Oasis in the UAE: A look back at Liam and Noel Gallagher's concerts in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

After much speculation, the Britpop giants have announced their comeback

Liam and Noel Gallagher confirmed Oasis's long-awaited reunion with a worldwide tour next year. Photo: Oasis

It is Tuesday morning glory for Oasis fans, with the British group reforming for a mammoth UK tour next year.

This includes four shows at London’s Wembley Stadium, on July 25 and 26 and August 2 and 3. Other shows include hometown gigs at Manchester's Heaton Park on July 11 and 12 and July 19 and 20.

Tickets go on sale on Saturday at 9am BST (noon UAE time).

The shows cap off the feverish anticipation surrounding the concerts, which has the group – led by the Manchester brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher – performing together again for the first time since Oasis split up after a particularly acrimonious Paris show in 2009. Ever since, the brothers went their separate ways, with both launching individual careers.

Liam wasted no time in founding the short-lived and underperforming band Beady Eye months after the split, featuring Oasis guitarist Gem Archer and bassist Andy Bell. A course correction arrived when the band folded in 2014 and Liam launched a successful solo career that found him playing in stadiums and arenas that Oasis used to headline.

Without Oasis, Noel was able to release more experimental material under the name Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds in 2010. Despite the different sounds, Liam favours the bombastic approach of Oasis while Noel infused more electronics into his work, fans of both brothers agree the high points of respective concerts often arrive when Oasis tracks are played.

It was something UAE fans became accustomed to during solo shows by Liam and Noel over the past 14 years. If the Oasis reunion spells the end of their solo careers, the brothers' UAE concerts provided reminders of their respective talents and confirmation why they are better together.

2011: Liam Gallagher comes to Abu Dhabi with Beady Eye

A new band met a relatively new venue. Everything about Beady Eye’s 2011 debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding is meant to assuage Oasis fans that Liam will rock on for a long time to come.

Their Abu Dhabi show at the Du Forum, launched in 2009 as Yas Island’s sole indoor concert venue, was in the middle of an exhaustive world tour. "It was an important show for Liam and the band because they had something to prove," John Lickrish, former chief executive of concert promoters Flash Entertainment, tells The National.

Indeed, Beady Eye’s show was bullish in not featuring a single Oasis track amid the 16 song set-list. “For Liam and the other members of Oasis, to go alone is a big risk financially, creatively and emotionally, especially when you already experienced the pinnacle of success," Lickrish says. "But what I remember is how Liam was just so excited to be performing again. As a Manchester City fan, he was just buzzing to be in Abu Dhabi and they were all in good form.”

2013: Noel Gallagher comes to Dubai

Since he wrote a majority of the songs, Noel incorporated Oasis songs into his solo performances from the onset. It all made for a solid beachside gig at Atlantis, The Palm in 2013.

Noel came two years after the release of the well-received self-titled album Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. As The National’s review indicated, it was the vastly superior Oasis songs such as Wonderwall, the tour debut of Digsy's Dinner and Don't Look Back in Anger, that stole the show – although fans would have, perhaps, enjoyed hearing more.

“It was a somewhat raucous night, with Oasis fans feeling rather underwhelmed,” it read. “Then again, they should know the often mercurial Gallagher does what he wants.”

2017: Liam Gallagher goes supernova in Dubai

If Beady Eye was a faulty start, Liam Gallagher's debut solo album As You Were achieved a supersonic level of acclaim and salvaged a lost career.

Where the 2011 Abu Dhabi gig was a defiant statement to Oasis fans, his 2017 return to headline Dubai's Party in the Park festival found him comfortable with his past. Half of the 14-song set consisted of Oasis hits, including the killer opening combination of Rock’n’roll Star and Morning Glory. Even the solo tracks, like the swaggering Wall of Glass and tender For What it's Worth, were welcome additions to what was a sterling performance.