Oasis’ Reunion Tour Hits No. 2 On Worldwide Tours Chart: ‘The Outpouring, The Emotion, You Could Cut It With A Knife’

‘OASIS LIVE ‘25 TOUR’
Gross: $405,428,435
Tickets Sold: 2,228,471
Avg. Ticket Price: $181.93
No. of Dates: 36

It was the biggest rock news of the year when the Gallagher brothers confirmed their “Oasis Live ’25” reunion tour in the summer of 2024. Fifteen years after a backstage altercation at Rock en Seine in France ended the working relationship of rock’s most famous squabbling siblings, Liam and Noel Gallagher finally managed to put their differences aside long enough to pull off a sensational world tour, bringing with them a catalogue of Britpop anthems as well as a fantastic live band with guitarists Gem Archer and Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, bassist Andy Bell, new drummer Joey Waronker plus keyboardist Christian Madden, and horn section, Alastair White, Joe Auckland and Steve Hamilton.

What began as an announcement of 14 UK and European dates, ended up a 41-date world trek that also visited Ireland, the Americas, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

“Oasis Live ’25” launched with two nights at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, July 4-5 and concluded with another two-night stand at Estádio do Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil, Nov. 22-23.

“I was stunned to be honest,” says Arthur Fogel, Chairman of Global Music and President of Global Touring at Live Nation, about the opening show. “The outpouring, the emotion, you could cut it with a knife. People were crying. It was insane. Grown men with a beer in each hand and tears running down their face. It was that kind of moment, you know after all those years, 15 years, you know it’s hard to put into words.”

The tour’s kickoff featured a two-hour set packed with 23 songs from Oasis’ seven-album catalog, ranging from the band’s 1994 debut, Definitely Maybe, to 2008’s Dig Out Your Soul. A run down of the setlist from USA Today noted that many of the songs, including the opening tune, “Hello,” hadn’t been performed since 2002. Of course the Gallagher brothers also showed off hits including “Some Might Say,” “Supersonic,” “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” “Roll With It,” “Wonderwall” and the final tune, “Champagne Supernova,” which is the closing track to the band’s sophomore album, 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

A review from The Independent summed it up: “As Liam and Noel Gallagher tear through two hours of uninterrupted hits, it’s tough to imagine another comeback on such a momentous scale. … To fully conceive the significance of the Oasis reunion we must finally crystalise their place in rock’n’roll history. Throughout the Nineties they cockily aspired to be the biggest British band since The Beatles, and by some measures they were. The Stones, Queen, Zep, U2 and Floyd all had their triumphal eras and several shifted more units, but consider this – if all 2.5 million people who applied for tickets to see Oasis at Knebworth in 1996 had got one, the band would have played 20 nights there.”

Live Nation and SJM promoted the U.K. dates, with LN and MCD Productions, which is owned by Live Nation, handling the Ireland shows and LN and OCESA, which LN has a 75% stake in, promoting gigs in Mexico. Dates in North America, Asia, Australia and Latin America were promoted by Live Nation.

Commenting on the tour’s production that let Oasis’ songs take center stage, Fogel says, “I think they did it exactly right. They nailed it in terms of what it should be and how it should be. … It was pretty minimal by comparative standards in today’s world, but it was spot on. It was exactly what it should have been, not trying to go too far. It was really about the brothers and the band and the catalog and the euphoria that followed the reunion.”

The mania was real, and even the U.S. got swept up in the Manchester-born madness. When the band arrived in New Jersey for two shows at MetLife Stadium, Aug. 31-Sept. 1, lines of fans wanting to get their hands on some Oasis merch wrapped around the stadium, and the bulk of items were sold out long before opener Cage The Elephant took the stage, as Pollstar reported in a live review.

“Oasis Live ‘25” became one of the year’s most successful world tours grossing an estimated $405,428,435 at the global boxoffice, placing them second place on the year.

SJM Concerts promoter Matt Wooliscroft, who worked on both the Oasis as well as the No. 2-ranked Coldplay tour in the UK, said both projects were “two of the biggest in our history. The commitment, hard work and good will of our staff I believe marked a new peak for us as a company.”

The Oasis onsale was the biggest in Ticketmaster history, with 10 million people queuing for tickets at peak times. The overwhelming fan demand naturally left many disappointed and in want of a ticket. However, it also upset some of those successful in the onsale, because they felt they paid more at checkout than what they got quoted when initially selecting their tickets. Ticketmaster was accused of using dynamic pricing on the sale, but rightfully denied it. It did, however, use a tiered ticket pricing system that left fans confused.

An investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets authority found that Ticketmaster neither engaged in dynamic pricing nor unfair commercial practices, but found that the tiered ticket price system should have been communicated to fans more transparently, which prompted Ticketmaster to make some voluntary changes to the way it displays tickets and prices. Fans who’ve missed out the first time around have reason to be hopeful. Too obvious have been Liam Gallagher’s hints at a return to the road next year.

None of the above deterred from the fact that the band delivered an amazing live show, striking a few chords at the same time: a stadium-scale production, a setlist of anthems especially appealing to the nostalgic fans, and so solid that it captures new ones. It even made OVG’s Chief Content Director Ray Waddell, who’s been visiting and reviewing rock shows for 50 years, write: “Oasis is, plain and simple, 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.”

As for when the Gallaghers might return to the road, fans are surely hoping the answer is “definitely maybe” one day.

Following the tour’s final shows in São Paulo, the Britpop icons posted a photo dump on the band’s Instagram page and offered up this statement Nov. 24: “And so it came to pass. ‘The most damaging pop cultural force in recent British history’ found its way into the hearts and minds of a new generation. From Gallagher Hill to the River Plate, from Croke Park on the banks of the Royal Canal to the City Of Angels, the love, joy, tears and euphoria will never be forgotten. There will now be a pause for a period of reflection.”