OASIS: LIVE IN THE NINETIES

Emerging from the previous year in which they had plainly set out their stall with debut
album Definitely Maybe and its four big anthemic singles, Oasis entered 1995 as the
swaggering flag-bearers of the exciting, new scene that the press dubbed “BritPop”.

With the release of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory on October 3rd, Oasis lit the touch
paper for a year of extraordinary live shows that would define the decade. Theatre venues
could no longer accommodate the band’s rapidly expanding fan base. It was time to think
big. Earls Court Arena, with its 20,000-audience capacity, was now London’s only indoor
space large enough to host Oasis, and so two consecutive dates were booked that
November along with The Bootleg Beatles as support.

Was it loud? Put it this way, there were reports of Earls Court tube station’s temporary
closure after heavy vibrations radiating from the arena caused a minor seismic quake in
nearby Fulham. No, really.

FOREVER BLUE
When spring showed its face in 1996, fans expected something even bigger from Noel
and Liam Gallagher, and their bandmates Bonehead, Guigsy and Alan White. “If you’re
gonna make a statement, there’s no point in faffin’ about… just go for it,” said Noel, when
Oasis announced two shows in April at Maine Road Stadium, then still the home of his
beloved Manchester City F.C.

For me, there were two unforgettable highlights. The first came at the end of ‘Live Forever’
when, after numerous dead rock stars had appeared on the giant central screen, an image
of John Lennon remained. Liam stared in worship of his idol before the band kicked into ‘I
Am The Walrus’, and the crowd went nuts.

Music aside, the other memory that has stayed with me is of being in a lift at Maine Road,
post-show, with Liam and his girlfriend du jour, Patsy Kensit. “Alright, weren’t it?” said the
frontman, as I smiled in approval.

KNEBWORTH
Over the weekend of August 10-11, 1996, Oasis attracted 250,000 punters to Knebworth
Park and grossed £5,625,000 with staggering ease. Five per cent of the British population
applied for tickets to these two shows and the magical moment when the masses sang
their hearts out to ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ will live long in the minds of those lucky to
be in attendance.

Knebworth ’96 was the decade’s definitive gathering of the tribes, a pivotal moment in
musical history or, as The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett described it, “a fucking big rave”. “This
is bloody history,” claimed Noel. It was the weekend that saw Oasis win the Nineties.

Mark Cunningham
August 2025