‘Of course not. What reunion?’ Liam Gallagher said firmly when OOR spoke to him in 2017. That shows how long people have been talking about – and dreaming of – a reunion between the Gallagher brothers. Now, fifteen years after Noel pulled the plug (‘Scissor Sharpener’, Liam called him) the reunion is finally happening.
Photo Simon Emmett
Oasis hasn’t lost any popularity in that time, because in 2025 they will be playing four times in the gigantic Wembley Stadium and Heaton Park. And you can bet that they are not shy about demand. Oasis is – and remains – one of the biggest bands England has ever known, and the Manchester boys themselves think so too.
Was the reunion long-awaited? Call it wishful thinking. Things never really got along between the brothers, from underwater stabbings to countless Twitter feuds. Yet the rumor mill has been running at full speed since their break, with both parties regularly dirtying each other’s words.
Mudslinging. They can both do it almost better than making music, and they are clearly no amateurs in that. ‘Noel Katie Hopkins Gallagher’, for example, is what Liam called his brotherly brother after the British far-right columnist. Noel said that his then 11- and 9-year-old sons could make a record that is better than Liam’s unsophisticated solo albums.
Cracks
We spoke to Noel and Liam a year before they split up. Liam was clear: ‘Outside the band we avoid each other, that’s just the way it is.’ So there was always friction.
The first cracks started to show in 1994. The band was arrested on an evening boat to Amsterdam, en route to their first European tour, because Liam got into a fight with football fans after too many Jack Daniels and champagne. A bickering session about the incident was captured on tape. Liam: ‘I hate this bastard’.
Oasis on the cover in 1995 and 1996.
That same year, Noel left the band for the first time when Liam gave him a kicking with a tambourine. Luckily, they got back together to record (What’s The Story) Morning Glory. However, that didn’t go without a fight, because during the recording Liam got the brunt of it when Noel attacked him with a cricket bat.
Noel once called his brother a fork in a bowl of soup – ‘A man with a fork, in a world of soup’ – always to be found in the middle of chaos. Liam thought Noel was a dictator again, and received a spoon with Dutch clogs from OOR that he says he still uses every morning for his boiled egg: ‘I love it!’.
In 2009, after yet another backstage brawl, Noel ended it all five minutes before they were due to go on stage at the Rock En Seine festival. A clash between idealist and anarchist.
Proud boy
When OOR spoke to the brothers in 2008, Liam was clear about their difficult relationship. At the same time, according to him, Oasis had not yet reached its peak. There were still enough songs to write, America to be stormed, Europe to be conquered. ‘Fuck that! I’m not breaking up for anyone.’
It gives the impression that the conflicts were a matter of honour for Liam. He simply did not want to embarrass himself, he was always a proud Manchester boy. But in the end it was not that serious for him.
Every now and then he gently pulled on his brother’s jacketbut when there was no response, he would bite back again. For example, Liam once called him a ‘tofu boy’ because Noel had apparently released a previously unreleased Oasis demo without vocals of ‘LG’, as the Oasis frontman signs his tweets, without permission, which of course is unacceptable.
Earth to noel listen up rkid I hear your doing gigs where people can’t drink alcohol now that’s the BeZarist thing you’ve done yet I forgive you now let’s get the BIG O back together and stop fucking about the drinks are on me LG x
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) July 19, 2018
Noel, the older brother, who as a child had to bear the brunt of their father’s beatings, was more introverted but more principled than his brother – rock & roll is about music, and you have to take that seriously. If it becomes too much of a circus, he walks away.
So principled is he, according to Liam, that he once turned down an offer of £100m to get the band back together. ‘I’m not above that kind of money,’ Liam said, quasi-modestly, ‘but Noel’s not interested in it anymore.’ Noel, of course, denied this, as they could hardly agree on anything.
Closed book
Noel founded High Flying Birds in 2010, with which he found joy in writing songs again. In 2015, however, he admitted to OOR that he preferred to be second in command. He didn’t like the spotlight. He wanted to tinker with melodies and words undisturbed.
On the other hand, Liam needed some time to get off the ground without such a tech-savvy backing him. He formed the band Beady Eye with the remaining Oasis members, but they didn’t achieve nearly the success they had before. They split in 2014.
Still, Liam eventually attracted large audiences as a solo artist, although he often filled his setlist with Oasis material. Nevertheless, he could count on a positive reception for records such as Why Me? Why Not.
Noel and Liam solo on the cover, right: Liam shows the spoon he got from OVER got.
Noel wasn’t averse to a jibe here and there, but he mostly stuck to his guns that Oasis was a closed book. No hard feelings, but the cow has been milked dry.
Liam was out for a knockout. He took to social media to compare Noel’s face to a potato, and to scrutinize his bad treatment of his own family.
Back and forth. Back and forth. And again, and again, and again.
Phone call
Until this year, on August 26, a vague teaser was shared by official Oasis accounts. Only the date ‘27.08.2024’. Insiders in the music world had already revealed all sorts of things, but when the announcement actually appeared, only part of it turned out to be true – for example, Oasis will not be headlining Glastonbury. They will be playing a total of fourteen shows in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The supreme moment was a late-night phone call that brought about the reconciliation. Presumably Christmas Eve 2015 was the last time they spoke to each other mano a mano.
Why?
A given Gallagher is not to be looked in the mouth, but the reunion does raise the question: why? Financial gain? That is of course obvious, but Noel has said more than once that he has plenty of money, so that does not play a role in a possible reunion.
Maybe just for old times’ sake. The brothers are more than Britpop icons, bordering on national folk heroes, and even that might be putting it mildly.
They too are getting older, and they can feel it, and despite the fact that they probably still can’t stand each other, there will come a day when they can no longer sing Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova in front of thousands of people.
It’s all still early. For example, we don’t know if this tour will be the end of it, and we don’t know if there will be new music, although that seems like a very optimistic thought for now. Judging by the long-standing sibling rivalry and their volatile characters, it’s questionable whether they themselves know how long this party will last.