Oasis return to Manchester for first homecoming gig in 16 years with 80,000-strong crowd

By Ruth Lawes

Oasis have made a triumphant return to Manchester, closing their first hometown performance in nearly 20 years.

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The group, known for defining a generation with hits like Wonderwall, reignited Britpop fever as around 80,000 people attended the concert at Heaton Park on Friday evening.

It is the first of five sold-out shows at the venue after Oasis kicked off their highly anticipated reunion tour in Cardiff last week.

Liam and Noel Gallagher opened the concert at Heaton Park with Hello, the first track on their second album What's The Story (Morning Glory)?.

They continued to perform songs including Half The World Away, which they dedicated to Royle Family stars Craig Cash and Caroline Aherne as it was used as the BBC sitcom's theme tune, Cigarettes and Alcohol and Supersonic.

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The brothers' final song before the encore was Rock N Roll Star, the BBC reports.

They returned to the stage to belt out anthems Champagne Supernova, Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger as the night drew to a close with a firework display.

Leading up to the concert, Manchester made it known that Oasis were back, after the tram network replaced its announcement voiceover at Heaton Park with Liam’s voice on the concert dates.

Aldi supermarket also joined the fun, building on the buzz by changing one of its store signs in Prestwich to “Aldeh”, embracing the Mancunian pronunciation of its name.

The reunion announcement came after had Noel quit the Britpop band, saying he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer”, following a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris in 2009.

The brothers announced the Oasis Live ’25 tour last August, starting with two dates in Cardiff, before heading across the UK and Ireland.

While fans were excited at the reunion, some were left outraged after some standard tickets in the UK and Ireland jumped from £148 to £355.

The controversy prompted the Government and the UK’s competition watchdog to pledge to look at the use of dynamic pricing.

After their Manchester gigs Oasis will visit London’s Wembley Stadium, Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium and Dublin’s Croke Park throughout July, August and September.

The group will then head to Japan, South Korea, South America, Australia and North America.

A movie produced by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is being made in conjunction with the reunion tour.

Formed in Manchester in 1991, the rock band was led by lead guitarist Noel and his brother, lead vocalist Liam, during their 18 years together.

Oasis signed to independent record label Creation Records in 1993, rising to fame with the release of their debut chart-topping album Definitely Maybe on August 29 1994.

They had hits with songs including Don’t Look Back In Anger, Champagne Supernova, Wonderwall and Live Forever.

Dig Out Your Soul, the band’s last studio album, was released in 2008, just months before the Paris row.