I have seen Oasis in small clubs (The Cat’s Cradle, The Abyss, Hammerjacks), medium-sized venues/theaters (Roseland, Hammerstein Ballroom, Radio City Music Hall), amphitheaters (Merriweather, Meadowbrook), and festivals (Reading, Virgin Fest) — but it took until I finally saw them in proper stadiums, performing to 80,000+ fans at Wembley Stadium in London during their Live 25 tour, for me to truly get my favorite band.
Oasis is football as music. And everyone is cheering for the same team. Every single person in attendance singing along at the top of their lungs to every line of a 23-song, two-hour set is just like being at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Old Trafford, Anfield, or St. James Park. We’re all in it together and we’re all doing the Poznan.
So I was very interested in seeing how us Americans would do when the tour crossed the pond to North America. And judging by the reaction in MetLife Stadium on the first of their two sold out shows on Labor Day weekend, we held our own. We executed the Poznan correctly. We sang along to songs other than “Wonderwall,” like “Little by Little,” “Rock N Roll Star,” and even “Half the World Away.” There was no mass toilet break during “Talk Tonight” after the first barrage of songs. Everyone in my section stood for the entire show.
Let’s talk about the set. It is paced to perfection and is structured like the band’s imperial period, with breaks for Noel to take over lead vocals while Liam leaves the stage. Opening with nine, count ‘em, nine straight bangers featuring album cuts like “Hello” and “Bring it on Down,” B-sides like “Acquiesce” and “Fade Away,” and certified live classics like “Cigarettes and Alcohol” and “Supersonic,” the band went for the jugular right of the gate and the audience responded in kind. Noel’s “we believe” chorus in “Acquiesce” hits so damn hard, and it’s incredible to hear a stadium sing along to a B-side.
Watch the official music video for “Acquiesce” by Oasis on YouTube:
Noel’s first spotlight session followed, featuring “Talk Tonight” (a surprising crowd fave), the Bacharach-esque “Half The World Away,” and the big singalong for “Little By Little” (the only post 1997 song performed in the set). Liam then reappears for some mid-tempo faves like “Stand By Me,” “Whatever,” and “Cast No Shadow” before we get to the greatest hits portion of the night with all the songs everyone paid to hear: “Live Forever,” “Wonderwall,” “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” and “Champagne Supernova.” Stone cold classics every one.
Can you pick some nits with the set? Sure! Shouldn’t “Columbia” be in there somewhere? Yes! Do we really need “Roll With It?” Maybe not? But I for one never thought I would hear “D’You Know What I Mean” live ever again (even if they still haven’t quite figured out how to play it properly). And we were spared “The Importance of Being Idle” and/or “Mucky Fingers,” so I’ll take it.
You’d have to go back to late ’90s to find a time when the band sounded better. Liam has put in a great deal of work to fix his health problems and voice in the last few years, and it has worked wonders. There are plenty of videos online comparing some of his ’90s performances to his current vocals, and you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference.
Noel has slotted back in to being a lead guitar player and seems to be having a blast being onstage with his brother again. The rest of the band — an amalgamation of Oasis-eras featuring Gem Archer and Bonehead on guitars, Andy Bell on bass, and drummer-for-hire Joey Waronker — is more than enough to fill out the band’s famous wall of sound. And as a card-carrying member of Bonehead’s Barmy Army, it’s great to see him back on stage where he belongs after his cancer scare of a few years ago. Oasis lost a bit of their soul when he originally left the group.
There’s lots of talk online about what’s next for the band. New music? Another tour next summer? Mainland Europe? Multiple nights at Knebworth? Obviously there is money to be made there so some combination of that will happen. But until then, I’m very content to enjoy the present.
Setlist:
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
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Here are some photos of Oasis performing live at MetLife Stadium on August 31, 2025. All pictures courtesy Big Brother Recordings.
Photography by Harriett K Bols.
Photography by Joshua Halling.
