Getting their act together and taking it back on the road

Here’s hoping the brothers can let the great, collective love for their songs override the dramas that have kept them apart.

Liam and Noel Gallagher pictured at the Q Magazine music awards in London in 1996. Picture: Alamy

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Hope springs eternal in pop music. We hear songs in our youth, carry them with us through our lives, and hope that if we get a chance to hear those songs performed live by the artists who wrote and recorded them, they’re as good as they sound in our memories.

News of the Gallagher brothers reconciling their considerable differences to reform their band, Oasis, after 15 years apart has produced a global chorus of approval among rock ’n’ roll fans, particularly those who never got to see Noel and Liam – now 57 and 51, respectively – sharing the same stage.

Both have toured Australia in recent years under their solo guises, and at these shows both were wise enough to play a handful of Oasis favourites amid lesser-known fare from their own discographies.

Though the brothers are reliably strong solo performers backed by suitably accomplished musicians, the top note heard at any of these shows has always been a hum of impatience from the front row to the back: this is good, you think to yourself – but wouldn’t it be great to see Oasis playing Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back in Anger or Champagne Supernova rather than these workmanlike facsimiles?

Next year the band’s large global fan base – sitting at about 22 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone – will have those wishes fulfilled, when Noel, Liam and an as-yet-unannounced group of musicians will walk on to the same stage and metaphorically unfurl their shared flag for the first time since 2009.

Only British and Irish dates have been slated so far, though it’s a fair bet that behind the scenes the band’s booking agent has been fielding hefty offers from global promoters seeking to lock in many, many other stadium-sized concerts, no doubt including here in Australia.

The siblings have waited long enough between gigs to ensure that the pent-up demand will be considerable; perhaps not quite on par with the clamour for tickets to Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras tour but not far off, particularly for Gen-X rockers who grew up with these songs tattooed into their adolescence and beyond.

Wafting through the entire enterprise is the unmistakeable scent of hope. We hope it’ll be as good as those famous songs sound in our memories. We hope it’ll be as good as when the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin reformed in 2007 to reprise some of their best songs at London’s O2 Arena – if not better.

But, unlike Zeppelin, Oasis isn’t re-forming for one night only; the band is taking this show on the road.

And considering that the last time this show ended was on the road, in 2009, here’s one more hope: that the Gallagher brothers – now older and wiser – can let the great, collective love for their songs override any of the interpersonal dramas that have kept them estranged for so long.