Nobody who caught Oasis’ set at the V Festival in Staffordshire, England, on August 22nd, 2009, knew they were watching a band just hours away from complete implosion. The group had been on the road for a year at that point, supporting their new album Dig Out Your Soul, and had a mere four gigs to go before it wrapped up. They took the stage at the end of the evening following sets by James, Elbow, and Snow Patrol and performed a 19-song set heavy on classics like “Wonderwall,” “Supersonic” and “Champagne Supernova.” It wrapped up with “I Am The Walrus,” which had been a part of their live repertoire since their earliest days.
The first sign of trouble came the next night when they canceled the second night of the V Festival due to “Laryngitis,” but rumors were swirling that the group was once again in a state of disarray. Noel Gallagher later claimed Liam simply didn’t show up to the show due to a hangover, but the following weekend, he arrived at the Rock en Seine Festival in Paris ready to play. Someone made the mistake of putting the band in a tiny dressing room, and soon enough, tempers were flaring.
According to Noel’s account in 2011, Liam was furious over the bad press he’d gotten over canceling the last show. “He thinks I’m some sort of fucking puppet master who controls the media in England,” Noel said. “So we get to Paris, and he’s reeling off journalist’s names. It’s all manner of people I have never met, ‘You fucking tell Johnny Bowles Mustache I want to kick his fucking head in.’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know what you’re going on about.’”
Liam then threw a plum against the wall, stormed out, and came back with a guitar in his hands. “He started wielding it like an axe, and I’m not fucking kidding,” said Noel. “And I’m making light of it because it’s kind of what I do, but it was a real unnecessary violent act, and he’s swinging this guitar around, he nearly took my face off with it. I was like, ‘You know what? I’m fucking out of here.’ And at that point, someone came in and said, ‘Five minutes!’ I kind of got in the car, and I sat there for five minutes, and I just said, ‘Fuck it, I can’t do it anymore.’”
Oasis didn’t perform that night. Hours later, Noel released a statement. “It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit tonight,” he wrote. “People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer. Apologies to all the people who bought tickets for the shows in Paris, Konstanz and Milan.” Better footage of their final encore the previous week of “I Am The Walrus” may be out there somewhere, but the only thing available now is this shoddy audience video. The audio is decent, at least.
Up until a couple of days ago, it felt like this was the final chapter of the Oasis saga. But word came out in the UK press over the weekend that a European tour was on the books for 2025. There hasn’t been an official announcement yet, but they teased an August 27th morning announcement on their socials. This could all be a big uproar over nothing, but the odds seem very high that Oasis have done the impossible and reunited. We’ll know very soon whether or not it’s real.
