Inside the Oasis Comeback Rehearsals
On 4 July last year, Oasis arrived at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff to start a world tour. It was the first time the band had performed in 16 years, following a collapse that began with a guitar swing in a Paris venue. Some 74,500 fans waited in the arena while Noel Gallagher paced the loading bay. Liam Gallagher was absent from the site until 20 minutes before the opening song.
Director Will Lovelace watched the monitor as the singer finally appeared. The camera feed cut out, but when it returned, the brothers were talking. They walked onto the stage together to a massive reaction. Noel later described his shock at seeing Liam skip final rehearsals only to arrive and perform with the energy of a man 30 years younger. The moment became a central scene in the documentary Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger.
Filming in Secret
Directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern signed on for the project under strict secrecy. They recruited Steven Knight to write the narrative framework. The team faced a major challenge in capturing rehearsals, as the band members had never permitted cameras in that space before. The solution involved hiding equipment within the sound gear. For six weeks, the crew operated from a shed outside the studio in high temperatures, remaining invisible to the brothers while they worked through a catalog of songs they had not played in over a decade.
Southern and Lovelace moved away from standard concert film tropes. They hired cinematographers known for feature film work, including Haris Zambarloukos and Lol Crawley, to handle the cameras. This approach allowed the production to capture specific moments of tension during the daily two-hour sessions. Liam would arrive, work, and leave promptly, often without extended conversation. The friction eventually gave way to a shift in their dynamic as the tour progressed.
The Healing Power of Music
Oasis Live 25 encompassed 41 shows across 14 countries. More than two million people attended the events. The filmmakers focused on the emotional response of the audience as much as the performance of the band. Footage includes a South Korean free diver who used the music to cope with depression and a survivor of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing who found a sense of closure through the lyrics of the band.
One scene captures the band learning of the death of Stone Roses bassist Gary “Mani” Mounfield while on tour in Sao Paulo. Liam dedicated a song to Mounfield during the performance while Noel stared at the screen above the stage. The film uses these moments to trace the slow thawing of the relationship between the brothers. They eventually participate in a joint interview, marking their first such appearance in two decades. Noel notes that the petty annoyances of the past have vanished, replaced by a communication rhythm that did not exist before the tour.
The broader significance of this reunion lies in the public nature of their reconciliation. The brothers healed a long-standing personal fracture on stages across the world. They reached a point where forgiveness arrived without a specific statement or script. Fans and observers see a clear evolution in how the brothers treat one another today. The project shows how a band functions when the internal pressure of a feud finally breaks.