may be an age thing - I have noticed that a lot of the super-fan letters have come from folks right around my age (49). Oasis was a revelation to many of us when, during our freshman year in college, they ushered in a period of post-grunge, melodic brit-rock with attitude. My friend and Penn classmate played for me a bootleg of them covering "I am the Walrus" and I was floored.

I went on to see them twice during Spring Break (March '95) - first at the Stone Pony and then I went into the city to try and find tickets to see them at the Academy. When I was almost out of time and luck, I saw Matt Pinfield outside and let him know I saw him introduce the band at the Pony a few days earlier. He asked if I was going to the show and I said that my friend and I couldn't find tickets. He handed me a ticket, saying "here is one, I'll be right back." Two minutes later, he handed me the second ticket and this 18-year old kid was sold forever on the power of rock and roll.

My buddy Barry and I ended up backstage with Bonehead and snuck into the after-party (Liam actually announced onstage that they will be partying at Rebar on 16th and 8th after the show), even though we didn't have fake IDs. Barry and I had a good chat outside the coat room with Liam about Dennis Rodman's purple hair - he was really into the NBA at the time.

Fast forward to early sophomore year when, using dial-up internet, we were able to access a 30-second clip of Wonderwall before it came out. It is hard to describe in words the impact of that moment. We grew up listening to our baby boomer parents talk about that night on Ed Sullivan and spent our lives to that point waiting for our version of that event - this tugged those strings. It was such a blast following the band around during the fall of 1995 as the country was gradually waking up to the incredible songs coming off the pen of Noel Gallagher. We hung by their tour bus outside Hammerjack's and accidentally tried to sell an extra ticket to Sheryl Crow outside the Roseland Ballroom. 

Jonathan Zucker
Santa Monica, CA
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I'm an Oasis fanatic, so I admit bias at the start of this email. I traveled from the USA to the show July 16 in Manchester, England, and here are two aspects about the resonance of this reunion tour I think you missed.

One, Oasis reached its peak right before the true dawn of the digital age. It was one of the last globally big bands at its creative and popular zenith right before digital technology began to infiltrate our lives. So, while everyone has their phones up at these shows, the music and communal joy at these shows revive memories of a simpler time without social media and other apps. You lived more in the moment than in front of a screen, and I got that vibe at the Manchester show more than any I've attended in the last 25 years.

The evidence of people desiring that return to a simpler time was overwhelming in Manchester. Everyone sang every word at the top of their lungs for two hours. Grown men were weeping -- those reports are not exaggerations; I SAW it right in front of me. 

Plus, I'm 60 and have been to a ton of shows, and the communal experience at the Oasis show was incredible. Unlike anything I've experienced. People hugging. Proper strangers turning around and embracing me and calling me a "f*cking legend, mate," all because I came to the show from America. Everyone enjoying each other in complete communal joy. No assholes.

But the biggest reason this tour resonates is that unlike most 401K tours by aging bands, Oasis sounds AMAZING. Liam must be off cocaine and cigarettes because his voice has turned back its biological clock to the late 1990s. The band's sound is monstrous with secret weapon and original member Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs back in the lineup in a three-guitar attack for the first time. Noel is back on lead guitar for the first time since Oasis broke up in 2009, and while never being mistaken for Stevie Ray Vaughan or Eric Johnson, the man is unleashed.

I expected to see a band rediscovering itself in its 50s, not a band that was as tight and even more powerful than its mid-90s peak when the band members were in their 20s and 30s.

Nostalgia is great, but it doesn't mean sh*t if the band sounds lousy. And Oasis sounded BIBLICAL July 16 in Manchester. 

Love the newsletter.

Thanks,
Paul Kelly
Marcellus, New York
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Hi Bob! Being from a small town and being brought up in a less-than-ideal home situation, the Oasis rags-to-riches story resonated with me as much as the music did. I bought every record, single, poster, magazine and even dressed like them. I was loyal and followed them all the way through their last LP Dig Out Your Soul. One of my stories about seeing the band on that tour is featured in a new book by Melissa Locker (And After All: A Fan History of Oasis) so I guess you could call me a pretty big Oasis fan. However, I didn’t bother to purchase tickets for this tour and haven’t even taken up a few offers to go for free. As Liam sings in “Hello”…”it’s never gonna be the same”. Plus, I’m sober these days so the pre-gig pub ritual certainly wouldn’t be as wild!

-Greg Glover
KNRK-FM Portland
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"Now I can completely understand why Oasis sold out stadiums in the U.K. It's not only the music, but the cultural element. Northern lower middle class boys giving the finger to London and those who think they're better. There were hits, a whole movement. But in America?"

Which is so ironic Bob as that’s the lifestyle they pursued and achieved. Locations in London don’t get much more desirable than Maida Vale or Primrose Hill. 

Liam is a lovely bloke though and I didn’t "get them" until I saw the noise they made on stage which was quite hypnotic. The Albums weren’t exactly my idea of great but the self belief was and I do admire the honesty interviews especially in this current climate. They inspired arrogance in place of talent in the Punk tradition.

The far more middle class Blur did the post grunge “Woo Hoo” song but they didn’t like slogging the States at that level like many of us Brit artists doing well. Europe is so individually cultured, closer and easier compared to the Mid-West, not to mention the financial returns are so much better. 

Paul Godfrey - Morcheeba
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I caught the first show in Cardiff not knowing what to expect and it was one of the greatest concerts I’ve seen anywhere, the fans, the energy the pre show hype, it was worth the travel from London. Catch a show if you can, you might be pleasantly surprised. 

DANNY ROBSON
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Plant singing his brother’s  once-in-a-lifetime songs. A band that generates a lyricism through a mix of loud, bleeding, and distorted guitars. However, Oasis, like the Beatles, will only appeal to those who were once young - those who were born old will simply never understand.

It ain’t over yet, my brother.

With from Toronto,

Nigel Russell
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I was a 1990s teenager and, while there was nothing like the hysteria for Oasis that I now know was happening in the UK, my recollection is that Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova were constants on MTV and the radio, back when both counted for a lot.  They were big enough to play arenas when they toured (What's The Story) Morning Glory? in America.  In August 1996, right before the start of my senior year of high school, I saw them in Philly (side note: the arena there was then named the First Union Center. A Philly venue being called the FU Center was perfect).  What a disappointment, one of the worst live acts I've ever seen.  They obliterated all the dynamics the songs had on record and didn't bring any string or keyboard players with them so it was all the same loud mush.  I love when a band is more aggressive live than on record (cf Radiohead) but that wasn't what was going on that night, they just didn't give a sh*t.  

I heard a story once that when Oasis were playing some club at the beginning of their career, a record excec ran up to the stage in the middle of their cover of I Am The Walrus to sign them.  Probably not true, but if it is, that guy's ears were busted.  The played it in Philly and it sucked.  The only musical enjoyment I got out of the night was Noel's three song solo acoustic set.  

Some of the old hits still sound OK to me, but I had zero motivation to try for a ticket on the reunion tour.  A lot of people writing in seem to've had a great time and good for them, but I'm not taking a chance after seeing them in their prime and knowing, even as a teenager, that the performance was lousy.

Jeremy Berg
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Americans don’t understand Oasis, simple as that

Sàndor Von Mallasz


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