Oasis live in London: The perfect end (for now) to one of the greatest comebacks ever

Let’s start with a fact. The image of a newly reunited Liam and Noel Gallagher arriving on stage, hands together and firmly aloft, will never grow old.

It’s the way they’ve started every gig this summer since making their triumphant Cardiff return in July, but the screams that greet them from 80,000 fans on the first of two final nights in London show they’re still being welcomed with the same fervour as that very first comeback show.

They kick straight into ‘Hello’, with Liam’s repeated cry of “it’s good to be back” sounding more timely than ever. Here’s a band still having the time of their life as they kick off the final UK shows on a tour that many refused to believe would ever happen.

The setlist remains the same as it has done throughout the tour, but of course there’s no need to reinvent the musical wheel when thunderous runs of ‘Acquiesce’, ‘Morning Glory’, ‘Supersonic’ and ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ are delivered within the first half hour.

There’s an extra element of magic in the late September air tonight too, with the last days of summer meaning that this is the first London show where they’ve arrived on stage to near-complete darkness. The result is that this 90,000 capacity stadium feels surprisingly intimate and amps up the sense of harmonious community – not a word you’d traditionally use for Oasis crowds – that is on show here. No pints of piss in the air, as far we can tell – just tens of thousands of people having the time of their life.

It’s an incredibly emotional spectacle throughout, of course, but there’s a particularly huge roar of solidarity as Liam dedicates ‘Live Forever’ to the late, great Ricky Hatton, while ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ is met with the kind of roar that has half a chance of being heard back in their native Manchester.

“We’ll see you next year,” offers Liam before they close with ‘Champagne Supernova’ – comments which have been widely interpreted as confirmation that they will return to Knebworth next year for the 30th anniversary of their seminal open-air gigs over in Hertfordshire.

Only time will tell if that’s the case, but these gigs show there’s an unfathomably big appetite for more shows and the sense that they could become Wembley’s nightly house band if they really wanted and still sell it out. It’s the perfect end to a biblical summer, but if you’ll allow us to paraphrase one of Noel’s funniest interviews for a moment. Are we happy with that? No we’re not. We want MORE!