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Oasis confirm second support act for massive UK and Ireland reunion tour

And there you have it: the Oasis reunion lineup looks to be confirmed.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 28th October 2024

Oasis have now officially confirmed the next support act for their massive UK and Ireland reunion tour next year – and it’s a familiar name.

The news that the Gallagher brothers were finally reuniting over a decade and a half on from their sudden split shook the world earlier this year and ever since people have been wondering who they’ll be taking along with them on their first shows together since V Festival back in 2009.

After fellow Greater Manchester native and Wigan legend, Richard Ashcroft was unveiled as the first support act, the official Oasis social media accounts have now revealed that Liverpool band Cast are set to be their second warm-up act.

It’s going to be an all-North West affair – now that’s something we can get behind.

Announced on Monday morning, 28 October, both Oasis and their soon-to-be Scouse tour-mates shared respective announcements on their pages, confirming that Cast will be the opening act for each domestic date with the former Verve frontman set to serve as the main support artist.

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Writing on their socials, the indie rock veterans said: “We are delighted to confirm that we will be supporting Oasis as part of their worldwide tour, in the UK and Ireland performances in 2025, with Richard Ashcroft. Tickets are sold out, and we can’t wait to see you all for these BIBLICAL shows.”

The news didn’t come as too much of a surprise, to be honest; not only did Cast support Liam on his solo 30th-anniversary tour of Definitely Maybe earlier this year, but the iconic singer also did plenty of teasing on X (formerly Twitter) as per usual.

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However, while plenty of people are understandably buzzing to see the big regional names all out on the road together, others are a little surprised and even disappointed by it, mainly because of the dream the Oasis reunion lineup they’d conjured in their heads.

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Well, that one aged well…

Understandably many fans did think that the likes of Blossoms might be tagging along for the tour given they helped announce the comeback at their massive Wythenshawe Park gig, Cast and Richard Ashcroft look to be the only artists joining them for the reunion shows.

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That being said, there’s still time for a late surprise and Liam has already taken his son’s band Villanelle on the road with him recently. Watch this space.

Plus, the pair were only confirmed for the UK and Ireland gigs so maybe we’ll see a different duo selected for the North American, Australian and seemingly ever-unfolding world tour.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group/Press Image (supplied)

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Has Liam Gallagher just casually confirmed that a new Oasis album is coming?

Danny Jones Danny Jones

Liam Gallagher is playing his usual social media mind games to perfection as it looks like he might have just revealed that a new Oasis album is on the way.

Keeping close watch on his social media needs to be someone’s full-time job, honestly.

The younger Gallagher sibling and his older brother Noel have finally patched things up after a decade and a half and barring a big bust-up on the first day of their upcoming reunion shows, the world will soon be able to see them back touring again next summer.

A comeback on its own was something we never thought we’d actually live to see come to fruition but now it looks like not only will be once again seeing the Burnage boys performing their many hits but they may or may not have been working on a new Oasis album. It all started back in September, actually.

Liam, 52, has been enjoying some playful back-and-forth with Oasis fans ever since the comeback was confirmed in August and the talk of new/unreleased music has been rumbling for a while.

Responding to a fan on 7 September, who asked point blank if it was true that a new album was on the way, “Yep it’s already finished.”

Then, as the days rolled into November, LG began swapping out the usual ‘RASTAS’ and ‘BUMBALCART’ tweets with two very random on-brand and what we presumed were merely innocuous words: “SPIRITUAL” and, most recently, “CELESTIAL”.

For a man who’s said the word ‘biblical’ more times than he’s had hot dinners, we didn’t make too much of it initially, but it was in his response to other fans on Saturday, 2 November and earlier this week that’s started to grab attention.

As always, take this stuff with a big ol’ pinch of salt.

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All that being said, the last time he did this sort of stuff it was about the support acts for the Oasis reunion tour and he wasn’t lying then, so who knows? Maybe we really are going to get the long-awaited eighth album from Oasis for the first time since 2008.

Elsewhere, the frontman has been joking that he and Noel are practically the best of friends nowadays and almost pretending that there was never any bad blood, adding that he’ll be on his “best behaviour” when they head out on the road for their first tour date at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff in July.

In the meantime, lots of fans are now in the awkward position of having to sort out new plans after more than 50,000 tickets purchased through resellers were cancelled and re-listed.

Liam has also made it clear he’d much rather keep the Oasis reunion train rolling after the ‘Live ’25 World Tour’ ends than return to a solo career – as for Noel, he could always go back to his High Flying Birds project or maybe even switch industries…

‘Game’s gone’: Manchester City had an unexpected commentator in the Champions League last night – Noel Gallagher

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Featured Images — Raph_PH (via Flickr)/Drew de F Fawkes (via Wikimedia Commons)

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Girls Aloud to release ‘Sarah’s Version’ of ‘I’ll Stand By You’ for BBC Children In Need 2024

Danny Jones Danny Jones Girls Aloud to release Sarah's Version for Children In Need 2024

Pop royalty Girls Aloud are set to release a special edition of their 2004 song ‘I’ll Stand By You’, simply dubbed ‘Sarah’s Version’, for this year’s Children In Need broadcast.

The iconic British girl group returned earlier this year with a huge comeback nationwide tour which obviously sold out and they also won over crowds with their touching on-stage tributes to late singer Sarah Harding during their live performances.

Harding, 39, sadly passed away back in 2021 following a battle with breast cancer and was mourned across the country, especially here in the North, with a commemorative plaque and large mural of the Stockport-born songstress thrown up in her hometown back in May.

And now, as a way to help raise money for the annual BBC telethon and honour her once again, Girls Aloud will be re-releasing the well-known ballad.

Originally a cover of the 1997 track by The Pretenders and given that they were still so early into their career, the Noughties hitmakers naturally did multiple takes before landing on their final edit.

That being said, a version that has been rediscovered in digging through the archived recording sessions features Sarah Harding on lead vocals and now the band are set to let her voice shine through.

Airing for the first time on Zoe Ball’s BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Wednesday, 6 November, ‘Sarah’s Version’ has already gone down an instant hit 20 years from its release, with the emotional punch of hearing Harding’s clearly hitting listeners hard.

‘I’ll Stand By You’ went straight to the top of the UK Singles Chart when it was first released and was their second-ever number one. We have a very strong feeling that the importance of this re-release will see it do exactly the same – just in time for Christmas, no less.

Fans were left spellbound during what was casually referred to as ‘Sarah’s moment’ on the Girls Aloud reunion tour, where they truly did allow her singing to become the star of the show:

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As if the charity single wasn’t a tear-jerking enough prospect already, ‘I’ll Stand By You – Sarah’s Version’ is also set to be released on 15 November, just two days before what would have been Harding’s 43rd birthday. We’re not crying, you are.

In aid of The Christie and the Sarah Harding Legacy Project, more than £1 million has been raised in the Stopfordian’s memory and for breast cancer awareness through initiatives like the creation of the mural and members of the hospital doing charity runs, bike rides, swims and more.

Speaking on social media, the band added: “The track played a key part in our ‘The Girls Aloud Show’ arena tour this summer & was an emotional moment for us all.”

BBC Children in Need 2024 takes place next Friday (15 November) and highlights from their reunion tour, where ‘Sarah’s Version’ was first heard by the masses, will be shown on ITV at 8pm the following Sunday.

Credit: BBC/The Christie

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Featured Images — BBC Children In Need/The Christie

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