16/09/26

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Having lived in Manchester from the early 80s through to 2016, this film was always going to be on my radar. I watched the meteoric rise of Oasis from loudmouthed young contenders to one of the biggest acts in rock history – I wasn’t exactly a die-hard fan but I pretty much enjoyed the ride. Then in August 2009, I heard how it had all spectacularly fallen apart. On tour (in Paris) brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher had a massive row and that was pretty much it. When, after a fifteen-year interval, the band reformed and came back for a reunion tour, I wasn’t sufficiently spurred to rush out and buy tickets for the nearest venue – but I am perfectly happy to stroll to my local cinema to see how everything went down.

Magnificently filmed in IMAX, it goes down very well.

Directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern start with footage from that infamous break up, as bewildered French fans, gathered for a performance, are given the abrupt statement that ‘Oasis do not exist anymore.’ Cue much incredulity and many sacre bleus! From there, we cut to 2025 and a rehearsal space somewhere in the UK, where Noel and the rest of the musicians wait nervously for Liam to arrive…

In he dutifully struts, goes straight to the microphone and performs like he’s never been away.

Those hoping to learn exactly what went wrong between the brothers are going to be disappointed by Don’t Look Back in Anger – though you only have to listen to five minutes of Liam expounding his views on life to take a shrewd guess at what the problem might have been. Happily, both Liam and Noel appear to have matured enough over the duration to at least get along and even exchange the occasional hug. After that tense rehearsal period, the film cuts to the first gig on the comeback tour – Glasgow – and then moves on, city by city, as gigantic crowd after gigantic crowd gathers to witness the ensuing events.

The biggest surprise for me is that I am totally unprepared for the tidal wave of emotion that spills from every one of those massive audiences – people in Dublin, Munich, Barcelona and (lest we forget) Manchester – all crying their collective hearts out because the Gallagher brothers have finally patched up their quarrels and returned to the fray. It gives the occasion an almost religious feel. The songs (the best ones) are still remarkable in their Beatle-inflected way and, by the time we get to that anthemic title piece, I – like most of the other people at the screening – am singing raucously along, our vocals happily swamped by the crystal-clear dolby stereo sound. Champagne Supernova is the perfect piece to end it.

Writer Steven Knight chooses to focus on one particular Oasis fan in each successive city, giving them space to explain exactly why they love the band and what effect the music has had on their lives. Whoever compiled the set list has the sense to begin with the more average songs, before moving on to the solid-gold bangers. The effect is of one massive gig that gets progressively better as it unfolds, which is not always the case at live events. I particularly like the sequences where images of the Gallaghers as young men are cleverly spliced into current footage to remind us of the long and winding road that led to this reconciliation. I’m also touched by a dedication to the late Gary ‘Mani’ Mountfield and a heartfelt mention of The Stone Roses, another iconic Manchester band.

If you even halfway like those classic Oasis songs, this is an invigorating way to spend a couple of hours. It won’t change your world, but it may rock it to a certain degree.

But if you never cared for the band in the first place, maybe give this one a miss.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney