THE GUNS HAVE FALLEN SILENT; MANCHESTER REJOICES!
It's a Tuesday morning in Manchester. An otherwise unassuming, typical rainy day where people weave between religious soapbox orators, yellow trams, and huge carts selling everything from Union Jack-branded bucket hats to bootleg Spiderman plushies, as they make their way through the city centre.
Except it's not just a regular Manchester morning. For a mere few hours earlier, the city's musical pride and glory officially announced the end to a 15-year mard. You could FEEL the buzz the armistice created amongst the city. Every café and store I went into celebrated the news by hijacking the AUX with songs like "Morning Glory," "Live Forever," and "Don’t Look Back in Anger." The atmosphere was just palpable! It's what I imagine the people of Jerusalem felt when they saw that Jesus figured a way out of his tomb and had resurrected himself. Hallelujah!
It's surprising I didn't find a town crier in Piccadilly Gardens screaming the news; "HEAR YE, HEAR YE... THE WAR IS OVER. THE GUNS HAVE FALLEN SILENT. THE STARS HAVE ALIGNED. THE GREAT WAIT IS OVER. COME SEE. IT WILL NOT BE TELEVISED." Except that bit really was announced to the public. Not through a town crier, but rather through an Instagram post attached to a black and white photo of two men standing side by side (though we still can’t quite believe it's not photoshopped).
Of course, I am talking about the seemingly sudden reunion of brother’s Liam and Noel Gallagher, better known as Oasis.
In what was probably the most notorious public feud of a band since Fleetwood Mac made their coke-fueled-orgie-fueled-post-divorce album Rumours, the topic of a reunion has seemed completely off the cards for even the most believing of adoring fans.
To be honest, it's hard to pinpoint where the fighting even begins and the Gallaghers end. And yes, I say Gallaghers, because even the offspring of both Liam and Noel have in the past taken to Twitter to air their grievances about their cousin.
( Variety has a deep dive on the brothers best fights, aptly named "Oasis at War: Liam and Noel Gallagher’s 10 Biggest Fights." )
The final straw on the Mancunian horse's back, though, was placed in 2009, following a spectacular brawl that happened backstage at the French festival Rock en Seine. It's reported that both security and medics were called when Liam "wielded Noel's guitar like an axe" and smashed it to pieces, thus also smashing the fabric of Oasis and beginning a 16-year-long sibling rivalry that has only since been matched by Prince Harry writing an entire book about how much he hated his brother Prince William. Wah.
It was rock's biggest will-they-won't-they cock tease, and the answer is yes. For now.
The brothers have promised to put down their swords long enough to perform at least 14 shows across the UK and Ireland in summer 2025. Let's just walk on eggshells, and hope to get tickets to the first show in case this grenade goes off again prematurely.
For now, let's look at my personal favourite Liam Gallagher tweets from over the years.
As you were.
