Oasis reunion: Is this the perfect setlist?

Posted On July 4, 2025July 4, 2025

It’s here, the moment that seemed unimaginable a year ago. The moment that, on August 27th, 2024, upon its announcement, seemed unbelievable. The moment that is just 24 hours away from reality seems fragile and surreal. Against all odds and in the spirit of transparent capitalism, Oasis are back and ready to blow the roof off Cardiff’s Principality stadium. 

A generation lucky enough to live and breathe the liberation of Britain’s 1990s have had their spirit reignited. At the same time, a newly informed cohort of Oasis fans have been given an opportunity to right the wrongs of the music gods, and get one up on their parents who told them music will never be as good as it was. These gigs, if done right, have a chance to be the great uniter in a truly divided society. Keep your pints in your hands, don’t use ‘Rock and Roll Star’ as a chance to fight in the mosh, and instead grab the person next to you, regardless of their age and sing to your heart’s content. 

Because there is simply no one who will attend these gigs without the knowledge of their lyrics safely stored in their memory, be it from the rebellious days of Definitely Maybe or the desperately chorus-led sound of their final albums, there is one song for everyone, one song that has a heightened meaning above the rest. Of course, the Gallagher boys know this, and there’s very little likelihood they’re going to rob paying fans of a hit for a more obscure B-side. It’s set to be two hours of all-killer-no-filler that, when the house lights turn on, will leave you voiceless.

It’s safe to say that the crowd will be unanimously grateful for any song from the band’s first two albums. There is arguably no better two-punch knockout than their release of Definitely Maybe and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?. It was Noel at his anthemic best and Liam at his most enigmatic. For that spell, there was simply no better frontman on the planet. And even now, as he’s turned half a century, the sight of Liam leaning into the energy of those first two albums will deliver chaos amongst the crowds. 

While their later albums failed to hit the same artistic mark as those two introductory giants, there were nuggets of individual brilliance that any band worth their salt would have been proud of. ‘Gas Panic’ remains one of their best songs, while ‘Fade In-Out’ is a beacon of light in an album Noel Gallagher deems a coke-addled mess. 

Those two songs, like many others, have faded into obscurity as the discourse of those records has spiralled into criticism and are sadly never likely to be seen on the set. But for consolation, neither will some of the B-sides from their emphatic debut days. ‘Headshrinker’ and ‘Rockin’ Chair’ are anthems in their own right, yet lived under the large shadow of their biggest anthems and have wrongfully slipped the attention of Oasis’ mass audiences.

The point is that regardless of the time allowed during this comeback tour, the set is going to be jam-packed with monster hits, relegating some of their most iconic moments to the substitute bench. Because the best sets ebb and flow through fans’ emotional states, the foot simply can’t be pressed to the floor the entire time, no matter how much the Oasis discography tries to force it. 

But in drafting my setlist, I learned how unavoidably difficult that is. Whatever direction the Gallagher brothers turn this summer, it’s going to be all-out chaos. Even when I curated the setlist to slowly turn down into their more delicate ballads, I did so with the ringing chorus of screaming fans in my head. 

How they step foot on stage is key. Undoubtedly chaotic and definitely euphoric, the sound of that opening note will most likely be drowned out. Nevertheless, it’s the moment fans have been waiting for 15 years. And while ‘Acquiesce’ is the song universally accepted as the opener, why don’t the boys wet the appetite for a few minutes before the vocals and rip into ‘Fuckin’ In The Bushes’ – a song that since its release in 2000, has never inspired anything but energy and motivation in its listeners. 

The set will likely last longer than 20 songs, but I drew the line here. Because if I had it my way and most paying fans had it theirs, the setlist would bleed long into the summer night and continue to last until the reality of what has just happened finally sinks in. 

The perfect Oasis setlist:

• ‘Fuckin’ In The Bushes’
• ‘Acquiesce’
• ‘Morning Glory’
• ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’
• ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’
• ‘Columbia’
• ‘She’s Electric’
• ‘Talk Tonight’
• ‘Half The World Away’
• ‘Cast No Shadow’
• ‘Whatever’
• ‘Roll With It’
• ‘Some Might Say’
• ‘Supersonic’
• ‘Slide Away’
• ‘Live Forever’
• ‘The Masterplan’
• ENCORE
• ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’
• ‘Wonderwall’
• ‘Champagne Supernova’

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