Many bands play big summer tours. Many bands play stadiums. Few, however, are capable of matching the pandemonium surrounding Oasis’ first show in the United States in 17 years. With a reunion that many thought would never happen, the show was the culmination of months of buildup, and days of anticipation in Chicago before the band took the stage at Soldier Field.
Early in the day, fans were camped out hours before the gates opened to be first through the doors of the stadium. Giant lines also formed at both the Soldier Field merchandise stand, as well as the Oasis pop-up merch store in the Wicker Park neighborhood. The sentiments were twofold amongst the crowd; a mix of excitement that the band was back together, as well as the bittersweet notion that this was a reunion that, given the historically toxic nature of the Gallagher brothers’ relationship, this may never happen again. In any case, fans traveled from around the country to converge on Chicago for one of the most anticipated tours of the summer.
Openers Cage The Elephant are every bit the stadium-status band at this point, and served as a perfect support, injecting just the right amount of energy to start off the night. With their own fair share of hits, the band gave the fans a chance to warm up their voices for the night’s main attraction. Many, though, were still filtering in through the stadium, including a general admission section that spanned the entire size of the football field. By the time the lights went down, the field was full, the stadium was packed, and a moment that was months in the making had finally arrived.
The Gallagher brothers walked out with their arms around one another, while a montage of the internet exploding at the announcement of their reunion played across the video boards on either side of the band and behind the set. That was, however, the most that the two would interact with each other throughout the night, aside from a quick pat on the back after “Roll With It” midway through the set. Long-broken fences may still be mending.
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Tension or not, the two knew how to get on stage and get the crowd going, with a version of “Hello” from “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?” that felt like the band was once again in full stride. Three songs in, the title track from that album was when the crowd first seemed to get settled in, resulting in the first of many big singalongs throughout the roughly 90-minute main set. They would also get off their feet quickly, too, with Liam leading the “Poznan” celebration, adopted by Manchester City football club, where the crowd turn their backs and jump, arms over each other’s backs. That would serve as the lead-in for “Cigarettes And Alcohol,” and officially took the capacity-crowd party to another level.
The night played like a greatest hits retrospective, but nobody in the stadium was looking for anything other than that. There was a sense of celebration in the air that the reunion that everyone had waited for had finally arrived. It felt as grand as stadium rock could feel, and you could hear the reaction when the crowd sang along to “Supersonic” midway through the night. In total, 10 songs from “Morning Glory” would ring out at Soldier Field, as well as five from “Definitely Maybe.” The former of their two biggest albums turns 30 this October, and not surprisingly, material from that record had some of the biggest crowd responses of the evening.
While the Gallagher brothers have certainly made their amends, at least enough to get on stage together again, nothing was going to stop Noel and, particularly Liam, from being themselves. “Bring It On Down” was dedicated to the glue-sniffers, whom he called “proper drug takers,” before running through the song with a particular burst of energy. There wasn’t a lot of talking on stage from Noel, but Liam would dedicate “Half The World Away” to the Irish, and later “D’You Know What I Mean?” to “the radicals.” Donning his trademark camo green parka and moving on stage with a chip on his shoulder, the younger of the brothers showed that while he’s gotten older, he hasn’t let his time away from the band change who he is.
It appeared that the two had found a way to respectfully keep their distance from one another throughout the night. There was generally a good amount of distance between the two on stage, and there was little to no interaction between the brothers during the night. Towards the back half of the 19-song main set, Liam would stay out of visibility for the songs that Noel sang. Maybe it was intended as a chance to let the older Gallagher brother have his moment, but it also felt like there could have been a bit of pettiness from the younger brother during those songs, as well.
When both brothers were on stage, though, they were at their peak. That included, of course, big songs like “Whatever,” which featured a micro-cover of The Beatles’ “Octopus’s Garden” worked into it. The main set also concluded with “Rock N’ Roll Star,” ending things on a high note. After a brief intermission, they were back out for their biggest hits to end the night, with “Don’t Look Back In Anger,” “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova” sending Chicago singing off into the night. There was a bit of surreality to it all, with 50,000+ fans singing along at full volume.
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While there’s never any certainty as to what Oasis may do in the future, for at least this tour, they showed exactly what they can still be. In their return to the United States, they were nothing short of superstars, and carried themselves like it.