I arrived at Heaton Park just after midday and the sun was already unforgiving. The queue, long before the gates opened, felt like a gathering of the faithful. Everywhere you looked: bucket hats, beers, bootleg T shirts – the atmosphere had that peculiar combination of nervous energy and Mancunian cheer. People weren’t just excited. They were ready.
When Liam and Noel walked on together, arms linked, both grinning like they knew the city was watching, the place erupted. From the opening bars of Hello, it was clear this wasn’t going to be some tired rehash of past glories. This was Oasis, sharp and defiant, reclaiming the sound that once made them the biggest band in the world.
They powered through the early anthems, Morning Glory, Some Might Say, Cigarettes & Alcohol, with the kind of confidence that only comes when you’re in front of your own. Liam sounded better than I’ve heard him in years. His voice had bite but also that elusive tenderness on Cast No Shadow and Slide Away. Noel was in his element too, ducking between guitar hero and dry witted bandleader.
At one point Liam dedicated D’You Know What I Mean? to Pep Guardiola, which drew a cascade of boos, expected in a crowd with more than a few United shirts. Noel grinned, stepped up to the mic and deadpanned, “Who you booing” It was classic Gallagher, winding the crowd up just enough before leading into another banger.
The production was massive, huge screens, a drone display that lit up the skyline, and fireworks that sent a ripple of shock and awe through the crowd. But none of that ever got in the way of the music. The highlight for me came during Live Forever. Thousands of people, arms aloft, shouting every word into the dusk. It felt like a moment, not just a gig but something to hold onto. A memory cut with sweat, sun, and sound.
By the time Don’t Look Back in Anger closed the main set, strangers were hugging, kids were singing louder than the grownups, and the band had turned nostalgia into something alive and immediate. There was no encore, there didn’t need to be. They left us ringing with it.
Walking out with the rest of the crowd I heard someone say, “Well, that was biblical.” For once, it didn’t feel like hyperbole.
