Oasis guitarist Gem Archer has spoken about playing with Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs on the band’s huge reunion tour this year.
- READ MORE.: Oasis live in Cardiff: a supersonic reunion for a new generation
In an interview with Guitar World, Archer reflected on playing the giant Oasis reunion tour – which wrapped up in São Paulo, Brazil on November 23 – alongside Bonehead, who left the band back in 1999 before Archer joined.
“I’ve met him many times over the years and always thought he was a great guy,” Archer said of reuniting with him in rehearsals. “My wife used to be really close with him, so I just thought, ‘Alright, perfect!’ And now I know him so much better – it’s almost like I know him like a brother.
“I joined in ’99, but with how things played out, I wasn’t replacing him; it was just taking a different turn. Obviously, Oasis needed two guitars, but it certainly wasn’t like Noel said, ‘You’ve gotta play barre chords and that’s it.’ It was completely open when I joined.”
He went on to say: “So it wasn’t replacing Bonehead because it was different. Now, playing with him, it’s like he’s the bedrock – he’s the glue that makes everything else sound great. He’s overlooked as a rhythm guitarist in a way ’cause he has this feel.”
Reflecting on Bonehead’s playing style, Archer added: “It’s like he’s playing acoustic with a really gainy electric sound. He just has his own way. Whereas some of us, if we put that guitar through those amps, you wouldn’t play with the kind of freedom he does.”
Archer went on to talk about the decision to have three guitarists on stage, saying: “It really did open up; it opened everything up. During our first get-together Noel said, ‘Have you ever been in a band with three guitars?’ I’m like, ‘Are you kidding?’ He said, ‘We’ll let Bonehead do Bonehead, and we’ll fit around it’.”
He added: “And you’re not trying to capture every nuance anyway. You don’t want to get in the way of the songs. Like on ‘Cast No Shadow’ I’m playing slide guitar. In the past, there never would have been any space to do that.”
When the tour ended, Bonehead, who joined back up with Oasis for their South American dates after taking a break from their tour to continue his cancer treatment, reflected on 2025 as “the best year of my life”.
He was given the all-clear from tonsil cancer back in 2022, but shared at the start of October that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year, and would sit out of Oasis’ Asia and Australia shows so he could have “the next phase of care”.
During those shows, the band performed with an honorary cut-out of Bonehead. In his absence, Mike Moore from Liam’s solo band filled in.
In July, Noel revealed that Bonehead was the one responsible for the Oasis reunion tour. He said on stage during their second show in Cardiff, when introducing the rest of the band between songs, “On guitar, if it wasn’t for him, none of this would have happened.”
Elsewhere in his interview, Archer revealed that the reunion tour setlist was originally four songs longer, reflected what it was like to see Noel and Liam Gallagher together again at rehearsals and hinted that the Britpop legends may continue to tour very soon.
His comments came days after Liam ruled out any 2026 tour dates – but did suggest something may be in the works for 2027.
Denying that Oasis may potentially return to Knebworth, the frontman took to X/Twitter to joke: “I don’t [have] snizzle to do until 2027 I mean happy Christmas.”
Liam has previously implied that more live dates could be on the way on Twitter. When asked if he was feeling “sad that the tour is ending soon”, Liam cheekily wrote back: “I’m not actually as I know things you don’t know”.
Then, at the last Wembley show of their comeback run in September, he once again added more fuel to rumours of future Oasis gigs when he told fans “See you next year”, before jokingly slapping himself on the wrist for letting it slip.
Rumours for Oasis’ next live tour include a potential return to Knebworth, a homecoming residency at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, and more dates at London’s Wembley Stadium. A British peer in the House of Lords also appeared to accidentally reveal that Oasis would play Knebworth next summer recently, before backtracking on the comments.
NME gave the band’s tour kickoff in Cardiff on July 4 a glowing five-star review, with Andrew Trendell writing: “Lord knows we needed a taste of that halcyon ‘90s hope and abandon in 2025 – especially for the raving and craving Gen-Zers. The world is a rotting shitty bin-fire and tomorrow never knows, but tonight, you’re a rock’n’roll star.”
In other news, Oasis’ video director has revealed that the Live ’25 reunion tour had been in pre-production for 14 months, saying there were “lots of well-kept secrets”.
A new film documenting Oasis’ massive return and comeback tour is also in the works, produced by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. According to reports, the forthcoming project will feature some “phenomenal” footage of Liam and Noel’s first meeting ahead of the shows.
