?????? Because we need each other

By Damon Wilkinson

Hello

Perhaps the first hint came when Noel Gallagher returned to?Sifter's Records. Maybe it was the location, just round the corner from his childhood home in Burnage, or perhaps it was the occasion.

But in an?interview with Manc music journalist John Robb to mark the 30th anniversary of Definitely Maybe, a reflective Noel seemed more gracious and generous towards his brother Liam than he had in a long time.

"Liam is a great rocker. If songs were drinks, Liam's is a shot of tequila and mine's half a Guinness on a Tuesday," he told Robb.

"He sings at 10. He sings between nine and 10, all the f*****g time. I don't have the same attitude as him. My strength was a bit less of the big production, more laidback. It's like the Bee Gees, when you get two brothers singing together, it's something unique."

Then, of course,?Liam had to have his say. "9 or 10 you mean 99 and 100 cmon let's not fall out before it's even begun," he said on X.

And that's when the whispers started in earnest. After years slagging each other off in the press and on social media, could the warring brothers have finally made up?

Then on Sunday morning, The Times?seemingly confirmed the news fans had been dreaming of. Oasis had reunited and would play a series of comeback shows in summer 2025, the paper reported.

When Liam responded to a fan's query about the report by saying 'See you down the front', the rumour mill went into overdrive. Later that night he stoked the fire even more.

During a headline set at Reading Festival, in which he played a number of hits from Definitely Maybe, Liam dedicated Half The World Away to Noel,?telling the audience his brother was the 'greatest songwriter'.

Around the same time 180 miles away, Blossoms had just finished playing to 30,000 fans in?Wythenshawe Park. As the band walked off the stage,a 10 second video clip was played on the big screens.

In black white Oasis branding it read '27.08.24' and '8am'. The comeback, it seemed, was definitely on.

And as,?M.E.N. lifestyle editor Dianne Bourne wrote, the timing seemed perfect. "August 28, 2009, would go on to become a fateful date in the history of the Manchester band.

"The date whenNoel would finally say enough is enough. It's somehow fitting then that today, August 27, 2024, is set as the date the reunited brothers will announce to the world that?Oasis are back."

At 8am on the dot, as fans waited with bated breath, a meticulously orchestrated PR campaign delivered the pay-off. As the band said themselves 'the great wait' was over.

"The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. Come see. It will not be televised," they said.

A new image of the brothers, standing shoulder to shoulder for the?first time in 15 years, was shared with the announcement of 'Oasis Live 25'. An?initial 14 date tour (later extended to include three more shows) was announced for July 2025, including a string of huge homecoming shows inHeaton Park.

The news?sent fans into a frenzy. "MASSSSSSSSSSSIVE," singer Tom Grannan posted on Instagram, while Oasis fan John Collins tried to explain what the band meant to his generation.

"If you don’t get the hype, that’s fine," he wrote. "There are bands that write better, play better, perform better. That are more inventive, more creative, more reflective. But for working class kids in the mid-90s,Oasis were ours. And possession is nine tenths of the lore."

The comeback is set to be the most successful tour in British music. One music expert even predicted it would eventually dwarf Taylor Swift's Era tour, the highest grossing music tour in history, which when it landed here in the UK was said to have pushed up the national inflation rate.

The figures being bandied around are mind-blowing. The initial run of dates could make ￡400m, with the Gallaghers set to pocket at least ￡50m each, according to some estimates.

And it's not just the band set to benefit. "Oasis reforming is great news for the city region and another massive opportunity for the eyes of the world to be back on Greater Manchester," said Greater Manchester Mayor?Andy Burnham. "Greater Manchester is in a different moment now with a thriving economy, and Oasis returning and playing these shows in their home city will only boost this."

But that all comes at a price - and it's the fans who are being asked to pay it. It was expected tickets would be well above ￡100, but when the prices were confirmed on Thursday there was still widespread annoyance.

Standing tickets at Heaton Park, when booking fees are taken into account, will set fans back ￡150. So just in Manchester, across the five dates confirmed so far, that's ￡60m in ticket sales alone.

With the country still in the teeth of a cost-of-living crisis, many?accused the band of pricing out much of their fanbase. Hotels and rentiers have also been getting in on the act.

One city centre chain has come in for criticism after it?cancelled some bookings before relisting them at four times the original price, while one AirBnB listing was looking to?charge fans ￡320 to camp in what appeared to be a back garden in Prestwich.

But despite the grumbles there's still a nationwide scramble for tickets. It was estimated 2.5m fans - one in every 25 people in the UK - tried to get tickets for the band's landmark 1996 Knebworth gigs. And with a new generation of fans now coming through, it's arguable Oasis has only grown in popularity since then.

But there's still a lot of questions to be answered. Who else will be in the band? Who will the support acts be? Will there be any new music? And why now?

Noel's recent divorce, rumoured to have cost him an eye-watering ￡20m, has been cited by some as one of the reasons he finally decided to kiss and make up. Or maybe, as the brothers sang on Acquiesce, they've realised they 'need each other'.

But whatever the reasons, we now know Oasis are definitely, not maybe, getting back together.?

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Weather etc

Weekend: It looks like we’re in for a warm weekend, with conditions set to remain dry on both Saturday and Sunday with highs of 22C.

Roadworks: Transpennine Express trains will not stop at Bolton due to engineering works on September 1.

Manchester headlines

Body found:?A missing man who was last seen in Oldham over the weekend has been found dead. Steven, 40, from the Leeds area, was reported as missing by concerned loved ones last weekend. He was last seen around the Crompton Moor area at around 8am on Sunday morning.

On the road:?Preparations for the Mottram bypass, which have been decades in the making, have just taken their first step. The A57 link road project is set to see builders start work next year, but in the meantime preparation works need to be carried out, according to National Highways. Read more

Passenger detained:?Police stormed a Jet2 flight at Manchester Airport which was delayed due to 'disruption' on board on Thursday, before a passenger was turfed off the plane. The LS921 flight, to Dalaman in Turkey, was over two hours late in taking off after police were drafted in to assist with the issue involving passengers on board. More here

Worth a read

With the price of a pint soaring, Alfie Mulligan went in search of Manchester’s cheapest pub crawl, armed with just ￡20 in his pocket.? You can find out how he got on here…

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