It’s looking likely that the Oasis reunion has another summer left in it and that the band are lining up some gigs at Knebworth next year.
There has been speculation about this for weeks. Liam himself seemed to hint that there was more to come from the band when replying to a fan’s tweet, asking why the 2002 single The Hindu Times wasn’t in their setlist. Liam posted: "Chill Winston, it’s not even HALF TIME yet. It’s a tour of 2 half’s (sic)."
Now the biggest indication yet that Oasis are set to reprise their 1996 two-night stand at the Hertfordshire stately home has come in the unlikely setting of the House Of Lords, not - it must be said - where music news usually breaks.
On Wednesday, Lady Taylor of Stevenage spoke to the house and said: "Next July, I will have the benefit of five days of Oasis concerts in the fantastic venue of Knebworth House, which is just about a mile away from my house."
The Labour peer then added: “I can hear and enjoy (the gigs) from my house, and they represent the important cultural role of music venues and …make an enormous contribution to our economy.”
Just hours after this, Lady Taylor appeared to row back on this, claiming that she was “speaking hypothetically following speculation that they would play Knebworth again as they did in August 1996. I understand the band have not confirmed this.”
Methinks the lady has already said too much…
As yet, there has been no comment on any of this from the Oasis camp. The band are currently on the Asian leg of their world tour.
However, it would appear that the person who actually owns the Knebworth estate, Henry Lytton-Cobbal,d is keen on the idea. When news of the Oasis reunion broke at the end of August 2024, he suggested doing a gig there this year: “Wembley is a reasonable warm-up venue for Knebworth,” he joked. “Then get ready for a nice huge 30th shindig in 2026.”
Now, in the wake of Lady Taylor’s, er intervention, he’s been quoted in the Guardian as saying: “Clearly it’s what the people want, clearly it should happen – but let’s get it in the diary, as our summer 2026 weekends are swiftly filling up.”
As everyone involved is doubtless aware, next year it will be thirty years since Oasis played those two landmark gigs at Knebworth. They represented both the high point of the band’s cultural power, and Britpop itself – an estimated 2.5 million people applied for tickets for the gigs, 4% of the UK population at the time. It is likely that many more than that would want to see them in 2026, and why wouldn’t the Gallaghers want to put on what are likely to be the largest concerts the UK has ever seen?
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