It’s that time again: whether you’re bored of it or not, rumours surrounding a potential Oasis reunion are once again circling after a sign reading “reserved for Noel” was spotted at a recent Liam Gallagher gig.
Liam is currently on tour here in the UK playing Definitely Maybe in full for the debut album’s 30th anniversary – set to arrive for the first of four shows in Manchester this weekend – and has now played all four of his dates at The O2 in London.
And, given that his estranged sibling lives predominantly in London and has been there ever since the mid-1990s, many fans are now speculating whether the younger Gallagher left Noel an open invitation to come to his show after the aforementioned sign was spotted in the arena.
According to Simon Love (former frontman for the indie-pop band, The Loves), who was in town for Liam‘s gig on Tuesday night, the sign was left on the seat in front of him in the hospitality section.
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However, one commenter was quick to claim, “Liam leaves one at every show, in the hope that one day, one day, Noel will show up…”, to which Love humorously responded, “Like Ricky Bobby” in reference to Will Ferrell’s character and his absentee father in Talladega Nights.
Nevertheless, a source close to Gallagher’s team told The Independent that Liam “had nothing to do with the reserved sign and it was likely ‘someone in hospitality having a wind-up'” – but then again he would say, that wouldn’t he!?…
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All in all, the tongue-in-cheek response felt rather fitting as although many were hopeful there might be some substance to what was likely a prank by Love himself, even more were quick to dismiss this as little more than hot air. Liam did ultimately go on to meet up with another rock legend after the show though.
Even if there is any semblance of truth to whether or not Liam reserved a seat for Noel at his gigs and the latter simply snubbed him, we’ll likely never know the real story, but we’d love to keep imagining that he leaves a sign out there every time just on the off chance.
It’s widely known that the pair’s ongoing feud isn’t expected to end anytime soon, no matter how many times Liam has offered a jokey but half-serious olive branch in an effort to give the fans what they want: an Oasis reunion.
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As for ‘The Mighty I’, he’s busy playing his own shows and creating more music under the High Flying Birds moniker and has already insisted it would take some “extraordinary circumstances” for the two to get back together, though he did have one alternative suggestion.
That being said, Liam is still doing more than his bit to keep playing Oasis songs live to as many people as possible, with the 51-year-old already teasing more anniversary shows next year.
We think we speak for everyone when we say MAKE THIS HAPPEN! 🤞
A brand new grunge and hard rock festival is kicking off in Manchester
Danny Jones
Manchester grungers, hardcore heads, and fans of all things rock, pay attention because there is a brand new festival coming to the city centre – and it has possibly the best name for a live music event we’ve heard in some time.
Ahem… let us introduce you to Broken Knees Fest.
Yes, donning a name that feels increasingly more relatable the closer we get to the wrong side of 30, Broken Knees Festival 2025 marks the inaugural edition of Manchester’s newest series of rock and grunge gigs, helping spotlight rising artists across the genres from within two crucial grassroots venues.
Very loud music inside tightly-packed, small-capacity rooms? It’s a winning formula that never fails. It’s about time we broke a sweat – here’s hoping the knees just about hold out.
Hosted in the heart of the Northern Quarter, which continues to thrive as a creative hub for new music and art of all forms, the festival will be debuting at small-cap favourites Gullivers and Castle Hotel just across the road.
As you can see, the lineup is full of up-and-coming talent within the guitar-driven space, but you can bank on more than a few bringing their die-hard fans to fill the place out to the rafters.
It doesn’t matter if you prefer punk, hardcore, grunge or another specific sub-genre found somewhere in between the ever-sprawling rock spectrum, there’s something to suit all alternative tastes at this one.
With the likes of Bohmen, Mavis, One Dimensional Creatures and Smother headlining the first-ever iteration of the festival across four stages, you can expect plenty of energy and even more noise.
Set up by the events group of the same name, Broken Knees Promotions, who help platform rock and alt acts across Greater Manchester and beyond year-round, this is more than just a festival: it’s a grassroots celebration through and through.
Best of all, if you’re interested, you don’t have to wait long because it’s kicking off next month.
Gigs go off in here. If you know, you know… (Credit: Audio North)
Broken Knees Fest 2025 is happening on the weekend of 21-22 June, and you’ll be glad to hear that, as a brand new event, prices have been kept nice and low.
The early bird window had prices starting from just £12, and although this tier has now sold out, day tickets are still only £15 while a full weekend pass will set you back £25.
Until then, why not dive into another load of new Manchester music? We round up artists from all genres each month; we’ll also confess to leaning slightly more towards the heavier stuff from time to time.
Olly Murs cancels Manchester gig after walking off stage six songs into huge arena show
Daisy Jackson
Olly Murs has now officially cancelled his show in Manchester tonight, a day after walking off stage just six songs into a huge arena gig.
The Heart Skips a Beat star had been performing in Glasgow last night when he abruptly stopped the show, apologised to fans, and left the stage.
The gig was cancelled around 30 minutes into his show, which is part of a huge UK arena tour that was meant to be heading to Manchester tonight.
A tearful Olly said that he was seeing a doctor last night and would update fans of the rest of his shows ‘as soon as I know anything’.
It’s now been confirmed that his gig at the AO Arena will not be going ahead.
Olly Murs said in a statement: “30 minutes into my set in Glasgow I lost my voice & unfortunately had to leave the stage midway through the show. This has never happened before and not something I take lightly.
“I’m sorry to all the fans who came out to the show last night and am forever grateful for your support.
“To everyone in Manchester and Birmingham I’m deeply sorry, but am unfortunately going to have to cancel my shows this weekend. I have contracted a respiratory infection and have been instructed to go on a strict 48 hour voice rest by the doctor to ensure no further damage to my vocal cords.
“I have been enjoying this tour so much, and am so sorry to let down my fans – but have to put my health first. I’m hoping to be fighting fit in a few days to finish this amazing 15 year celebratory tour with a bang.”
In a video he shared to Instagram last night, Olly Murs said: “Firstly I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I had to walk off after six songs and cancel the show. I’ve never done this in 15 years.
“Most of the time as singers you can kind of get through it if your voice isn’t 100% – I walked out tonight thinking my voice was great, I maybe felt a little bit run down but I didn’t think I couldn’t do the show. I wouldn’t have come out there otherwise.
“So to walk off after six songs, as I said, I’m so sorry. As you can probably hear from my voice, I just sounded rubbish and it’s unfair for you guys that spent all that money to come and see me. You deserve the best show and me being at my best, and I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart.
“Hopefully I can recover from this.
“I’m actually going to see a doctor tonight which is great, so I’ll give you guys an update as soon as I know anything. Obviously I wanna try my absolute best to make these shows possible at the weekend.
“So yeah, so sorry for everyone tonight, apologies from the bottom of my heart. Gutted.”
Danny Jones -
13th June 2024 
