Oasis kick off their comeback: The best they've been since the 90s

7 hours ago Share Save Mark Savage Music Correspondent Share Save

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

Oasis blew off the cobwebs and swept away the doubters as they kicked off their reunion tour in Cardiff. Taking to the stage after a 16-year break, the band sounded refreshed and rejuvenated, tearing into classics like Cigarettes and Alcohol, Live Forever and Slide Away - as 70,000 fans clasped each other and spilled beer all over themselves. They opened with Hello, with its chorus of "it's good to be back", following up with Acquiesce - one of the few songs that features vocals from both Noel and Liam Gallagher. The lyric "we need each other" felt like a reconciliation - or a sigh of relief - as the brothers buried the hatchet of a decades-long feud and reconnected with their fans.

Watch Oasis perform Acquiesce as they reunite in Cardiff

Liam, in particular, attacked the gig with wild-eyed passion - stalking the stage and biting into the lyrics like a lion tearing apart its prey. The audience responded in kind. A communal fervour greeted songs like Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger, both pulled from Oasis's 1995 masterpiece, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? - one of the best selling British albums of all time. All night, it was one singalong after another: Some Might Say, Supersonic, Whatever, Half The World Away, Rock 'n' Roll Star. During Live Forever - which they dedicated to Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota - the audience even sang Noel's guitar solo. "You sound like a load of Charlotte Churches," said Liam, impressed, after Stand By Me. The frontman sounded fresh and powerful himself, putting to rest the vocal issues that had plagued him on previous tours - a result of Hashimoto's disease, an auto-immune condition that can affect the voice.

Getty Images Fans paid hundreds of pounds to see the band kick off their reunion tour

As fans will know, Oasis were never the most dynamic act on stage. Noel, in particular, wears the studious look of a man trying to remember his National Insurance number - but somehow, it's impossible to take your eyes off them. Although they came out hand in hand, there were few other signs of chemistry between the brothers, who never addressed one another during the two-and-a-quarter hour show. But just hearing them harmonise again, after all the animosity and the turbulent waters under the bridge, was hugely emotional. "Nice one for putting up with us over the years," said Liam, introducing the night's last song, Champagne Supernova. "We are hard work, I get it." As they left the stage, the Gallaghers shared a brief hug.

Big Brother The stadium closed its roof - giving the show an unusual intimacy

Getty Images Liam was in fine form throughout the night

But the band's volatility was always part of the appeal. Their off-stage antics made the headlines as often as their music: They missed their first European gig after getting arrested on a cross-channel ferry, Liam lost two front teeth in a fight with German police, and later abandoned a pivotal US tour go house-hunting. Half the fun was working out which act of the Shakespearean drama was being enacted in front of you. Still, Liam’s antics often frustrated his brother. "Noel is the guy who's chained to the Tasmanian devil," Danny Eccleston, consultant editor of the Mojo magazine, once said. "A lifetime of that would wear you down." BBC Sounds: The Rise and Fall of Oasis It all came to a head at a gig in Paris in 2009. Oasis split up after a backstage altercation that began with Liam throwing a plum at his older brother's head. In the intervening years, they engaged in a long war of words in the press, on stage and social media. Liam repeatedly called Noel a "massive potato" on Twitter and, more seriously, accused him of skipping the One Love concert for victims of the Manchester Arena bombing. Noel responded by saying Liam was a "village idiot" who "needs to see a psychiatrist". But relations thawed last year, with Liam dedicating Half The World Away to his brother at Reading Festival last August. Two days later, the reunion was announced, with the band declaring: "The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised." A scramble for tickets ensued, with more than 10 million people applying to see the 19 UK dates alone. Those who succeeded were shocked by the high prices - especially when standing tickets advertised at £155 were re-labelled "in demand" and changed on Ticketmaster to £355 plus fees. On stage, Liam made light of the scandal, asking the audience: "Is it worth the £4,000 you paid for a ticket?"

Getty Images The band's 2025 line-up included Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs and Gem Archer on guitar, with Andy Bell on bass and Joey Waronker on drums.

For many, the answer was yes. Cardiff was awash with Oasis fans from all over the world - including Peru, Japan, Argentina, Spain and South Korea. An Italian couple had "live forever" inscribed on their wedding rings. A British woman, expecting her first child, had scrawled "our kid" - Noel's nickname for Liam - across her baby bump. The city was awash in bucket hats and branded tracksuit tops. Outside the stadium, an enterprising busker drew a massive crowd by playing a set of Oasis songs. Everyone joined in. Inside, the band stuck to the classics, with a setlist that only strayed out of the 1990s once, for 2002's Little By Little. The songs held up remarkably well. The youthful hunger of tracks like Live Forever and Supersonic crackled with energy. And Cigarettes and Alcohol, written by Noel in 1991, about the discontent of Manchester's working classes after 15 years of Conservative rule, sounded as relevant in 2025 as it did then. "Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there's nothing worth working for?" snarled Liam. Fans, young and old, roared along in recognition and approval. Later, during Wonderwall, the frontman cheekily changed the lyrics to say: "There are many things that I would like to say to you... but I don't speak Welsh." I have seen Oasis many, many times and this was the best they've been since 1995, when I caught them supporting REM at Ireland's Slane Castle, as they limbered up for the release of (What's the Story) Morning Glory? The Manchester band blew the headliners away - instantly making them seem dated and irrelevant - in a show that threatened to turn into chaos after Liam threatened a fan who'd thrown a projectile on stage. They might not have that sense of danger in 2025, but there was a hunger and a passion that was missing from their last shows in 2009. Fans, and some parts of the British press, are already speculating over whether Liam and Noel's rapprochement will hold – but from the evidence on stage in Cardiff, the Gallaghers are finally, belatedly, mad fer it once more.

Big Brother The view from backstage

Oasis setlist - 4 July 2025

Hello

Acquiesce

Morning Glory

Some Might Say

Bring it on down

Cigarettes & Alcohol

Fade Away

Supersonic

Roll With It

Talk Tonight (Noel sings)

Half the World Away (Noel sings)

Little by Little (Noel sings)

D'You Know What I Mean

Stand By Me

Cast No Shadow

Slide Away

Whatever

Live Forever

Rock and Roll Star Encore The Masterplan (Noel sings)

Don't Look Back in Anger (Noel sings)

Wonderwall

Champagne Supernova

Getty Images Noel Gallagher performed several songs solo during the set

Pride in London returns as events struggle with falling funds

34 minutes ago Share Save Josh Parry LGBT & Identity Reporter Share Save

Getty Images

On Saturday more than one million people are expected to attend Pride in London, the UK's largest LGBTQ+ event. But despite huge visitor numbers, organisers say the event - and others like it around the country - face an uncertain future due to a drop in funding and falling volunteer numbers. More than 85 Pride organisations say they've seen a reduction in corporate sponsorships or partnerships, according to a questionnaire by the UK Pride Organisers Network (UKPON), which said it represents the majority of UK Pride events. Some celebrations have already been cancelled or postponed, while others are scaling back plans or charging for tickets to what have previously been free-to-attend events.

The UK's Pride movement began in 1972 when a group called the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) decided that, as well as protesting, it was also important to celebrate the community. At the time, same-sex couples showing affection in public could have seen them arrested. Now, Pride events take part across the world, often combining protest, in the form of marches and rallies, with parties and live entertainment. BBC News has spoken to a number of Pride organisers about their worries for the future of Pride events, and what they believe is behind the drop in funding.

'If America sneezes, the UK catches a cold'

Dee Llewellyn Dee Llewellyn believes what is happening in America can affect Pride events in the UK

Dee Llewellyn is volunteer chair of UKPON, and also works full-time as Pride in London's head of partnerships. She believes that, for large-scale celebrations such as in Pride in London, international corporations moving away from Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies is one of the driving forces behind the drop in donations. She said: "There's an old saying, if America sneezes, then the UK catches a cold, and I think we're really feeling that right now. "Global corporations, with head offices based in America, have had their DEI funding cut, which has meant that some corporations, even ones that have been really long-standing supporters of Pride in the UK, have no longer got a budget to do so." Despite the difficulties it faces, London continues to be the UK's largest Pride event and over the past few years attendance has grown to 1.5 million people, making it one of the city's largest public events. According to the Pride in London website, the cost of their 2024 event was £1.7m.

Asked why a Pride event - which is seen by many as a form of protest first and foremost - costs this much to run, Dee told the BBC: "It's about making safe spaces, not just emotionally safe but physically safe for everybody there as well - it means paying for security staff, barriers, road closures. "As Pride grows, and the numbers grow, the cost and the level of health and safety and other infrastructure grows as well. No Pride would be able to go ahead without meeting those health and safety regulations." Although the focus this weekend will be very much on the capital, UKPON told the BBC that Pride events up and down the country are facing similar issues. In April UKPON asked its 201 members whether they were facing any financial or operational pressures. Of the 112 organisations that responded: More than 85 reported lost revenue from corporate sponsorships and partnerships this year

More than 40 said that the drop was between 26% - 50% compared to last year

21 said they'd experienced their revenue fall by more than half in that same period

More than 60 said they'd seen reductions in grants from corporations or charities In recent weeks, several Pride organisations have taken the decision to cancel events. Liverpool City Region Pride announced in June that rising costs and difficulty securing funding "made it impossible to bring Pride to Liverpool this year". Another charity has since stepped in to organise an alternative event.

'I'm absolutely gutted'

Alex MacDonald Alex MacDonald (left) hopes Plymouth Pride will come back stronger next year

Plymouth Pride, which organisers say usually has an estimated 6,000-7,000 attendees, will this year also not go ahead in its official capacity. Organisers told the BBC they were £12,000 short of the estimated £35,000 it costs to put on their annual event, which includes a march through the city and a number of stages showing entertainment. Alex MacDonald, chair of Plymouth Pride, told the BBC that rising costs for things like security, first aid and toilet facilities, combined with a drop in grant funding, had left the organisation with no choice but to cancel the official event. He said: "Ultimately it was [grant] funding that was the make or break for us and this year it didn't work. "I'm just absolutely gutted because I think it's more important this year to have Pride than any other year." A smaller group, Plymouth Community Pride, has now raised funds to host an alternative event in the city. "We've been very lucky this year, the community rallied together and a separate organisation is putting on lots of little events. We'll hopefully come back bigger and stronger next year," Alex added.

Charging for tickets is 'one of the most difficult decisions'

OhMyMedia / Olly Rigby Reece Holmes said some events, like The Pink Picnic, would not be able to go ahead without charging for tickets

In June, more than 6,000 people attended The Pink Picnic, an event organised by a team of volunteers from Salford Pride in the city's Peel Park. Started in 2011, it's marketed by organisers as a small, community-focused Pride event and is seen as a quieter alternative to Manchester Pride, a ticketed multi-day event with celebrity headliners which takes place a few miles down the road. In 2025, Salford Pride took the decision to charge for tickets for the first time in order to plug what they say was a £40,000 shortfall in sponsorships from corporate partners. The team, made up entirely of volunteers, decided to charge £5 per ticket, but estimate that the event costs around £18 per head. Reece Holmes, event lead for Salford Pride, said it was "one of the most difficult decisions" his team of volunteers have had to make and that it led to some "being subjected to quite a lot of abuse online." Despite The Pink Picnic being a relatively small event, costs such as security and stewards - which Reece said are essential to run a public event - mean it costs around £100,000 a year to run. He told the BBC: "We've had a 28% increase in costs from 2024, but we've also lost three corporate sponsors since then.