Unconventional Wisdom: Oasis Are An Uncompromising, Authentic, Attitude-Drenched, Snarling Rock and Roll Band

Fifty years and hundreds (thousands?) of shows into watching live music, it was very gratifying to find out I can still be surprised—very pleasantly surprised—by what I see on stage. That’s not to say I am not sometimes awed; that happens every time I go see The Rolling Stones and am reminded that they are still, 30 years after first being told they were washed up, the World’s Greatest.

Likewise, it is not out of the norm for me to be blown away, whether it’s from Billy Joel’s final stand of his Madison Square Garden franchise run (I also saw show 1, the differences between the two could make another column), stunned by the power of U2 at the Sphere amid the technological wizardry, or impressed by newer artists’ understanding of the power of the live show, be it Chris Stapleton, Cody Jinks, or 49 Winchester.

And, nearly always, I am entertained. That, after all, is the purpose of live music. But sometimes it can be much more than entertainment. Sometimes it can be transcendent. And that’s what I witnessed on Aug. 28 when Oasis took the stage at Soldier Field.

It’s not that I didn’t think Oasis were good. I knew they were good. I knew they had a fanatical following in the UK and Europe and even around the world, which alone speaks to a band’s talent at something. And I knew principal songwriter Noel Gallagher was capable of writing impossibly catchy Britpop hit songs that stood the test of time. I also knew Oasis were a much bigger band internationally than they were in America, not an unheard of state of affairs, but an excuse I’ll take for me not being more familiar with their catalog, certainly the album cuts.

What I saw in Chicago, though, was not a pop band, at least by my own snobbish tastes. Oasis is, plain and simple, a Rock and Roll Band, also by my own snobbish terms. A hard-driving, distorted guitar-laden, uncompromising, authentic, attitude-drenched, snarling Rock and Roll Band. More importantly, Oasis achieved what is most important in music, and most possible in the live format – connection.

From the first song “Hello” until the last, “Champagne Supernova,” this crowd hung on every word, moving and swaying and literally rocking the 101-year-old stadium. This shaking of Soldier Field was a phenomenon I had felt once before, 10 years earlier on July 3 at the first of three shows by the Grateful Dead, Fare Thee Well, celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary.

The music couldn’t have been more different, but the reason for the stadium’s shaking was exactly the same: the musicians on stage were connecting with the fans packing the stadium and delivering them to that special place that can be reached only through live music.

I imagine Oasis and the Dead are not the only bands, or events, for that matter, that have rocked the foundation of Soldier Field in its century hosting Chicagoans. The ’85 Bears probably shook the old girl every Sunday Da Bears were in town, and for a similar reason: shared passion. Commitment to a common glory, be it athletic supremacy or rock and roll nirvana.

When it was announced that Oasis would return for Oasis Live ’25 after 16 years for dates in the UK and Ireland, I wondered at the time if North American shows would follow. If there had been any doubt, I’m sure the fact that an immediate sellout of the initial shows, with reportedly more than 10 million fans from 158 countries queuing to buy tickets, helped make the decision easier for promoters SJM (Simon Moran) and Live Nation (Arthur Fogel).

Promoters are a nervous lot by nature, at least until onsale, but they need not have worried. Rogers Stadium in Toronto (two shows), MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (two shows), Soldier Field, and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. (two shows) all sold out, as are shows in Mexico City, Melbourne, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Santiago and São Paulo. Suddenly, we had a phenomenon on our hands. For those who had discovered Oasis first over the past 16 years, many probably thought they would never have an opportunity to see the notoriously volatile band live on stage. For them, including a lady I spoke with who said Oasis “changed her life” at 14 years old, the show was everything live music can be and the reason live will continue to thrive in an era where authenticity is increasingly rare.

And, after my cool August night at Soldier Field, I understand what the fuss is all about. I would have understood earlier if somebody who loves Oasis like I love my favorite
artists had gotten in my ear, but now I know.

Thanks to my friend Arthur Fogel, President, Global Touring and Chairman, Concerts at Live Nation, co-promoter of “Oasis Live 2025,” for the access in Chicago, and to my friends at Pioneer Coach for the transportation from Nashville to Soldier. This was my third show at Soldier, having seen U2’s first North American show on the legendary 360 tour back in 2009, another Fogel tour, and at the time the highest-grossing tour in history.

Fogel himself is having a year for the ages at Live Nation in 2025, with tours by Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Oasis, Sting and Neil Young spinning turnstiles, and is the promoter of record for U2, Madonna, the Police and other blockbuster touring artists. He calls Oasis’ trek “a global home run, and the show is everything you would want it to be. Really a great moment for longtime fans as well as an entire new generation of fans.”