Take me to church or Don't Look Back In Anger? The Oasis movie

Living in The Netherlands it is hard to grasp the popularity of Oasis in its home country. Over here things have always been somewhat lukewarm. The band never made it to arena sized shows (as far as I'm aware), did not score a really, really big hit single and was more in the news because of the "chaos" as the Gallagher brothers chose to call it in this documentary movie than for the quality of the albums after '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?'. So, the band announcing two Johan Cruyff ArenA shows last week, had me thinking, that's not possible. It'll never fill it.

Before I go on. Yes, I have all the albums, except the greatest hits one and almost all the singles. Three or four are missing I think. All predate this blog by a few years at minimum. I never had the inclination to watch the band live. Who knew if the band would show up and in what condition?

Of course I noticed the collective euphoria capturing the U.K. and Ireland upon the announcement of a tour in 2025. I heard the stories of the variable pricing and ridiculous prices people paid to be present. And then I saw Don't Look Back In Anger. The movie has many interesting details and stories, but go and watch it yourself to get them or don't. There was something special that struck me and it is played out in the movie in a very noticeable way.

In the movie you see a pastor holding his sermon in a church and then the camera turns to his flock. It shows 10, 15 at most, elderly people sitting there listening to his text on forgiveness, based on the concert about to take place close by. And then you see the audience around the world at these concerts and it is clear to me that an Oasis concert is a religious or at a minimum spiritual experience to the tens of thousands present. Total exaltation, moved to tears as if Christ has returned to earth and just blessed them all.

The other thing that struck me that Noel Gallagher was not prepared for this magnitude of exultation and worship. It is his brother Liam who grabs his hand before the start of the first show and brought him to the stage, giving his brother the credits for the songs. Further on it is Noel who learns that he has to humble at times because his little brother is the frontman of Oasis. In a sense, he is Oasis with his subtle art of not giving a fuck, "which is hard work". Go and see if that's really true or not. Fact is, Liam was as ready as he ever was, and so was Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs, as the brothers learned that his rhythm guitar playing is the heart of the band.

And the music? My guess is the shows were fantastic. Most likely far better played than ever before. As far as I could hear, all the songs were from the first two albums and some famous B-sides. Oasis in the 2020s is very much a band worth seeing live.

Ends well all's? For now it seems like it with a new tour in 2026. What is missing is a great new album. Does the band still have that in it? Time will tell.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght