Noel and Liam Gallagher are just as famous for fighting as their music — can they make it through an entire tour?
One of the greatest blood feuds in the history of rock has supposedly been resolved: 15 years after brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher torpedoed the global phenomenon that was their band, Oasis will reunite for a 2025 live tour. It’s a truce that fans thought they’d never see — and many are joking that it can’t possibly last.
The Gallagher beef dates all the way back to when the boys shared a bedroom in their childhood home and became the stuff of music legend as Oasis conquered the charts with their Britpop sound in the Nineties: physical fights and bickering interviews, one or the other quitting the band or abandoning a tour, all of it fueled by booze and drugs. Their sibling rivalry raged on until the elder Noel walked away for good in 2009, describing Liam as “a man with a fork in a world of soup.” Liam would go on to start a Twitter account that he used to mock Noel, often calling him a “potato.” Each took every opportunity to snipe at his brother in the press, often casting blame for the demise of Oasis (and their ongoing failure to get the band back together).
So, how far can we trust the promise of arena concerts to be held — gulp — 11 months from now? That’s an eternity for a relationship that could detonate at any second, and despite the excitement, there’s understandable trepidation about shelling out a small fortune for tickets. That anxiety has taken the form of memes from those who believe we’re bound to have our hearts broken by yet another acrimonious Gallagher split. Predictions of stage meltdowns, references to the ruined friendship depicted in the film The Banshees of Inisherin, and compassion for the tour manager are all appropriate here. Yes, you should definitely pay extra for the event insurance.
But there are reasons to remain optimistic. If Liam is at all motivated by spite — and his history with Noel suggests he is — he could mount the reunion just to prove the naysayers wrong. On Sunday, he was tweeting “Your attitude stinks” at anyone claiming the shows wouldn’t happen next year (or will otherwise disappoint). A climactic comeback would also preclude The 1975‘s Matty Healy from delivering further pronouncements on how the Gallagher boys need to top wasting time and bury the hatchet; such comments have irked Liam in recent years. Maybe they even motivated the reconciliation? Another theory: the rock stars behind “Champagne Supernova” were feeling eclipsed by Chappell Roan‘s “Red Wine Supernova.” Or they were simply inspired by Charli XCX and Lorde to work it out on the remix.
Whatever the cause of this unexpected fraternal love, the adoring masses will be ready to do battle when the U.K. and Ireland concert tickets go up for sale on Aug. 31. (Other dates, including those for North America, have yet to be announced.) The competition and prices have the potential to match the frenzy for Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour, except among people who remember when MTV aired music videos. Although, who knows? Perhaps younger generations will get swept up in Oasis nostalgia once “Wonderwall” hits TikTok. Stranger things have happened. Like the Gallaghers getting back together, for example.