Oasis begin two night Croke Park run with sobriety focus

Liam Gallagher references sobriety as Oasis begin two nights at Dublin’s Croke Park.

Oasis start Croke Park run with sobriety note

Oasis opened a two night stand at Dublin’s Croke Park, their first visit to the city since 2008. The shows are part of the Live 25 tour, following stops in Cardiff, Heaton Park, Wembley and Murrayfield. The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft returned as the supporting act, adding cross generation appeal to the evening. The band kicked off with Hello and rolled through a familiar sequence that includes Acquiesce and Morning Glory. Liam Gallagher wore a green Kangol cap while Noel wore a white shirt. Before Some Might Say, Liam said, I think I’m a Croke Park virgin! We haven’t played here before, have we? All I do know this is the soberest I’ve been in Ireland since I was about four or five.

More than 160,000 tickets were sold for the two Dublin nights, underscoring the hunger for a reunion that has lingered since 2008. The crowd sang along, clapped and waved as the 1990s anthems filled the arena. Liam also noted the energy with a joke about the crowd. Noel Gallagher had previously supported U2 with his High Flying Birds in 2017, a reminder of the Gallagher family’s long history with large scale shows. The performance reinforces how legacy acts blend nostalgia with personal narratives to fill giant venues while managing public expectations.

This comeback is as much about identity as it is about songs. A sober remark from Liam reframes Oasis as a band navigating aging, fame and a charged sibling dynamic under a stadium spotlight. It offers a fresh anchor for fans who have long connected the band to wild myth as much as to music. The choice of Richard Ashcroft as opener widens the show’s appeal across generations and genres, softening the edges of a reunion that some might expect to be purely a roar of nostalgia.

The ticket frenzy shows the power of legacy acts to command attention, but it also raises questions about access and fairness for casual fans. The ongoing interplay between Liam and Noel will shape how this era is remembered. If the next shows maintain this balance of credibility and spectacle, Oasis could convert nostalgia into lasting momentum rather than a single, loud moment in time.

Highlights

The road ahead will test whether nostalgia can translate into sustained momentum for the tour