Andy Burnham surprised festival-goers at Kendal Calling last night by popping up on the main stage.
The Greater Manchester Mayor briefly swapped the political stage for a music one to introduce Blossoms for their massive headline performance.
Blossoms have gained a few famous pals over the years, from Liam Fray of the Courteeners to the legendary Rick Astley – but they turned to their old mate Burnham for this job.
The Stockport five-piece have worked with the Mayor in the past, including at his Raise the Roof charity concert, raising money for Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity #BedEveryNight campaign.
So it wasn’t a total shock when Andy Burnham rocked up to introduce them, dressed in cargo pants and a shacket.
And before anyone starts commenting that he should be doing his day job – it’s the weekend. Have a day off.
Burnham asked the crowd where the coolest place in the north west is, dismissing his home city of Liverpool and his adopted city of Manchester.
He then said the Stockport is, in fact, the coolest place in our region – which was welcomed with a fair few disagreeing boos from the huge crowd.
Burnham said: “Kendal Calling how we doing? This is the Mayor of Greater Manchester reporting for duty.
“I’m just here to check that you’re all okay, yeah? You all okay? You having a good time?
“Isn’t the north west of England the best place on Earth? It is, isn’t it. And d’you know where the coolest place in the north west is right now? It’s not Liverpool. It’s not even Manchester. It’s Stockport!
“Stockport! Honestly, it is! And do you know why Stockport is the coolest place in the north west?
“It’s because 10 years ago, five lads got together, and they formed a band, and they named it after the local pub. And 10 years later, they smashed Glastonbury, and now they’re headlining the biggest festival in the north west.
Andy Burnham introduced Blossoms to the stage at Kendal Calling. Credit: The Manc GroupAndy Burnham introduced Blossoms to the stage at Kendal Calling. Credit: The Manc Group
“Kendal Calling, give it up, for Stockport’s finest, the north west’s finest, give it up for Blossoms!”
Reaction to his appearance has been a little mixed, to say the least.
One person labelled him ‘The king of the north’ while another said the was actually ‘the c*ck of the north’ – so that’s nice.
Someone else said: “He can p*ss off, along with his CAZ proposals too.”
Then he was defended by a few saying: “He’s a great Mayor. Only the Tory scum hate him.”
And then there’s the comment we all saw coming a mile off – “Stockport is still sh*t!”
Liam is paying a subtle nod to another member of the Gallagher family in the Oasis reunion set
Danny Jones
In yet another cute and rather unexpected moment about the Oasis reunion set during the first two nights in Cardiff, Liam Gallagher paid a lovely tribute to an unsung member of the musical family: his adopted dog, Buttons.
Because rock stars do whatever they want.
That’s right, while most people were understandably keeping their eyes firmly fixed on Liam and Noel as they still try and get to grips with the fact that they’re both actually there, on stage, in the flesh, other eagle-eyed viewers noticed a subtle nod playing on the massive telly behind them.
Flashing up right in the middle big screen was a technicolour image of none other than Buttons himself, whose adorable little face appeared during ‘Roll With It’ on night one at the Principality Stadium.
I’ll share more of Buttons story today on my insta for the day that’s in it…https://t.co/B8ruKgLn4p
This video from Niall Harbison – the person who was responsible for putting the two together in the first place – was likely something the animal rescuer was made aware of ahead of time, but it’s nevertheless still a very lovely touch.
For anyone unfamiliar with the full story, Niall has spent years saving dogs and other pets from poverty and the street over in Thailand, and one of those was Buttons.
During a visit from Liam and partner Debbie Gwyther (also his manager), the pair ended up being introduced to the pup and instantly fell in love.
Arranging to have what would soon be his favourite pet shipped over to the UK, he and LG have now been pretty much inseparable since September 2023.
This isn’t the only touching gesture seen so far on the Live ’25 tour:
Buttons the dog wasn’t the only soul that Oasis paid tribute to.
The Burnage boys’ comeback was always going to be unforgettable, even if they just got up there and did little more than play the songs, but it’s extra touches like these that are helping make the memories even more special.
In the case of Niall, regardless of whether he knew this was going to happen or not, it must have been an incredible feeling to see one of the countless street dogs he’s saved, not only now rehomed and happy but quite literally getting his own moment in the spotlight.
There were a lot of little details we noticed on night one of Live ’25 in Cardiff, and who knows how many of them will remain in the set for the rest of the reunion tour, but it’s great to see Oasis being reactive and the crew going the extra mile.
'I Hope, I Think, I KNOW' #Oasis Manchester homecoming is going to be nothing short of a religious experience. 🙏
What we know about Oasis’ Heaton Park reunion shows based on their first comeback gig in Cardiff
Danny Jones
Ok, so there’s no more need to pinch ourselves or double-take every time we check our phone: Oasis aren’t just back together, they’ve now kicked off the reunion and following those incredible Cardiff scenes, we’re already thinking about what this means for their Heaton Park homecoming.
There simply isn’t a brick-and-mortar Manchester venue big enough to hold as many Manc fans as want, need and deserve to see them back on stage after waiting all this time, so it’s only fitting that barely a month on from Parklife, the massive outdoor space will welcome us all back to witness history.
Quite literally millions of people tuned into various livestreams on Friday evening to see Oasis return at the Principality Stadium, so lots of you will have already seen plenty from the colossal concert – including that bald bloke balancing a pint on his head – but there was, understandably, a lot to take in.
So, with that being said, here’s what we hope, we think, we know about Oasis’ highly anticipated Heaton Park shows based solely on the details we gleaned from Cardiff night one.
The timings (roughly)
For starters, one of the most important things fans will be hoping to know is when Oasis got back on stage, as well as the set times of the other ‘Live ’25‘ support acts.
Liam, as per usual, was the mouthier of the two Gallagher brothers and let the cat out of the bag early on X (Twitter), before being clearly told off by management and deleting the details shortly after; still, it was confirmed that the main event for Friday and Saturday night gets underway at 8:15pm.
However, these things are always subject to change, as both Richard Aschroft and Cast were slightly premature on night one in Cardiff, and who knows what other arenas will be like for the rest of the reunion tour?
Another big debate online that has raged ever since the Oasis reunion was confirmed is the subject of what they’re going to play from their extensive catalogue.
Obviously, most people could rattle off most of the all-time favourites and cobbble together a pretty decent ‘greatest hits’ of Oasis setlist, but people have been more concerned with what the opener, closing track, and encore will be.
Having watched all of these moments back multiple times already, we can confirm the first track was the classic intro ‘F***in’ in the Bushes’, as many fans suspected, followed by ‘Hello’ as the first full song, rather fittingly.
As for the last track in the main running order, the crowd got to bounce up and down to ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ before the legendary ‘Champagne Supernova’ beckoned the very end of the first night in Cardiff.
— The Rock Revival (@TheRockRevival_) July 4, 2025
They’ll still be reactive
That being said, this inaugural comeback show was somewhat of a pilot for the rest of the ‘Live ’25 world tour, which now totals more than 40 dates, and any good artist knows that tweaking the setlist from show to show can be key to not only to success, but keeping things fresh for you and the audience.
As a result, we wouldn’t be surprised if you see Oasis mix things up as the nights roll on, especially when playing multiple gigs in the same city as they’re doing pretty much everywhere for this reunion.
That flexibility isn’t just limited to song choice either: Liam did his famous twist on the ‘Wonderwall’ lyrics and told the crowd, “There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don’t speak Welsh”, and in case you haven’t seen it already, they also took a moment to honour a late Liverpool star.
There were lots of little details on night one in Cardiff, but this was a very nice touch from Oasis.
A bigger focus on production than ever
The glimpse at the AV presentation seen above is just a small taster too. From the various clips we’ve seen on social media over the last 24 hours or so, Oasis aren’t just back playing music together, but they’ve levelled significantly in terms of production and stage design.
Now, if you’ve ever been to see either of the brothers’ solo shows, you’ll know that football and, more specifically, references to Man City, often feature at some point.
Noel, in particular, has maintained a strong City presence in his set, be it the blue colour palette, the MCFC badge, or even a tall cut-out of manager Pep Guardiola half during most High Flying Birds gigs.
Cardiff night one was no different as his LG instructed the crowd to turn around and do the familiar ‘Poznan’ celebration regularly seen up in the stands of the Etihad Stadium.
Gallagher brothers kick off Oasis world tour with Cardiff show, as Liam tells fans 'do the poznan'.
It was bits of comedy like this that’s been one of the biggest part we’ve missed about Oasis; both Liam and Noel have always been very humorous in their own ways over the years, but they were never funnier than in those old clips you see of them cracking each other up in their younger days.
Despite being estranged for more than a decade and a half and who knows how many years of bad blood overall, they look to have at least put it to one side and what was once a combative back and forth from a distance has circled back around to brotherly banter – or at least we hope it has.
We’re not going to pretend they absolutely adore all of a sudden, but they’re at least trying and recognising each other’s roles.
As you can see, those snaps of them smiling during the first reunion photo shoot back together don’t appear to be just for show.
Seeing the two of them walk out holding hands sent the internet into an absolute frenzy of emotion and had people joking that they were finally going to message their own troublesome relative and at least try to mend fences.
But that was just one small moment.
The duo have always admired and respected their respective talents, but for the first time in even longer than the 16-year hiatus itself, it seems like there’s some genuine love there again. See for yourself:
They’re still as massive as they ever were – if not more so
All this is to say that, in short, Oasis’ first comeback show in Cardiff isn’t just the start of the ‘Live ’25 reunion tour that will span the globe, it’s also confirmation of something people began to question in their lengthy absence…
They really are the biggest and, in so many people’s opinions (including our own), the greatest rock band of all time.
From what we can tell, it feels like one of those watershed music moments where you have be there in person to truly see and believe it – not to be part of some exclusive ‘I was there’ comeback, but because we can’t thing of any other reunion that has had this kind of impact.
Roll on the five nights at Heaton Park and strap in, folks, because you will never forget it.
I've never felt so excited about a gig I didn't even have a ticket for! I'm so glad you had a great time, the clips I've seen looked INCREDIBLE.
Daisy Jackson -
30th July 2023 
