From Torquay to Cardiff: our reporter joins the Oasis reunion tour kick-off

The traffic out of Torquay was a nightmare, and Exeter was gridlocked. But that didn’t stop us. With a dedicated Oasis playlist blasting from the car stereo, we set off for Cardiff and the start of something legendary.

Staying in Bristol, it was immediately clear we weren’t the only ones. The early train into the Welsh capital was packed – bucket hats, parkas, Adidas trainers and all. By the time we arrived in the city centre, the excitement was electric. Pubs were overflowing. Bars were blasting Don’t Look Back in Anger. Everyone was buzzing.

Inside the Principality Stadium, the energy was something else entirely. I went with my partner and his parents – a true generational mix that summed up the pull of this band. It was drenched. And I don’t just mean in sweat and spilled pints – although there was plenty of that. Flares lit up the crowd, people stood on shoulders, strangers had arms flung around each other. Oasis was back, and everyone knew it.

Richard Ashcroft opened the show, ending with Bittersweet Symphony – a pitch-perfect lead into the main event. A friend of mine managed to swing a last-minute ticket and joined us just before Liam and Noel took to the stage. Eight-pound pints in hand, we braced ourselves for the moment.

And then it happened.

Sixteen years after their split in 2009 – reportedly over a backstage argument in Paris involving a guitar and some unapproved clothing brand promotion – the brothers walked out together. Hand in hand. The 62,000-strong crowd went wild.

“The war is over,” read the teaser post ahead of the show. They weren’t lying.

The setlist delivered hit after hit – from Hello and Supersonic to Roll With It, Slide Away, Live Forever, and that four-track encore: The Masterplan, Don’t Look Back in Anger, Wonderwall, and Champagne Supernova.

Liam joked about ticket prices: “Was it worth the four thousand pounds you paid for a ticket?” And the brothers, visibly moved, thanked the crowd: “Thanks for bearing with us.”

During Live Forever, a tribute to late footballer Diogo Jota brought a moment of quiet reflection. But mostly, the gig was pure, unfiltered chaos – in the best way.

I even met two fans next to me who’d flown in from Denmark just to be there. This wasn’t just the start of the Oasis Live ’25 tour, it was the closing of a chapter fans have waited more than a decade to finish.

The band will go on to play 41 shows worldwide, including stops in LA, Tokyo and São Paulo. But Cardiff was the beginning – and for those of us who made the pilgrimage from the South West, it was worth every mile.