For 15 years, Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis didn’t speak to one another.
That would be quite the stretch of time for any pair of siblings that grew up in what can only be described as turbulent environment — their father was an alcoholic who frequently abused his children and wife, physically and otherwise — but it’s an even longer amount of time considering how impactful their musical partnership was. Within just a couple of years, two boys from Manchester, England created one of the most popular British bands since the Beatles. Noel wrote songs that sounded like instant classics, the kind with chords just about any kid with a guitar could play and melodies that were easy to remember. Liam sang them with confidence, attitude and certainty. Neither could do the other’s job.
There were arguably countless things that led to Noel and Liam’s final fight, the one that ended Oasis in 2009, and there were probably just as many that continued to draw people’s attention for years after. Their hostilities toward one another were splashed across tabloid covers and blown up in internet headlines for years, making for one of rock’s most dramatic sagas, a never-ending spiral of sharp words thrown back and forth without either brother ever picking up the phone to say it to the other’s face. It may have been a striking battle, but in many ways, Noel and Liam were acting like any other siblings who can’t see eye to eye. There is sometimes no other way to explain it: brothers fight.
The difference, of course, was that Noel and Liam had made something bigger than themselves along the way, something that spoke to people of all ages, backgrounds and creeds. And this, it seems clear from the new documentary Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger, was the thing that gnawed at both brothers. Noel uses the word “narrative” multiple times through the film, referencing again and again that Oasis’ story was never meant to be about the arguments, but about the power of music in everyday peoples’ lives. After 15 years, that needed to be made clear.
When Oasis reunited for a global tour in 2025, fans were more than ready, and their emotional connection to the band’s music is heavily documented in the film, directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace. Tears, hugs, laughter, singalongs and everything in between, often exhibited by younger fans who weren’t even alive when Oasis began their monumental ascent to fame.
“We’re part of it,” Liam says in the film, “but it belongs to us all.”
Not all fractured relationships later heal, but the ones that do, do so in small, sometimes hardly perceptible increments. In the case of the Gallaghers, it looks like a knowing glance across the room, a fist bump before the show begins, a head thrown back in laughter after a cheeky joke. Forgiveness, in other words, is a series of small acts, done without fanfare.
“It was all forgiven without saying a word,” Noel says, who is shown several times in the film visibly emotional and clearly moved by the way the world welcomed his band back with open arms.
Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger, will arrive on streaming later this year on Hulu and Disney+. In the meantime, this writer went to see the film in IMAX. Here’s 10 things we learned.
1. There Were Just Six Weeks of Rehearsals
Six weeks is a long time, and yet it’s also barely any time at all. In the very beginning of the film, Noel and his former Oasis bandmates, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs (guitar), Gem Archer (guitar), Andy Bell (bass), plus a few other musicians hired for the tour, are shown in a rehearsal space we’re told they used for six weeks. At one point Noel notes how ansty he is to leave rehearsals and play a proper show “or at least a soundcheck.” Still, we couldn’t help but think how short six weeks sounds when you haven’t spoken to your primary collaborator in 15 years.
2. Security Was Warned Before the First Show
The first show of the 2025 Oasis tour took place in Cardiff, and there is footage of the venue’s security team being briefed beforehand. Fans will “exhibit a herd mentality…similar to a football crowd.” Remarkably, that out to be asn understatement.
Listen to Oasis Play ‘Slide Away’ at their Tour Opener in Cardiff
3. Noel Struggled at First
One look at Noel’s face as he stands on stage on the first night of the tour and it’s clear that he’s utterly overwhelmed. After six weeks of rehearsing the set list, there was still no way to rehearse for those first moments facing a crowd of nearly 75,000 people. There is, frankly, terror written across Noel’s face, and in the film, he confesses he would have liked to have called a timeout then, to head back to the dressing room and regroup. “The first 40 minutes went by and I didn’t even know where the f—k I was,” he says.
4. Both Noel and Bonehead Were Moved to Tears Before the First Show in Ireland
Something you might not know about the Gallagher brothers: they’re Irish in every way apart from geography. Though born and raised in Manchester, their parents both came from Ireland and that heritage has long remained an important part of their identity. Just before Oasis took the stage in Dublin on their tour, the crowd loudly sang along to the Irish folk song, “The Auld Triangle.” As Noel admits in the film, it brought him and Bonehead (also the son of Irish Catholic parents) to tears at the time.
Listen to Oasis Perform ‘Wonderwall’ in Dublin
5. What Noel Really Thought of Liam’s Tambourine Balancing Act
If you’re familiar with the 2025 tour, then you know that at a certain point, Liam began balancing his tambourine on his head as a sort of celestial crown. “If I did that,” Noel says in the film, “[I’d look like a] c–t. But he does it, and it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.” This bit is folded in sweetly with more eloquent words from Noel about how the tour reminded him of what Liam means to the fans — in the face naysayers and general despair, his younger brother is a loud and proud representation of how important it is to be yourself. You can’t be no one else.
6. Liam Apparently Barely Uses In-Ears
Gearheads rejoice because we have to get nerdy here for a second. If you watch closely, you’ll notice that most of the time, Liam doesn’t use in-ear monitors and prefers to surround himself with floor monitors around his mic stand. For those unfamiliar: in-ear monitors allow a musician to hear oneself, plus the rest of the band, over the volume of the concert and the crowd. Most artists who perform in large stadiums use them, and all of the members of Oasis do…except, apparently, Liam. When you consider how strong his vocals were on the tour, this is a confounding if impressive choice.
7. They Spoke With Gary Mounfield on the Eve of the Tour Launch
In November of 2025, Gary Mounfield, known as Mani, passed away at the age of 63. The bassist had been a member of both the Stone Roses and Primal Scream, but more importantly, he was a longtime friend of Noel and Liam’s. (The next month, Liam was one of the pallbearers at his funeral.) After the news broke, Oasis paid tribute to their late friend on stage in Brazil, displaying a photo of him and dedicating their performance of “Live Forever” to him. But even more touching, as we learned via the film, was that Mani spoke with Noel and Liam on the eve of Oasis’ tour launch, telling them: “You guys are gonna smash it.”
8. Noel and Liam’s Kids Hadn’t Met Before the Tour Started
One of the consequences of Noel and Liam’s lack of relationship for 15 years was that their respective sons had never met one another prior to the tour happening. That changed when the families went on the road together and, as evidenced by a number of photos, it appears they’re now thick as thieves, just like their fathers.
9. Oasis’ Hold on Young People Can’t Be Overstated
One of the most prominent threads in Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger is how much the band and especially the reunion tour meant to younger generations of fans, many of whom, including this writer, weren’t alive when Oasis began releasing albums. “How did we get to that?” Noel marvels. Many had developed a passion for the band via YouTube, streaming and other digital avenues, like online fan communities — to see the band live in the flesh then was a transformative experience that’s more than evidenced in the film’s footage.
10. The Brothers Are on Speaking (and Texting) Terms Now
This is the thing everyone would like to know: are Noel and Liam back on normal terms? Even after the end of the tour? According to the film, yes. As Noel explains, they now text one another “stupid videos” like typical middle-aged brothers might. In a matter of months, the most famous sibling feud in rock ‘n’ roll turned into something else: actual friendship.
Watch the Trailer for ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’
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Gallery Credit: Allison Rapp
