Summary

Watch: Moment Oasis take to the stage for first gig in 16 years

Live Reporting

Edited by Ben Frampton and Miriam Barker, with Mark Savage and Paul Glynn reporting from the gig

  1. 'The countdown has begun': Doors set to open in half an hour

    Photo of the main entrance of the Principality stadium in Cardiff. The blue skies can be seen in the background. lue skies can be seen in the background.Jake

    Jake, who has tickets for tonight's gig, snapped this stadium photo from his office

    With half an hour until the doors open, people are making their way to the gates of the Principality Stadium to see the brothers side by side, on stage, after a 16-year hiatus.

    Jake, who has a ticket for tonight's gig, is sitting in his central Cardiff office watching the stadium staff prepare.

    "I can feel the city beneath us warming up," he says.

    "The countdown has begun. Can’t wait to see the show."

    Meanwhile James Caine says the last time he went to see Oasis was during an "unreal" performance in Heaton Park in 2009.

    "But tonight is going to be off the charts," he says. "The wait is finally over after 16 long years! Live Forever."

  2. 'I was cuddling Noel for about 10 seconds'

    James Kelly
    BBC News

    A black banner reading Your Voice Your BBC News
    Danny Pearson takes a selfie with Noel Gallager with people sitting on seats at Wembley Stadium behindDanny Pearson

    Danny met Noel Gallagher at Wembley Stadium in 2021

    Danny Pearson, from Newark-on-Trent, is going to the Oasis gig in Cardiff tonight on his 44th birthday.

    He met Noel Gallagher at the UEFA Euro 2020 final in July 2021 at Wembley Stadium in London which he says was "nearly the best day of his life" - until his joy was shattered when England lost on penalties to Italy.

    "I went to my first Oasis gig in 1995 at Trentham Gardens in Stoke. Oasis were supported by The Verve. I’d have been about 13 then," he tells the BBC.

    "It was good because it was an intimate, small gig – 2,000 maybe, 3,000 people max. After that, all the gigs got on a much bigger scale."

    He says it couldn't be better for today's gig to have fallen on his birthday.

    Speaking of meeting Noel four years ago, he says: "I didn’t see Noel until after we scored. As we scored, I turned around and Noel was three rows behind me, so I ran up to him to have a little bit of a cuddle.

    "I was cuddling Noel for about 10 seconds, which was unreal, you couldn’t make that up.

    "That was almost the best day of my life... until the penalty shootout."

  3. Your Oasis reunion tour starter pack

    Why today's a big deal: It's been almost 16 years since Oasis last performed live, following the band's explosive split in 2009 after a backstage bust-up.

    The key timings (in BST): The Principality Stadium gates open at 17:00. An hour later, at 18:00, the two support acts start. Then, at 20:15, Oasis take the stage. The whole thing is due to finish at 22:30.

    Today's support acts: Liverpool-based Britpop band Cast, followed by Richard Ashcroft, frontman of The Verve.

    First song speculation: [Bleeping] in the Bushes? (What's the Story) Morning Glory? Colombia? Basically, we have absolutely no idea - but culture reporter Paul Glynn's had a stab at some educated guesses.

    The mood in Cardiff: In a word - jubilant. We've wrapped up some of the best pictures from the streets as our reporters have been chatting to some of the fans waiting for doors to open. A standout so far is a Liam Gallagher lookalike who says Britpop fashion "never went out of style".

    We've got an hour to go before the doors open. Stay with us.

  4. 'Absolutely buzzing'

    James Kelly
    BBC News

    A black banner reading "Your Voice, Your BBC News"
    James Caine and Ross Bailey hold drinks up as they take a selfie in a pubJames Caine and Ross Bailey

    Friends James Caine, 35, from Howarth, and Ross Bailey, 36, from Keighley are "absolutely buzzing" ahead of the gig.

    James and Ross have been "best mates since school" and grew up to the sound of the Gallagher brothers.

    "Cardiff is packing up with fans wearing bucket hats, shirts, all the memorabilia is on display, and the excitement is building," James says.

    He says after having seen Oasis in Heaton Park in 2009, it's "pretty crazy" to be seeing them again.

    "I never thought I’d get the opportunity," he adds.

    Meanwhile, this is Ross' first time seeing Oasis live.

    "It’s going to be a surreal moment.

    "I’m just hoping they can stay civil with each other until the end of the performance!"

  5. In pictures: Excitement builds in Cardiff ahead of Oasis Live '25

    Catriona Aitken
    BBC News

    A woman with long dark hair wearing a Welsh flag draped round her shoulders and sunglasses. In each hand she has a wooden stick with a cutout of Liam and Noel Gallagher on each.Getty Images

    As the afternoon goes on, a buzz is building in the city of Cardiff

    A woman with tied-back black hair, wearing a white Oasis t shirt and holding a bannger above her head which reads; "The great wait is over".PA Media

    The sun is shining and fans are soaking up the excitement

    Two men wearing black bucket hats sat outside a pub. One is holding a pint in the air, the other has his arm raised in a thumbs up gesture.PA Media

    There are more than a few fans wearing bucket hats

    Crowds of people outside a pub holding drinks and chatting. A group of five, all wearing sunglasses are looking at the camera and smiling. They are all holding pints and waving or giving thumbs up to the camera.PA Media

    The Principality Stadium gates will open at 17:00

  6. Why is the Oasis reunion so supersonic?

    Alex Taylor
    Culture reporter

    Liam and Noel playing London's Earls Court in 1997, at the peak of their successGetty Images

    Liam and Noel playing London's Earls Court in 1997, at the peak of their success

    Oasis's return dominated national headlines and made global news when it was announced. So, just how have the band managed to maintain such an enduring stranglehold on music and culture 30 years on?

    The answer, as their hit Supersonic suggests, lies in a mix of gin and tonic.

    Noel, as the group's commander-in-chief, put his years working as a roadie to strategic use - pinpointing powerful riffs and catchy lyrics imbued with a swaggering sense of confidence. All delivered by Liam with a rock voice and attitude for the ages.

    But beyond cold calculation, the group's working-class optimism captured a moment - embodying a sense of hope and freedom at a time when Britain was changing on all fronts.

    Liam sang Noel's lines about living forever and insisting "you gotta make it happen" with such force that a whole generation came with him, rejecting the doom-laden angst of US grunge one monobrow at a time.

    For Rolling Stone UK editor Nick Reilly, this is part of what makes the reunion a national event rather than a pure nostalgia pull.

    "The tunes are obviously huge, but I think it can't be overstated how inspirational Oasis were," he tells me.

    "They came of age at a time of great social mobility and thousands of people related to the fact that these two brothers from a council house in Burnage had suddenly become the biggest band in Britain."

  7. Feuding brothers travel to see feuding brothers

    Jared Evitts
    BBC Newsbeat

    Two boys wearing black t shirts and standing in front of a busy merchandise stand, with the Principality Stadium behind. They both have brown hair, the one on the right has a moustache, and they are both smiling and looking at the camera with an arm round each other.

    William and Cameron Sutton from Virginia, USA, say they can relate to the brotherly bickering of the Gallagher pair as they await tonight’s show.

    “When I was three or four years old, I went to a store and stole a Sharpie and [William] snitched on me to our mum," says Cameron, 22.

    "It’s kind of been a bad blood feud between us ever since then."

    William, 25, responds: “You’ve just got to be a moral and ethical person. I think I did the right thing there.”

  8. Cast: 'The place is going to levitate'

    Paul Glynn
    Culture reporter, in Cardiff

    John Power of Cast

    John Power's band Cast supported Oasis at Knebworth in 1996 and will do so again today

    We've just heard the first strains of rock 'n' roll music blaring out of the stadium.

    It's not open yet but people all around can hear support act Cast sound-checking Britpop bangers like Finetime.

    Frontman John Power, formerly of The La's, has just told the BBC's Mark Savage that even though "everyone knows how big Oasis are", even the band themselves were "caught out a little" by the sheer demand for the 2025 live comeback tour.

    It's the Liverpool band's job to get things under way at 18:00 BST followed by Richard Ashcroft at 19:00.

    "I really do think when we hit that chord [and] light that touch paper tonight, that is going to burn through the evening," he poetically pondered.

    "And when Oasis come on stage and Noel hits that chord and does his intro and Liam starts singing, I think the place is going to levitate."

    Now, that would be magical.

  9. The Gallagher brothers' most cutting insults

    Mark Savage
    Music correspondent

    Liam and Noel GallagherGetty Images

    They've not shared a stage since 2009, but Liam and Noel Gallagher have kept interest in Oasis alive by trading insults online.

    In fact, the psychodrama between the fractious brothers is almost as much of a draw as their music.

    Here are some of their best barbs.

    • 2009: Just before the band break up, Noel talks about his brother in an interview with Q Magazine: “He’s the angriest man you’ll ever meet, he observes. "He’s like a man with a fork in a world of soup.”
    • 2013: Liam describes the complicated relationship with his brother. "I love our kid – as in the Noel that’s not in a band and not in the music business. But the band Noel? … I absolutely [expletive] despise."
    • 2016: After Noel misses the premiere for the Oasis documentary Supersonic, Liam says: "Noel won’t be here. He’s in one of his really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really big houses. Probably eating tofu while having a face peel. Isn’t that right, man of the people?"
    • 2016 (again): Fuming about Noel's refusal to promote the film, Liam starts posting photos of his brother, captioning each one with the word “potato”.
    • 2019: The Guardian asks Noel if he listens to Liam's solo material. “I don’t listen to the albums, because I can’t stand his voice, but I hear it on the radio,” he replies. “I think it’s unsophisticated music. For unsophisticated people. Made by an unsophisticated man."

    It's a wonder we've arrived at this reunion at all...

  10. 'Adam’s last words were ‘I’ll be there with you’'

    Kris Bramwell
    BBC News

    Adam and Sam are smiling at the camera. They are stood in a field. Adam is wearing sunglasses.Sam Randall

    Sam Randall (right) will be remembering his Oasis-loving friend Adam, who died earlier this year

    Sam Randall, 41, in Maidenhead, Berkshire, is going to the gig tonight with his old school friends Rollo and Pete. They went to secondary school together and “collectively all got into Oasis around the same time in 1995”.

    However, there is one person missing from the group - Adam Conrad Pratt.

    “In 1997, after plenty of pleading with our mums (we were barely aged 14 or 15), we managed to get tickets to see Oasis on their Be Here Now tour at Earls Court. Later that year, Adam and I saw them again at Wembley Arena. Oasis became our band! The soundtrack to our youth.

    “In 2020, Adam was diagnosed with colon cancer. He faced it with courage and determination, undergoing multiple surgeries and treatments."

    So when the reunion tour was announced, the friends were "beyond excited". Then Adam's cancer returned aggressively around Christmas 2024.

    "After a brave fight, Adam passed away at home in California in February surrounded by his family.

    “I was lucky enough to have one final call with him just days before. Though weak, he still managed to joke and laugh. I’ll never forget him saying, ‘I’ll be there down the front with you boys at the gig’.

    “In honour of Adam, we’ll be wearing custom t-shirts I designed for the concert. He may not be there in person, but he’ll be with us in every word we sing!"

    BBC Your Voice, Your BBC News banner image. The writing is in black and white. There are head and shoulder shots of people, coloured blue, against red backgrounds.

  11. Fans spend thousands for 'dream'

    Oasis fans travel from all over for reunion concert in Cardiff

    Fans have travelled from all over the world to see the Gallagher brothers reunite, with some spending as much as $5,000 (£3,660) to make the trip.

    One woman says she saw the final gig in Argentina before the split, and has been waiting 16 years for the chance to relive it.

    Another fan, from Japan, adds: "I don't care, it's worth it."

  12. Wibbling Rivalry: Why did Oasis break up?

    Paul Glynn
    Culture reporter

    Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis bring out boxer Ricky Hatton and his belts in Las Vegas in 2008Getty Images

    Like many family members who also work together, Liam and Noel enjoyed (or endured) a love/hate relationship from day one.

    Noel first quit the band in 1994 after his brother had thrown insults and a tambourine at him during a legendarily shambolic gig in Los Angeles.

    Their fights were so iconic that one argument during an explosive interview with the NME ended up being released as a single, called Wibbling Rivalry. It reached number 52 in chart.

    People loved them for it.

    In 2009 ahead of a festival appearance in Paris, the band went out in a blaze of glory. Some fruit was thrown, then a guitar was smashed.

    Noel said in a statement he "simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer". Liam later told the BBC that "a lot of planning went into breaking up Oasis".

    For more than a decade, the apparently estranged brothers sent barbed messages to each other through the media, where the word "reunion" was never far from interviewers’ lips.

    “I didn’t leave Oasis,” Liam told Radio X. “Noel Gallagher left Oasis... He couldn’t handle the rock ’n’ roll."

    And that was that. Until now.

  13. Liam lookalike says Britpop fashion 'never out of style'

    Nelli Bird
    BBC News, reporting from Cardiff

    A man with short brown hair and sunglasses wearing a green jacket. He is stood on a pavement with buildings either side and the Principality Stadium visible behind him.

    Glenn Moss from Essex is a dead ringer for Liam Gallagher and says he’s already had lots of double takes - but adds it “happens all the time".

    He says he always wears clothes similar to Liam, having grown up in the Britpop era.

    “I grew up in the 90s, with the baggy parkas and the haircuts and that’s just stayed with me.

    "That style has never gone out of fashion anyway.”

    He saw Oasis in Cardiff back in 2002, but thinks being at the first reunion gig is "going to be special".

  14. 'It felt like an exclusive club,' says superfan

    Sanjana Idnani
    BBC News, reporting from Cardiff

    A woman with long dark hair and a man with brown hair, both wearing black and stood on a pavement with a road behind them. The woman wears sunglasses and the man is holding up an oasis album. They are both smiling at the camera.

    Superfan Nick Maas from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA has loved Oasis since he was a teenager and introduced his partner Steph Flores to them when they met in 2013.

    "We were like the only people in Wisconsin who knew anything beyond Wonderwall so it felt like we were in an exclusive club," says Nick.

    He's travelled all around the US, attending all of Noel's Council Skies tour dates and even securing a signed album.

    Steph says Nick "wanted to do a whole US tour" but they've stuck to just a couple more dates after Cardiff, for now.

    "We’re also trying to get tickets for tomorrow."

    A signed album of Oasis Definitely MaybeNick Maas

  15. Oasis' history with Wales

    Maria Cassidy
    BBC News

    Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher and brother Noel Gallagher in 1995. They both stand in front of bar full of bottles of alcohol. Noel is wearing a black leather jacket with a blue shirt while Liam is wearing a black leather jacket with fur on the sleevesGetty Images

    It might seem strange that Oasis, a Manchester band, are starting their tour in Cardiff.

    But they do have some strong links and fond memories of south Wales. Their second album - (What's the Story) Morning Glory - was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, south Wales.

    "They were very loud by the way," recalls Kingsley Ward, Rockfield Studios founder.

    "Anne [Kingsley's wife] went down and sorted them out. It was four o'clock in the morning, the studio doors are wide open. I said 'what happen' and she said 'I stood at the door and they all went dead quiet'."

    Kingsley said the next day the band apologised and he added, "not that we would worry too much, because they're rock stars aren't they?"

    You can watch the full interview, with Kingsley, by pressing the play button at the top of the screen now

  16. Who is Sally? And why a takeaway turned Supersonic…

    BBC Bitesize

    Behind every Oasis classic song there’s a story, and BBC Bitesize have taken a look at the history of three absolute bangers.

    Beginning with their very first single, Supersonic - recorded in unusual circumstances in Liverpool - to the almost literal stance Noel Gallagher took when recording Wonderwall.

    BBC Bitesize also takes a look at how the anthem that is Don’t Look Back in Anger helped to unite the people of Manchester in the wake of the 2017 arena attack.

    There’s no word yet on the setlist for tonight’s concert at the Principality Stadium, but surely these three high-flying classics will make it?

    You can read more on the backstories behind these three hits here.

  17. Aussie fans travel Half The World Away for gig

    Alex Taylor
    Culture reporter

    Liam Gallagher wearing a khaki parka jacket on stage in Australia in 2022Getty Images

    Liam Gallagher performing solo in Australia in 2022

    For two Australian fans travelling to tonight's gig, the Oasis song Half The World Away has become more than a soundtrack.

    Lachlan Weekes and Jayden Helm have spent more than a day travelling from Sydney to get to Cardiff in time for the band's first gig since 2009.

    "We've been planning it forever," said Weekes, who will hope the journey back doesn't live up to his name.

    "We always said that if they got back together, we'd be at that first show."

    Helm added: "We've been lifelong fans - we're 22 and 21, so we haven't really had a chance to see them before.

    He admitted the two-flight journey was "long" and they are still a bit jet lagged.

    "We always said it was worth it to come, we wouldn't miss it for the world."

    The pair, who booked time off work for the trip, have been visiting Manchester - stopping off at Heaton Park as part of their personal Oasis tour.

    Weekes hopes the band will play Slide Away, while Helm said he would "go crazy" for Cigarettes and Alcohol.

  18. What will the weather be like?

    A screen grab showing the weather forecast in Cardiff on Friday 4 July. It shows sunshine with 0% rain through to 11pm with highs of 21C and lows of 15C. It also shows rain is forecast for Saturday, with highs of 19C and lows of 14C.

    Is it time to grab the sunglasses and bucket hats?

    Or do we need to pull out the waterproof jacket?

    So far, the Friday forecast appears to be in fans' favour - but Saturday ticketholders fear not, as the stadium roof is set to be closed for both shows.

  19. Krays, Sallys and sacks of fan mail

    Maria Cassidy
    BBC News

    Oasis, performing at Knebworth House, Hertfordshire. The band are on stage with green, red and blue lights behind them. The oasis logo is behindGetty Images

    The band played to 250,000 people at Knebworth, Herfordshire in August 1996

    If you're watching the live stream at the top of this page at the moment, you'll see an interview with Abby Scott, a former team member of the band's management in the early and mid '90s.

    Abby's been reflecting on the famous Knebworth concert in 1996 when the team realised how popular the band became. She says that they would often receive phone calls from musicians, celebrities and even prisoner Ronnie Kray.

    "One day I remember we had so much fan mail that the postman had to just ring the doorbell and give us his sacks of mail.

    "We also got lots of letters from girls called Sally asking if it was them that were being written about in Don't Look Back in Anger. Which used to make Noel laugh a lot," she says.

  20. 'Oasis are back'

    BBC Your Voice, Your BBC News banner image. The writing is in black and white. There are head and shoulder shots of people, coloured blue, against red backgrounds.

    Oasis are back!!! Paul

    The Griffiths family from Abergavenny are all heading to the gig today and tomorrow! We have an Oasis fact - we live in Oasis’s old manger's childhood home, Marcus Russel! We are an Oasis loving family and can’t wait to see the boys on stage! Lotte

    On way to Cardiff to see the first Oasis gig tonight. This is going to be absolutely mental. People have waited for this day for 16 years! Enjoy all that are going. Jord & Ed on the M5.

    Digging into the record collection this afternoon. HERE WE GO! Lawrence Lyons, Belfast.

    There are numerous Oasis records on a shelf.Lawrence Lyons

    Lawrence Lyons' record collection