Oasis08.25.25
Toronto, ON
The turmoil surrounding Oasis has been well-documented, with their last tour fifteen years ago seeing Noel pull the plug on the band before a show in Paris. A tour with a Toronto stop that saw a fan jump on stage to attack Noel. Not to mention, a stop in my hometown Ottawa of all places. Different times I suppose. Of course, being a ten year old kid, I had no idea what was going on.
The curtains had been drawn on the band ever since. That is, until last summer, when rumours began circulating that a reunion was in the works. So, it truly is insane to even be writing this, but, whatever the circumstances are that brought about this reunion, I had the opportunity to see Oasis live in concert at the new Rogers Stadium in Toronto. Fifteen years in the making, enough time to see me grow up, and perhaps the Gallagher brothers did a bit of growing up themselves.
As is the case with a lot of these large scale tours, when you live in Vancouver, you just have to watch from the sidelines as these announcements are made for more connected cities. A boatload of dates were announced for the UK, and eventually a few stops for North America, but limited to Toronto, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Mexico City. It definitely meant travel was in order if I wanted to see them.
I didn't give it much thought until later this year, after listening to their discography on repeat for months, I realized I really wanted to be there. So, I bought a resale ticket off of StubHub for the second night in Toronto. By the time I bought the ticket, in late July, my plans to move out of Vancouver had already started taking place, so I kinda took solace in the fact that this would be my last long haul trek to Toronto for a show, knowing Toronto would be my backyard soon enough. It's been exhausting, mentally and physically, trying to be present for these important moments that Vancouver lacks — like Kendrick Lamar and SZA back in June. But one more wouldn't break my back.
Given the chaos of my Kendrick/SZA trek, I decided take it easier on myself for this one. I flew in the night before the show, instead of a red eye the same day, and stayed at the Quality Inn near YYZ for two nights. A budget hotel, without an elevator, but better than crashing at a hostel. Perhaps I am getting old thinking like that. I was also hauling along a suitcase of belongings I wanted to drop off in Ottawa before returning to Vancouver.
The airport shuttle from the airport to the hotel was pretty hard to spot, since they were using a poorly labelled replacement van, but I eventually caught it, made it to the hotel, and settled in for the night. Ordered some Popeyes chicken and called it a night, knowing I had a big day ahead of me.
I woke up pretty early the next morning, knowing I wanted to catch the hotel breakfast before heading to the Oasis popup shop on Queen Street West. There wasn't too much of a line at the popup, though it was probably less chaotic than it was on the weekend, given this was a Monday. I was in the doors by 9:30am, and while most people were going nuts for the Adidas merch, I knew they would have Toronto specific Adidas gear available at the show, so for the popup I focused on some other novelties, picking up a water bottle, mug, and packing tape. Yeah, packing tape. Thought it was pretty funny.
From there, I headed to the venue to scout out merch, knowing they were selling it onsite starting at noon. I got there around 11:30am, getting off at Downsview Park station, which was evidently the wrong stop. I wandered into the area, which is a pretty desolate former airport turned park. Luckily, I was spotted by a grounds crew member who picked me up on his golf cart and drove me to the proper entrance. Big shoutout to Johnny — that's some good old Ontario hospitality right there. The fans in line around me were quite friendly. Such a stark contrast to the usual Vancouver concert scene. Once in, I lined up and managed to get a poster and an Adidas long sleeve. Sizes were limited, and I didn't get my first choice, being the short sleeve soccer jersey, but I'm still pleased with my haul.
I brought my merch back to the hotel, took a fat nap, ate up my Popeyes leftovers, and headed back to the venue. I got there with ample time to check out the grounds, which actually feels like it would be great for a festival. Tons of open space and food trucks before you enter the stadium. If Toronto could ever get an Osheaga comparable festival, I think it could work well here, especially being decently connected by public transit.
Security had me stash my water bottle outside the stadium entrance — I argued a bit, having thought the stadium guidelines permitted reusable plastic water bottles, but luckily it was still there waiting for me after the show. Once in, I parked myself in the middle of the back GA section. Decent view of everything. Cage the Elephant had the honour of opening the show. I know of them, but I'm not an active listener. But they had decent energy.
As they wrapped up, it became clear just how huge this GA section was. While as far as I know this was a sold out show, there was tons of room to move around at the back, and while I wasn't right at the back, I had quite a bit of personal space, which was nice. Oasis came out guns blazing with "Hello", followed by "Aquiesce" and "Morning Glory". The crowd energy was pretty high, a typical millennial crowd, many likely a few pints in. I felt younger here than I did at Deftones just a few days ago, even if both bands broke out in the 90s.
Of course, Oasis' sound lends itself perfectly to stadium settings. Liam was in fine form, with his typical snarl and swagger behind the mic, "Cigarettes & Alcohol" and "Supersonic" being the highlights of the first section to me. Yeah, Definitely Maybe is my favourite album of theirs. He took a moment to dedicate " Bring It On Down" to "them proper drug-takers, the glue-sniffers". He is honestly quite the comedian.
Of course, Noel was around too, but not quite front and centre, until the set paused for an acoustic set fronted by Noel. "Half The World Away" honestly speaks to me a lot... just those lyrics "I would like to leave this city, this old town don't smell too pretty"... you can probably guess why it hits.
Liam reappeared for a couple of Be Here Now hits, "D'You Know What I Mean" and "Stand By Me". This is when the show really picked up, as they launched into my personal favourite, "Slide Away", then "Whatever" extended by a rendition of The Beatles' "Octopus's Garden", then into "Live Forever". Now, "Live Forever" is probably the quintessential Oasis song, one that has been heralded by Liam as their best song. This stretch was easily the peak of the show for me. Just absolutely fantastic tracks, belted out word for word by a crowd of 50,000, with the band obviously feeling it.
The encore kicked off with "The Masterplan", before going into their big three hits from (What's The Story) Morning Glory?: "Wonderwall", "Don't Look Back In Anger", and "Champagne Supernova". I'm sure they are tired of playing the former two endlessly over the years, but you have to play them. Fireworks erupted above the stage as "Champagne Supernova" brought the night to a brain melting end.
Sometimes it feels like these shows where I am traveling across the country feel more monumental, perhaps even more memorable, than if they were in my backyard. But it's the entire experience that was curated here that made it feel like a once in a lifetime experience, even if they do plan to tour again, from the popup shop, to the temporary beast that is Rogers Stadium, to the truly authentic performance from the band itself. If we ever get another reunion tour from another act in my lifetime... Daft Punk, please... I will be there.
