How Oasis went from Enmore gigs to selling out Aussie stadiums

Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher is known for his rock n roll antics, so it’s no surprise that’s how he decided which Aussie band would open for them.

Brisbane band Ball Park Music will open for Oasis in Sydney tonight and tomorrow.

When Oasis burst onto the scene in 1994 with their debut album Definitely Maybe - it began what would become known as the Britpop phenomenon of the early 1990s.

It topped the charts in the UK and the heatseekers chart in the US, but Australia was slower to catch the phenomenon.

Definitely Maybe only reached 23 in the Australian charts and none of the album’s singles charted here.

But over the past week, Australia has more than made up for the slow burn the Mancunian brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher had down under.

By tomorrow night, more than 300,000 people will have stopped into one of the three shows in Melbourne and two shows in Sydney.

More than half of those tickets were sold in pre-sales, such was the anticipation for the band’s first trip here since 2005.

Their popularity here is largely due to their second album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, which spent five weeks at No. 1 on the ARIA album charts in early 1996, the album’s fourth single Wonderwall, also topped the charts.

Liam Gallagher and Oasis in concert performing during their Live 25 tour at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.

The brothers in action in Melbourne.

It also helped make Noel and Liam globally notorious for their music, the feud and their unabashed self belief, even calling themselves bigger than The Beatles.

That attitude would come to the fore when the band made their first visit to Australia in 1998 for the Be Here Now tour to support their third album.

Scenes were reminiscent of ‘Beatlemania’, with girls running and screaming through Perth Airport, but it was overshadowed by reports of their bad behaviour getting here.

The pair were banned from flying with Cathay Pacific after passengers complained about them smoking and swearing and generally being a nuisance to which Liam responded “I’d rather f***ing walk”.

The bad boys of pop went on to play across the country in a five day engagement, including the old Sydney Entertainment Centre.

Be Here Now, the album, was also a huge success in Australia. It topped the charts in August 1997, while several of the album’s singles charted in the top 50.

It was their last 90s album, and after that, the band didn’t reach their own previous highs in the early years of the new millennium.

Oasis: Definitely Maybe - the 1994 breakthrough.

Although they had success that many bands would dream of, with songs like Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Songbird, and Little by Little, some might say that Oasis went through a rough period, with guitarist, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, bassist Paul McGuigan, and drummer Alan White all quitting, leaving a massive hole for the last true rock band.

This was also the period where the brothers were in the middle of their devastating rift, where a walkout or public fight on tour was just as common as seeing an Adidas tracksuit at their gig.

As friction in the band continued and their popularity dwindled, so too did the size of the venues they played and the success of their tours here.

In their 2002 and 2005 tours they were playing the Enmore Theatre and Hordern Pavilion rather than the arena dates they had previously booked.

Oasis in 1998 in Sydney.

Noel Gallagher performs in 1998 at Sydney Entertainment Centre.

2005’s Don’t Believe The Truth tour would be the last time they played as a band here for two decades. It was memorable, but not for the right reasons, as reviewers from the night wrote that Liam didn’t sound, or act his best, with one reviewer at the time labelling them “abysmal.”

That was the last time they played in the harbour city, and after their groundbreaking break-up in 2009, nearly everyone thought that would be the last we would ever see them.

But after decades of animosity, last year Liam and Noel announced they would be coming back.

The anticipation was palpable with old fans, and new fans who had been introduced to the band by their streaming algorithm or the lore around the music who ushered in the Britpop phenomenon that swept away their parents, snapped up tickets as fast as they could metaphorically be printed.

Liam Gallagher and Oasis performing live at the Enmore Theatre in 2002.

On this tour they are supported by Brisbane five piece Ball Park Music.

Hand picked by Liam themselves, the band are still pinching themselves not just that they are supporting one of the most enduring bands in the world but that they are getting a taste of what it’s like to be a stadium act.

Unbelievable for a group who grew up in the 90s watching Oasis clips on Rage.

“We were all kids in the 90s when they were at their peak and it was impossible to miss that band, even as children,” Ball Park Music’s Sam Cromack said.

“We used to watch Rage religiously every Saturday morning with our dad. He had a copy of What’s The Story which we absolutely fogged to death. So, that music kind of feels in my blood.”

Now from Rage to the big stage, the group are reaping the rewards of getting noticed by Liam who said on X that he liked their song Manny when asked how they were chosen.

“Having some kind of confirmation that they really must have actually liked, well, at least one song and taken a punt on us,” Cromack said. “We’re extremely grateful and it feels extra cool that it happened in such an authentic and rock and roll way. What beats an artist actually just liking a song and going let’s give these people a shot.”

Brisbane indie rock band Ball Park Music, pictured outside Marvel Stadium in Melbourne ahead of its first show supporting British rock act Oasis on its Australian tour. Back Row: Paul Furness, Dean Hanson, Daniel Hanson. Front Row: Jennifer Boyce, Sam Cromack. Picture: Neil Bennett

Among those who will be in the crowd is Paul Buckley, 32, who, like the Gallaghers, is also from the streets of Manchester, and was born in the midst of Britpop.

The now Sydneysider says the significance of their return is unprecedented.

“I don’t think there is anything similar, it’s in a category of its own, he said”

After seeing them back home as a young boy, he now gets to see them again alongside friends and family who have made the trip from overseas, but this time 17,000 km away from Manchester – a story that resonates with a certain Oasis song.

“When Half the World Away comes on – because that’s where we are – there’s going to be a few tears shed.”

“‘I’ve had goosebumps every time I listen to them since I was a child and it just makes me feel like I’m standing on the streets back in Manchester.”

The anticipation for the shows has also renewed interest in Oasis’ music.

In the past week there’s been more than 150% increase in Oasis catalogue streaming from Australia.

The top three songs being Champagne Supernova, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Wonderwall, and the latter two currently climbing the top 50 charts.

While Australia may have come to Oasis a little later than the rest of the world, there is no doubt that they have boarded the train with fierce enthusiasm now.

Originally published as How Oasis went from Enmore gigs to selling out Aussie stadiums