Oasis Live returns to the concert stage for a riveting show at Chicago’s Soldier Field. My story and a concert review.
“Hey! We’ll be in town next week,” read the text from a close friend. “Been waiting on the next ticket drop trying to get Oasis tix & finally got 4 today that populated.” It went on to say that his son bailed on them and he had an extra lower level seat.
“Cage the Elephant open. Want to join us?”
He could probably guess what was coming next. I knew about the hype for this tour and the demand for tickets, especially in Europe.
“How much?”
“$300. Limited View” for section 113. Apparently, other tickets in the lower part of the stadium were going for $500 to $700. Still, I had to mull it over and get my wife’s blessing. Fortunately, I had won a small poker tournament recently and had the cash. Plus, I thought to myself. “Oasis live. What’s not to like?” Brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher were part of the huge Brit pop scene along with Blur, The Verve, and Pulp. Personally, I was a bigger fan of rockers like Radiohead, The Stone Roses, and Snow Patrol.
Oasis had split up in 2009 amid purported acrimony between the two brothers. Nearly fifteen years to the date, there appeared to be a reconciliation. On August 27th Oasis announced that they had reformed and would perform in the UK and Ireland in July and August 2025, stating: “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”
“It’s Oasis live and Cage the Elephant. Count me in,” I excited text back.
It wasn’t long before ticket sales for the reunion tour created controversy. Due to the use of dynamic pricing on Ticketmaster during the early UK on-sale, there were reports of widespread bot purchases, and technical issues that left many fans sans ticket. The issues led to fan outrage, a UK regulatory investigation, and changes in the sales policies for the additional legs of the tour which included one Canadian and three US stops, including the Chicago show.
In preparation for concerts, I will often create Spotify playlists. The Oasis live tour had a static playlist, which meant every show was identical. I probably listened to the playlist a dozen times in advance of the show.
Driving downtown to meet my friends for a very late lunch, early dinner, I spotted many people walking around wearing tour merch. Apparently a pop up store, the Oasis Live ’25 Fan Store, opened in Wicker Park on August 26th. The shop offered official tour merchandise, including exclusive brand collaborations with Adidas Originals, limited-edition vinyl, and other apparel and accessories.
Our limited view seats turned out to be nothing more than a speaker pole rising up from the field. We were at approximately the 20-yard line on the opposite end of the stadium, so we knew most of our viewing would be on the video screen.
Cage the Elephant opened with a very energetic set, and numerous thank you’s to the audience and references to having been fans of Oasis as young rockers. Their set contained their most popular songs including “Come A Little Closer”, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked”, and “Cigarette Daydreams,” in which rhythym guitarist Brad Shultz teased a few chords from “Sweet Home Alabama” before launching into the song from the band’s 2017 album Melophobia.
By the time the lights were dimmed and the loudspeakers played Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” it looked as if every open seat had been filled.
Right from the start after the Gallagher brothers walked on stage holding hands aloft, Oasis launched into the aptly titled “Hello”. The crowd, most of whom were adorned in band swag and a few Manchester City soccer jerseys, sang along with every song, even the lesser known tunes in the set list. “Acquiesce” from 1997’s Be Here Now, and “Little By Little” found on their fifth studio album Heathen Chemistry released in 2002, were simply outstanding deep tracks.
The audio quality was surprisingly good for a stadium show. The video screen served up a tasty mix of band shots and colorful graphics. At least half the crowd or more joined in on every single song. Besides their hugely popular hits like “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova”, “Morning Glory”, “D’You Know What I Mean”, and “Slide Away” were standouts in this incredible performance.
I’ve seen several large scale shows at Soldier Field, including the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and Pearl Jam. This concert was just as lively, captivating, energetic, and musically memorable. In many ways the crowd vibe was comparable to Grateful Dead shows I had seen at the same stadium. It was hard not to get swept up in the tide of emotion flowing through the audience.
But it wasn’t just me. Here’s what others had to say.
Jonah Kreuger of Consequence of Sound wrote: As proven by the absolute sea of bucket hats and soccer jerseys bouncing arm in arm to tunes like “Cigarettes & Alcohol,” the “Live ’25” shows have enough electricity to power a small English village. It’s everything an Oasis fan could want. (You know, save for the difficulty of securing tickets.) Noel looked focused, a little strained, and didn’t say much outside of his song introductions, and Liam proved that he hasn’t lost an ounce of his rockstar appeal.
The Chicago Tribune’s Bob Gendron may have noted the audience vibe, stating the band “turned the venue into the equivalent of a massive pub stocked with oversized screens on which to view the action on the pitch. Or, in this case, the stage — though the real excitement was in the audience. Thirsty for Britpop greased with glam-rock riffs, high decibels and cascading melodies, fans drank up stadium-ready anthems tailor-made for hoisting beverages, high-fiving mates and swaying arm-in-arm. All that happened regularly, along with plenty of fist-pumping and cheering on songs that celebrated fundamental escapism, as well as optimism and the permission to be yourself.”
But he was rather critical of the Liam, saying, “Not that Liam appeared miserable. Or thrilled. Or bothered. Positioned a fair distance away from Noel and seldom glancing his way, the singer seemed not to give a fig about much at all. A kindred spirit, then, with the narrators of many of the group’s songs. Wearing an anorak and sunglasses, Liam occasionally banged a tambourine, shook maracas and struck cocksure poses to stave off indifference.” Apparently, he failed to realize that is Liam being his usual nonchalant self. Perhaps he was expecting the lead singer to toss his tambourine around or yell at members of the audience.
Gil Kaufman from Billboard got it. “It’s been said countless times since Liam and Noel Gallagher buried the hatchet last year to launch their rapturously received Oasis Live ’25 reunion run, but the formerly quarrelsome siblings who used to make Cain and Abel look like the Kelce brothers have found that special magic again. And then some.
“From the unending sea of Adidas stripes on track suits, football jerseys and sneakers, to what must have been a Midwest record for the most bucket hats in a single place at once, the crowd came to sing along and hoover up as much merch as possible. And off course they did the turn-around and jump-up-and-down Poznan dance during “Cigarettes & Alcohol,” making the ground shake like a Britpop earthquake. “Everybody said Americans wouldn’t do that fuckin’ shit” Liam playfully poked. “Of course they will,” he said afterwards.”
Lastly, Jessi Roti of the Illinois Entertainer wrote, “taking the stage to a sizzle reel tackling the initial reunion rumors, spliced with footage from the band’s heyday and found family photos, the spectacle felt surreal–until they were just there. For two, nonstop hours of hits clearly withstanding the test of time — as now defined by the internet’s attention span — Oasis didn’t so much feel like a time warp (their last proper album, Dig Out Your Soul, was released in 2008) as they did an indisputable cornerstone of modern rock music.”
Only six more shows in North America remain. MetLife Stadium, The Rose Bowl, and Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros. Catch it if you can. Rock and roll stars for certain.
The tour set list:
“Hello”
“Acquiesce”
“Morning Glory”
“Some Might Say”
“Bring It on Down”
“Cigarettes & Alcohol”
“Fade Away”
“Supersonic”
“Roll With It”
“Talk Tonight”
“Half the World Away”
“Little by Little”
“D’You Know What I Mean?”
“Stand by Me”
“Cast No Shadow”
“Slide Away”
“Whatever”
“Live Forever”
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”
Encore:
“The Masterplan”
“Don’t Look Back in Anger”
“Wonderwall”
“Champagne Supernova”
I’m sure there will be more quality videos posted later, but this shows the cool montage of articles and social media posts as the band takes the stage for the opening song.
Special thanks to Otis. All photos by the author.
Tags: Oasis, Oasis Live, Chicago 2025, Oasis live ’25, Soldier Field, Cage the Elephant
