Noel Gallagher has revealed that Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs is the one responsible for the current Oasis reunion tour.
The Britpop icons ended a 16-year absence and made a triumphant return to the stage on Friday night (July 4) at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in front of over 70,000 fans.
It was in the second show at the same venue on Saturday night that guitarist and songwriter Noel told the crowd that the true reason that the Gallagher brothers were able to bury the hatchet and get back together was one of their mutual bandmates.
While introducing the rest of the band between songs, Noel referred to Bonehead, saying: “On guitar, if it wasn’t for him, none of this would have happened.”
Back in March, NME revealed that Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs would be part of the Oasis reunion, alongside Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Joey Waronker. Arthurs played with the band on their first three albums, before departing in 1999 during the recording of ‘Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants’. He also played regularly with Liam Gallagher’s solo band in recent years.
Opening the second Cardiff show, Noel and Liam walked on stage hand in hand, as they had done the previous night, before bowing to each other. They then took their positions on opposite sides of the stage and launched into the opener ‘Hello’. Check out the moment, the setlist from night two, and some fan reactions, here.
On night one, both brothers took turns poking fun at Ticketmaster’s dynamic ticket pricing system – something they’ve publicly denied knowing anything about. The opening gig also included a tribute to late Liverpool star Diogo Jota during a performance of ‘Live Forever’. Jota was killed in a car crash on Thursday (July 03) at just 28 years old.
NME gave the historic night one gig five stars, in a review that read: “After a ‘90s heyday and an often maligned post-millennium era, this is Oasis redesigned for the 21st Century. Playing before a pop-art-meets-psychedelia visual spectacular that never distracts but will look sick on a phone, they seem the quintessential stadium band playing the greatest hits of greatest hits.”
Fans have also shared their takes, with one deeming it “better than Jesus’ return!” and another adding that the brothers’ reunion is “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen” and “the moment we were all waiting for”.
Oasis next play five homecoming shows at Manchester’s Heaton Park, with seven nights at London’s Wembley Stadium to come, as well as stops in Edinburgh and Dublin. Later on the Oasis Live ’25 trek, they’ll head to North America, South America, Australia, South Korea and Japan.
