Oasis returns to the stage after 16 years with hugs, hits

CARDIFF, Wales — They had waited 15 years for this moment, and they couldn’t believe it was happening.

Dressed in bucket hats, Adidas tracksuits and other ’90s looks, a boisterous crowd gathered Friday at the 75,000-capacity Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, to witness one of the unlikeliest reunions in rock music.

Oasis was back.

For two hours, at least.

Around 8:15 p.m. local time, Noel and Liam Gallagher, the two stars of a band whose anthemic hits include “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” swaggered onstage, putting aside decades of brotherly war.

Liam had his arm around his older brother’s shoulder, and as the phrase “The Great Wait Is Over” flashed on screens at the back of the stage, the pair strode forward, holding each other’s hands skyward.

The ringing chords of the group’s 1995 track “Hello,” which features the refrain “It’s good to be back,” wafted over the crowd, kick-starting a 41-date sold-out world tour that includes two concerts at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

After an opening filled with fraternal joy, the brothers soon reverted to type. For the rest of the set, they stood about 30 feet apart and barely glanced at each other. Liam, 52, wearing a black rain jacket, clasped his hands behind his back as he sang upward toward the microphone. Noel, 58, dressed in a blue shirt, stared at his guitar in concentration.

Formed in Manchester, England, in 1991, the Gallagher brothers bickered from the start — just like many siblings do. But these two were in the pressure-cooker of one of the world’s most famous rock bands.

Liam once threw a tambourine at Noel. Noel hit Liam in the head with a cricket bat. In 1995, a 14-minute recording of the brothers swearing at each other during an interview reached No. 52 on the British charts. In that exchange, Noel said the pair argued “hourly,” although Liam said that the tension was “why we’ll be the best band in the world.”

The fraternal drama added extra spice as Oasis became one of the most popular rock acts of the 1990s, helping define the moment’s Britpop sound. And in Britain, it was a generational phenomenon, akin to the Beatles in the ’60s or the Sex Pistols in the ’70s.

Although Oasis’ cultural impact waned in the 2000s, its popularity never tailed off, even after the band broke up in 2009, when Noel walked out. “I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer,” the guitarist and songwriter said at the time.

In the years after the split, the rancor continued. Liam regularly used social media to belittle his older brother, often comparing Noel to a “potato.”

In Cardiff, anticipation for the show had been building for days. This week, fans stood outside the stadium to catch a snatch of the sound checks, and some with tickets for the standing-room pit camped outside to get the best spots once the stadium gates opened.

Marco Di Maro, 41, a hotelier from Palermo, Sicily, said in an interview Friday that he had been sleeping in a tent next to some young women who had traded friendship bracelets featuring the names of Oasis songs, Taylor Swift-style. “The first night, they’ll play for sure,” Di Maro said of the Gallagher brothers. “Tomorrow’s show? Who knows.”

On Friday, the 23-song set list was dominated by tracks from Oasis’ first two albums: “Definitely Maybe” from 1994, and “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” from 1995. The main set included the roaring “Supersonic,” the delicate “Cast No Shadow” and the snarling “Rock ’N’ Roll Star.”

The encore was loaded with the band’s best-known songs: “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova.” The crowd, spread over three levels, sang along to every one. Many fans had their arms around one another and spilled pints of lager onto the stadium floor. Some braver fans climbed up onto friends’ shoulders.

Liam and Noel did not give any interviews to major news outlets leading up to the concert, although last week, the guitarist called into a British sports radio show and joked around with the hosts. During the call, Noel said he had been texting with “our kid,” an affectionate term for his brother.

During Friday’s show, the Gallaghers only occasionally talked to the crowd. “You having a good time, yeah?” Liam asked at one point. “Was it worth the 40,000 pounds you paid for the ticket?” he added, a reference to fan complaints last year about climbing ticket prices.

The pair became more verbose during the encore. “Thanks for putting up with us over the years,” Liam said. “We’re hard work. I get it.”

As the show drifted to a close, Liam approached the front of the stage and threw two maracas and a tambourine into the crowd. Then he walked toward Noel, grasped his older brother’s hand, and the pair hugged.

In interviews afterward, fans seemed overjoyed with that final scene. Ciaran Kearney, 40, a postal worker originally from Ireland but living in Wales, said it was the “greatest gig of all time.” Noel and Liam had “ignored each other almost the whole gig, then they did that cheeky hug,” Kearney said, shaking his head in disbelief. “That moment was enough,” he added.

Jas Griffin-Jones, 20, a college student who had been first in line for the show, said the concert “was life-changing.”

“I was jumping the whole time,” she said, adding she had screamed when Noel and Liam walked on, united. Griffin-Jones said she couldn’t say much else about the night. The comeback, like all the best experiences, was already “a blur.”