Excited for the Oasis Reunion? Watch The Documentary ‘Supersonic’
The biggest news in the rock world this week and likely for all of 2024 is Liam and Noel Gallagher putting aside their 15-year bitter feud to reunite under the Oasis name for a series of shows. Those shows are taking place in the U.K. and Ireland in July and August 2025. Liam and Noel made sure to note, “Plans are underway for Oasis Live ’25 to go to other continents outside of Europe later next year.”
Similar to how Slash and Duff McKagan rejoined Guns N’ Roses in 2016, this is the kind of news that many — including this author — are excited about, but will believe it when Liam and Noel take to the stage together. After all, so much can happen between now and July 2025.
In the meantime, many are looking at the news with excitement, and rightfully so. Plenty of music news outlets are celebrating with fun rankings of the best Oasis songs. In addition to revisiting the Oasis catalog, fans should really revisit the 2016 Oasis documentary Supersonic.
It’s no secret that nostalgia will always be popular, and with Supersonic, Oasis fans get that in droves, but it’s a nostalgia of a different kind. While the film looks back at the unprecedented meteoric rise of one of the biggest rock bands of the ’90s, it also looks back at a time when a rock band could be the biggest act on the planet.
Rock and roll isn’t dead, but it certainly doesn’t get the attention it used to, and Supersonic is proof. The film covers the history of Oasis, from its early beginnings up to its legendary 1996 shows on the grounds of Knebworth House, a castle in Hertfordshire, England. The band played two nights before 125,000 people each night. Tickets were available via application raffle. Over 2.6 million people applied for tickets. That type of excitement for a new rock band is so incredibly rare in the past few decades.
Of course, three short years before, Oasis was just a local Manchester band looking to make it big. At the band’s center were brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, who were bickering long before they were bandmates.
Supersonic is comprised primarily of then-new recorded voiceovers over behind-the-scenes footage of Oasis rehearsing, performing, recording and, more often than not, f—ing around. The depth of the footage is either a sign that Oasis knew they were going to be a massive success or had some of the most unique egos known to man.
Who are we kidding? It was both.
While it’s easy to get lost in the drama and fighting between the Gallaghers, Supersonic does an amazing job at reminding viewers that at the heart of the band was some incredible music. Oasis’s 1994 debut Definitely Maybe and the 1995 follow-up (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? are among some of the most beloved albums of not just the ’90s but of all time. Considering their arrival came at a time when music fans were dealing with a post-grunge world and reeling from the shocking death of Kurt Cobain, it was both the music that was wanted and needed.
Supersonic offers an intimate look at a band striving, achieving and dealing with the highest heights of fame, but to say it puts Oasis on a pedestal would be false. The band put themselves on a pedestal long before this film and had more than enough talent and guts to back it up. That type of attitude is certainly lacking in rock nowadays and is certainly missed.
It’s enough to make you pine for the ’90s and those pre-internet days in a whole new way.
Supersonic is currently available for streaming on Max.
