Keystone-SDA
Sixteen years after its last appearance on stage, Oasis, the emblematic group of Britpop, reformed on Friday in Cardiff, in Wales, to the delight of its fans for the first in a series of 41 concerts around the world.
(Keystone-ATS) “Manchester sets the mood in the region,” said singer Liam Gallagher in front of an ecstatic crowd of 74,000 people gathered in the big stadium in the Welsh capital shortly after going on stage.
“It was fantastic, everything I dreamed of,” said Sebastian Vyrtz, a 37 -year -old Danish, after this two -hour performance: “Super songs, no Chichis. It was like a hit parade ”.
After two evenings in Cardiff, the Gallagher brothers will give five concerts in their birthplace in Manchester from July 11. They will then play at the Wembley stadium in London or that of Murrayfield in Edinburgh, before their international tour which will lead them to the United States, Japan, Australia and Brazil.
“Historical evening”
Oasis started his comeback with the 1995 tube “Hello”, then “Acquiesce”, “Roll with it” – a duo of the two brothers – before “Cigarettes and Alcohol”, “Stand by Me”, “Supersonic” …
The leader of the group The Verve, Richard Ashcroft, who performed in the first part, said his pride in participating in a “historic evening”.
Since the disappearance of Oasis in 2009 after yet another argument between Liam and Noel Gallagher, many have no longer hoped them together on stage.
At the end of the concert, the group thanked its fans for “having supported us all these years” despite the grazes.
Frank Gonzales, 49, who came from California, told AFP that he was overwhelmed by “emotion”.
“I had seen them several times (before their separation) but to see them again together, I would never have thought of reliving it. It was beautiful, ”he said.
In the afternoon, the center of this city resonated from the excitement of the fans, which singed the group’s tubes on the crowds of crowds, wearing Oasis T-shirts.
Many of them come from all over the world, like Mark Cassidy, a 31 -year -old American, who left New York with a friend to attend the reappearance of his idols on stage. “Overxities”, they planned to “drink a few pints and relax” before the big moment.
“Scam” on tickets
The group, famous for its 1990s hits like “Live Forever” and “Wonderwall”, announced its return in August 2024, a few days before the 30th anniversary of its first album “Definitely Maybe”.
After their separation, the Gallagher brothers continued a career each on their side, without really knowing the glory and regularly invested by interposed media.
The surprise announcement of their return sparked a fans on tickets, 900,000 of which were sold in a few hours.
The online sale for concerts in the United Kingdom and Ireland had turned to chaos, with millions of people trapped in endless virtual queues without being able to access the website.
The flambé of ticket prices, generated by a so -called “dynamic” pricing process, has aroused controversy. And pushed the British competition regulator to open an investigation into the practices of the Ticketmaster sales platform.
Liam, 52, had fun with this controversy, asking spectators: “Do you have a good time?” Was it worth 40,000 pounds (43,380 francs) for the ticket? »»
Debbie Bonfield, a 65 -year -old Welsh, denounced “a scam” made to fans but “all that is forgotten with the atmosphere” of the concert. “It was great, I loved it,” she told AFP.
“Chaotic, imperfect”
This tour is a boon for the group as for the British economy. Fans should pay more than a billion pounds (approximately 1.258 billion francs) in tickets and for transport or accommodation, according to an estimate of Banclays.
Several dozen of these millions will go directly into the pocket of the two brothers.
According to the British media, the two brothers started playing together several months ago and started rehearsals in London more recently.
In a program distributed upstream of the first concert, Noel Gallagher, 58, evokes the success of the group with a new generation which “understands that Oasis was not manufactured”.
“It was chaotic, imperfect and not technically brilliant. We were raw and nervous guys, just out of the rehearsal room, and people understood it, ”he says.
