Liam Gallagher closed Reading Festival tonight – here’s a recap of what went down during his highly-anticipated performance.
- READ MORE: Reading & Leeds 2024 liveblog: all the action as it happens
Gallagher’s set came in the midst of growing Oasis reunion rumours — spurred by the frontman himself on Twitter/X in the leadup to him taking the main stage.
So, by the time his set started, fans had already spent the day anticipating a potential appearance from Noel Gallagher — one that would mark the end of their two-decade public rift and see a return of Oasis.
That’s not quite what happened, but the set seemed to confirm that an end to the band’s infamous hiatus is approaching.
Gallagher played Oasis‘ debut studio album in full tonight ahead of its 30th-anniversary reissue dropping on August 30. And, in honour of the occasion, he took a moment to shout out his brother.
Before launching into ‘Half The World Away’, he told the crowd: “I wanna dedicate this song to Noel fucking Gallagher.”
“I wanna dedicate this song to Noel fucking Gallagher”
Lovely stuff. pic.twitter.com/tInvMXWFla
— Andrew Trendell (@AndrewTrendell) August 25, 2024
Other dedications included handing ‘Digsy’s Dinner’ to “all the vegetarians” and prefacing ‘D’Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman?’ with “who’s still sniffing glue in Reading? This one’s for all the space cadets”.
Gallagher also teased a mysterious date on his screens towards the end of his set, with some news allegedly dropping at 8am on ‘27.08.24’. The same image cropped up in Manchester following Blossoms‘ homecoming gig in the city, and on Noel’s, Liam’s and Oasis’s official Twitter/X after the set.
— Noel Gallagher (@NoelGallagher) August 25, 2024
Oasis!? Video teaser for the long awaited reunion appears straight just after Blossoms finished their homecoming gig at #livefromwythenshawepark @MENnewsdesk @CityLifeManc #oasisreunion pic.twitter.com/JuCdTla69s
— Aidan McCartney (@aidanmccartney) August 25, 2024
When not fuelling Oasis-reunion speculation, Gallagher took a moment to acknowledge those in the crowd at Reading for the rite-of-passage celebration of their exam results, altering the lyrics of ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ to include the line: “It doesn’t matter how many fucking GCSEs you’ve got.”
It’s a sentiment he continued to the end, admitting he had pre-conceptions about the audience before taking to the stage. “They all fucking think they’re clever clogs, too cool for school and shit like that. ‘I’m gonna be a doctor on Monday, fuck Liam G and all that bollocks, his Rock and Roll nonsense’,” he said. “Well, you actually turned out nice like good kids.”
And, with that, he departed with a cover of The Beatles‘ ‘I Am the Walrus’, closing Reading for another year while, perhaps, opening the door to a new era for Oasis.
Check out the full setlist below.
Liam Gallagher’s Reading Festival 2024 setlist was:
‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’
‘Columbia’
‘Shakermaker’
‘Up in the Sky’
‘Digsy’s Dinner’
‘Bring It On Down’
‘Half the World Away’
‘D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?’
‘Fade Away’
‘(It’s Good) To Be Free’
‘Whatever’
‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’
‘Married With Children’
‘Supersonic’
‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’
‘I Am the Walrus’
