BBCOasis fans in Manchester say they are “over the moon” at the return of a band whose “mythical” legacy influenced a generation of “haircuts, swagger, and attitude”.
Liam and Noel Gallagher, who grew up in Burnage, are set to perform on four dates at Heaton Park as part of their 2025 reunion tour.
It marks a return to the venue where the brothers last performed together in the city as Oasis in 2009, shortly before they broke up.
“It’s a very, very special day to be a Manc”, said self-confessed superfan Raz Ashraf.
Getty ImagesExcitement at the return of Oasis has swept through the city where the brothers found their fame, before they became one of the defining bands of the Britpop era.
Mr Ashraf hugged the BBC Manchester reporter he spoke to in delight after being spotted singing by a mural to the brothers outside Sifter’s record shop in Burnage.
“I’m over the moon, it’s the swagger of the city, it’s baggy jeans with your Adidas, it’s the way you walk, it’s the way you talk, it’s the way you say hello to people, it’s everything man.
“Oasis are more than just music, they’re icons, you know what I mean.”
One person said the band “captured a time period when I was a young lad”, while another said he would never forgot “their attitudes, their swagger, their fighting, their songs, their tunes, it was mega”.
Oasis’s first performance to feature both Gallagher brothers came at the Boardwalk nightclub in the city in 1992, after Noel joined having been a roadie for Oldham band Inspiral Carpets.
A year later they signed their first record deal with Creation Records in London and were photographed in their first official shoot by James Fry of the band World of Twist at Nomad Studios in Manchester.
“They were great, and they were all about running around Manchester”, Mr Fry said, adding back then the band were a five-piece, and the Gallagher’s individual stardom had yet to shine through.
“They found a car in Withington, outside a shop called the Sharp Dressed Man, they knew this guy who had this Jaguar, and Noel went up and said, ‘can we use your car for some photos’.
“All five were really good to me and my assistant, we had a laugh, it was quite laid back.
“I think it’s inevitable a band that good will get back to together,” the music photographer said.
‘Euphoria’
Oasis “picked up the baton” from the Stone Roses in a city where the previous decade had been dominated by electronic dance music, music journalist Dave Haslam said.
The band tapped into demand from an audience that “preferred bands and found electronic music weird”, the Hacienda DJ added.
“They had a lot of power about them and also they captured a lot of the euphoria of the time.”
Oasis rehearsed at the Boardwalk, where Mr Haslam performed on a Friday and Saturday night.
“Liam was always trying to break into the cigarette machine, I remember him banging on the side of it.
“Bad behaviour propelled them into a profile,” the music journalist said.
“I had read more about them fighting, and the music paper would be full of these brothers causing mayhem, so they were a kind of bad boy group.
The haircuts formed a “recognisable look” that encouraged a fandom and loyalty that meant “lads in Manchester started to walk like Liam”, he said.
But Oasis’s dominance has also led to Manchester being associated as a place where “white lads are the creative drivers of everything, which is a bit of shame”, Mr Haslam said.
John Robb, a musician and singer, released a documentary on the 30th anniversary of Definitely Maybe in which he interviewed Noel Gallagher last week.
“The volatile nature of the band is part of the appeal, all the greatest bands have been volatile”, he said.
“That’s what’s exciting about Oasis is they do have an edge.”