Oasis Heaton Park review: ‘An utterly breathtaking homecoming'
From the Gallagher brothers emerging on the stage holding each other’s hands to their warm embrace at the end of the night, the second of Oasis’ performances at Heaton Park on Saturday night was a show that meant everything to everyone. From those who saw the band in their heyday to those who were too young to see them in the past and for the Gallagher brothers, who, after 16 long years apart, looked destined to never reunite. But, for myself and the 80,000 in attendance, this was a surreal moment that you are only too glad to experience.
Ever since the infamous events of August 28th, 2009, which saw Oasis disband and saw Noel launch Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Liam move onto the Beady Eye project before launching a successful solo career in his own right. As the years passed, it felt like this was a reunion destined to never happen. As a massive fan of The Doors, seeing Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison performing with John Densmore and Robby Krieger felt like a more likely proposition than seeing the Gallaghers reunite. But that announcement last August, while sparking the biggest ticket war since The Eras Tour, was the chance to experience something “biblical”, as Liam would put it, and the reunited brothers certainly played into all of the teases of the last 16 years.
As the band prepared to enter the stage, the words “this is not a drill” were displayed on the big screens before a montage of newspaper headlines, reunion rumours and the news of that long-awaited confirmation that the band were back together from last August before Oasis arrived to a rousing reception from their home faithful. Launching into ‘Hello’ to open, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy as pints were launched into the air and the sound of 80,000 voices singing could be heard throughout the city. The track has never sounded better, and hearing the lyrics “it’s good to be back” felt like bliss.
“Absolutely f****** biblical,” Liam bellowed before exploding into a rendition of ‘Acquiesce’ and never have Noel’s lyrics “Because we need each other. We believe in one another” felt more fitting – symbolising the unity that has been rebuilt between the two brothers. A performance of ‘Morning Glory’ quickly followed and saw the band break off into solos at the end, and ‘Some Might Say’ felt like one big karaoke session - one that the endearing crowd at Heaton Park were happy to participate in.
Prior to performing in Cardiff last weekend, it was impossible to predict how Oasis would sound on their reunion tour following such a lengthy hiatus, but the band have created a reimagined experience that is tailor-made for a stadium-headlining band in the 21st century.
On stage, the band was complemented by an impressive use of visuals that were eye-catching but never took the focus off the performance. It was without question the best I've ever heard Liam sound vocally. His vocals were clear and rich, and his energy was infectious; he oozed passion and was full of the trademark swagger that we love about Liam Gallagher. Elsewhere, with the addition of Joey Waronker on drums, the drumming feels a lot tighter and more fast-paced; Noel and Bonehead often provided additional guitar ad-libs to extend outros and intros, and their wall of sound was once again a key sonic element to the band’s sound. Finally, Christian Madden is a natural fit on keyboards, and that’s without touching on the skill of Andy Bell and Gem Archer.
With a setlist composed of tracks predominantly from ‘Definitely Maybe’, ‘(What's the Story) Morning Glory?’ and 1997’s B-Sides album ‘The Masterplan’, the hits came relentlessly and with a barrage of distorted guitars as the band blasted through ‘Bring It On Down’, ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’, ‘Fade Away’, ‘Supersonic’ and ‘Roll With It’ before Liam exited the stage following a quick fist bump with Noel. Following Liam’s brief departure, the pace was brought down for renditions of ‘Talk Tonight’, ‘Half The World Away’, which Noel declared “This next one is for John Lewis”, and ‘Little By Little’ – the only track released in the 21st century performed at Heaton Park.
Upon his return to the stage, the intensity ratcheted up once again as Liam launched into ‘D'You Know What I Mean’ against a backdrop of crunching distortion and punchy drumming; a vintage Noel Gallagher ad-lib led perfectly into ‘Stand By Me’, and ‘Whatever’ saw Liam perform a snippet of The Beatles classic ‘Octopus’ Garden’ before the euphoric singalongs of ‘Live Forever’ and ‘Rock & Roll Star’ paved the way for an unforgettable encore.
With Noel on lead vocals for ‘The Masterplan’ and ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ and the crowd once again in full voice, the 58-year-old took a step back to let 80,000 voices take the lead in the chorus for the latter before Liam returned for utterly spine-tingling performances of ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’, which both brought the deafening response that you can expect.
As the final notes of ‘Champagne Supernova’ rang around Heaton Park and a phenomenal firework display filled the Manchester sky, the Gallagher brothers warmly embraced each other with a hug, capping off an utterly breathtaking homecoming, and a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle that left 80,000 singing their hearts out for over two hours. It’s safe to say Oasis have officially reclaimed their crown as the biggest band on the planet.