‘Oasis at Croke Park was everything Irish fans could’ve wished for’

The Oasis Live 25 comeback tour came to Croke Park this weekend

The 16th gig of the Oasis Live 25 comeback tour was arguably the loudest and most festive concert in Irish live music history.

The last, and only previous, time Noel Gallagher graced Croke Park, he performed to a half-empty stadium, singing five songs that featured in tonight’s Oasis setlist.

That was over eight years ago, in July 2017, when he was supporting U2 on their sold-out 30th anniversary celebration tour of The Joshua Tree album.

READ MORE: Oasis in Croke Park: Pictures from night one of band’s return to IrelandREAD MORE: Oasis pay tribute to Irish roots in sell-out Dublin reunion gig

Tonight, Noel and his younger brother Liam – making his Croker debut – were the main attraction for the 80,000-strong capacity crowd. By the time the second support act Richard Ashcroft took to the stage at 7pm, the stadium was nearly full and the party atmosphere was electric.

The jubilant scenes and universal praise from the 15 previous Oasis Live 25 triumphs at Cardiff, Manchester and London perhaps heightened the sense of eager anticipation for the two Croke Park shows. The city has been buzzing all week and I’ve never had so many people enquire if I knew where they could get tickets, reports the Irish Mirror.

Ashcroft wowed the enthusiastic Irish audience and the singalongs for his best-known tunes suggested the raucous carnival atmosphere inside the Dublin stadium might just eclipse all of the UK dates and then some.

And that’s because no supporters in the world are more deafening than Irish fans, who tonight, like Oasis, were in scorching form, lapping up the solid gold set of back-to-back glorious anthems.

A thunderous applause greeted the siblings as they took to the stage, kicking off with a powerful trio of Hello, Acquiesce and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory. The pitch was awash with a sea of excited fans, creating an enormous mosh pit.

Liam fervently shook his tambourine, delivering each lyric as if his life hung in the balance; his voice sounded stronger than ever, particularly during the monumental Rock ‘n Roll Star and Slide Away.

The band were incredibly cohesive, held together by the steady rhythm guitar of founding member Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs. Noel appeared not only calm and confident but seemed to be genuinely enjoying every moment.

Noel’s solo performances, which began with the tempo-shifting Talk Tonight, were the emotional core of an extraordinary show. Hearing over 80,000 people nearly overpower him by singing along to every word of Half The World Away was overwhelming.

It’s worth noting that this song was originally released as a bonus track on 1994’s standalone single Whatever.

Noel then ramped things up with Little By Little before Liam returned to the stage for another stirring set of favourites, starting with D’You Know What I Mean?

and Stand By Me and culminating in phenomenal renditions of the epic Live Forever and the electrifying Rock N Roll Star.

At this juncture, it was already a top-notch performance, even without the subsequent encore of The Masterplan and crowd favourites Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back in Anger and Champagne Supernova. The latter is the kind of song that stadium-sized concerts like this were made for.

It’s astounding that all but three of the 23 songs performed at Croke Park were released in an 18-month golden era between April 1994 and October 1995, with quite a few of them being mere b-sides.

This was a splendid event, everything Irish fans could have hoped for, with a little bit extra added on top. The sight and sound of multitudes of fans too young to have ever seen Oasis in concert before, punching their arms and singing their hearts out in unison with 90s veterans like myself, was quite the shared experience to witness.

The band was loud, but the Irish crowd were even louder, and Sunday night’s party-goers will need to step up their game to surpass this.

Will there be more shows following this tour?

It would seem foolish not to seize the moment and organise a couple of Slane Castle shows in 2026, along with at least two massive Knebworth performances. Based on tonight’s evidence, I sincerely hope so.

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