WHEN Oasis strike the opening chords of their reunion tour tonight, it will be an incredibly emotional moment for me.
Alongside my 16-year-old daughter Amber, younger brother Stephen and tens of thousands of mad-for-it fans, I’ll be singing along to every word at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Oasis fan Vernon Kay at a gig in the 90s[/caption]
Vernon and Noel at Radio 2 in 2023, sharing memories of the Manchester club scene[/caption]
Vernon with wife Tess and daughters Phoebe and Amber[/caption]
I’m buzzing and really can’t wait. It will be the band’s first show since the year of Amber’s birth.
Now a whole new generation of fans will witness first-hand what we’ve been raving about for so long.
The best thing is Amber has found Oasis without me, saying: “You need to listen to this brilliant band.”
I’ll be such a proud dad as we sing all the lyrics together.
I’ve been sending her different bootlegs of their live performances and we’ve already had a practice run, belting out their anthems.
I might have to make a few excuses for Liam’s language, though — I know from personal experience that he has a fruity turn of phrase.
Back in 2009, I was at a Prodigy gig when I bumped into Liam and his then-wife Nicole Appleton. They’d been on holiday and I’d had a couple of lagers and cheekily yelled at him: “Is that fake tan you’re wearing?”
For a minute, I thought he was going to hit me. He shouted: “No, I’m f***ing not you lanky streak of p***.”
I think he then called me lanky bollocks.
But he’s brilliant company.
People ask: “Who would be your top ten dinner party guests?”
Well, Liam would certainly be one of mine. And I think you would want him to be the one who arrives last, with a 24-pack of Guinness, slamming them down on the table.
Everyone would go: “Alright then, let’s have one of them.”
For me — and countless others — today’s show will be a return to the golden days of our youth.
When Supersonic, the first single, hit the charts in April 1994, it had the simplicity of dance music with the excitement of raucous guitars.
I was 21 and me and my friends were blown away. They were just so relatable.
The band dressed like us and had similar attitudes. Growing up in Bolton, my musical journey began with the train to Manchester every Saturday with my mates. We’d visit Piccadilly Records and try to blend in with the trendy kids with baggy jeans.
Then I got into dance music. There were loads of clubs in Manchester including the Hacienda — the best club I’ve ever been to.
Just blown away
We started to notice bill posters all over for this group called Oasis.
We didn’t immediately jump on the band-wagon, but when Oasis exploded in 1994, we totally got it.
Noel used to go to the Hacienda and Oasis rehearsed at the Boardwalk, another club we went to — it was all so familiar.
And then as they grew and grew and grew and grew, we felt like it was OUR band.
It felt like a great movement — a wonderful moment in time.
I think that dance music and the early days of Britpop ran hand in hand. A couple of years earlier, it was all grunge. I went to the 1992 Reading Festival with Nirvana headlining.
It was quite heavy and the look was army boots and baggy jumpers.
Then all of a sudden there seemed to be this ray of sunshine from behind the grunge hills and everyone was wearing Oasis tracksuit tops and Clarks Wallabee shoes.
I had the Liam haircut, but never went for his swaggering walk. I’m sure there’ll be plenty attempting it on the way to the stadium tonight.
Back in the early 1990s, I was living for the weekend and going out — we were all over the different scenes.
In the Nineties, whether you were into dance music, rock and roll — whatever you want to call it — all the genres came together
Vernon Kay
Radio One championed Oasis at the time, especially Jo Whiley and Steve Lamacq, so they were played a lot.
In August 1994, their debut album Definitely Maybe was released and went straight to number one.
As soon as it came out, I was like, “Right, I’m having a bit of this”.
It’s just a brilliant album.
Noel has said that the lyrics and stories on it are all about living on the breadline, but being with your mates and having a great time.
Just sitting in a park on star-filled nights and staring up at the sky. It sounds quite romantic.
Liam and Noel grew up on a council estate. I didn’t, but being from a working-class family I really felt the energy they transmitted.
You could tell Manchester changed immediately when Oasis broke through. They made young people feel free.
Next week, they head back to Manchester where it all began. I’ll be presenting my radio show live from the city as a celebration of the band, with fans sharing Oasis memories.
Adds such a spark
Britpop was a social phenomenon.
The bands — Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Supergrass, Shed 7 — had loads of character with a bit of political anger thrown into the mix. It was just fab.
Perhaps that’s what’s lacking in music today. Britpop was fun.
And I think, in the Nineties, whether you were into dance music, rock and roll — whatever you want to call it — all the genres came together. And that’s why it was so good.
In 2023, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds appeared, accompanied by the strings section of the BBC Concert Orchestra, for my Radio Two show.
Beforehand, we talked for around an hour about the Hacienda days and dance music. Noel is very concise in how he speaks — very similar to his lyrics. He gets straight to the point.
I understand how Noel and Liam fell out. Me and Stephen call each other all sorts, but the last person who speaks will do it with a snigger.
You can say things to your brother that you can’t say to anyone else.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Gallaghers’ relationship is like on stage. That’s the melodrama that adds such a spark to the band.
Forget the ticket sale debacle — this tour is going to be phenomenal.
There’s just going to be so much positivity, all the way through from the opening chords to the encore.
And I’ll be moist-eyed, singing along to every track as my youngest daughter’s generation gets to see the band that changed everything.
GALLAGHER KIDS WELL PLAID!
FOUR of Liam and Noel’s kids got together for a family photoshoot ahead of Oasis’s record-breaking reunion tour.
The new-gen Gallaghers – Liam’s children Molly, 27, Lennon, 25, and Gene, 24, along with Noel’s daughter Anais, 25 – were decked out in Burberry as they posed in style for W Magazine.
New-gen Gallaghers from left to right: Molly, Lennon, Anais and Gene[/caption]
Anais in a Burberry design[/caption]
The Britpop nepo-babies opened up about their lives as part of the formerly feuding brothers’ brood.
The alleged architect of Oasis’s reunion, Noel’s photographer daughter Anais, tells the publication: “My plan is to be at every UK date, and my camera will be with me every step of the way.”
Liam’s sons Lennon and Gene have followed in the musical footsteps of their rock star dad, with the brothers both part of rock bands on top of their fashion duties.
But their fellow model sister Molly revealed she shunned the idea of a music career. “I honestly couldn’t think of anything worse than being on stage in front of an audience”, she told the magazine.
Lennon looks laid back in casual clobber[/caption]
Gene looking dapper in a shirt and tie[/caption]
TAMBO SALES SOAR BY 155%
TAMBOURINES, bucket hats and anoraks are flying off the shelves as fans clamour to mimic their idols.
Sales of the instrument – which Liam Gallagher used on hits Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova – have rocketed by 155 per cent in the past three months, says finance firm Klarna.
Tambourines are flying off the shelves thanks to Liam Gallagher[/caption]
Noel has previously poked fun at his brother, describing “the tambourine player” in the group as “a bit of a loose cannon”.
Elsewhere, diehard followers of Oasis have been snapping up parkas and anoraks in the lead-up to their epic reunion.
In another Nineties throwback, bucket hats are also back in a big way, with purchases jumping by 89 per cent in the past three months.
FREE PINT WITH FLAMING GRILL
AS part of their Summer To Be Shared campaign, and to back the return of Oasis, Flaming Grill pubs are teaming up with some of your favourite drink brands to offer readers a FREE pint or soft drink, at any of 135 pubs, today or tomorrow.
Pub-goers can expect tribute bands, non-stop Oasis tunes, strictly no-Oasis quizzes, and more over the summer. To claim your FREE drink – just take the voucher below to any Flaming Grill pub, which you can locate at greeneking.co.uk/deals/find-a-flaming-grill – today or tomorrow.
HUNDREDS of drones formed Oasis’s logo in lights above Cardiff’s Principality Stadium to mark the reunion.
The gizmos were launched from neighbouring rugby ground, Cardiff Arms Park, and could be seen from several miles away shortly before midnight on Wednesday.
Fan James Fenton, 44, who spotted the display, hailed it “amazing”.
Drones formed Oasis’s logo in lights above Cardiff’s Principality Stadium[/caption]
