JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Sixteen years ago, brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher from the rock band Oasis had a huge fight just before a concert, and they broke up. Fans weren't sure if they'd ever hear the pair sing their hits like "Wonderwall" together again. But this year, the Gallaghers have finally ended that feud for a huge tour, which is coming to North America in late August. NPR's Robbie Griffiths went to London's Wembley Stadium to watch.
ROBBIE GRIFFITHS, BYLINE: The underground trains on the way to Wembley are full of Oasis fans doing spontaneous sing-alongs.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing) So Sally can wait. She knows it's too late, as we're walking on by.
GRIFFITHS: Twenty-six-year-old Flynn Altomare from New Jersey is emotional. He's in England for the first time for his favorite band, who broke up before he could see them.
FLYNN ALTOMARE: I got into Oasis in high school. It didn't really feel like discovering something. It felt like something that was missing that, like, became whole when I started listening to them.
GRIFFITHS: Like many people here, Flynn's wearing the full Oasis uniform - a football shirt from the band's favorite team, Manchester City, and on his head, a circular Oasis-branded bucket hat, like the kind worn by front man, Liam. He says he's mad for it, one of the band's catchphrases.
ALTOMARE: I'm going to level with you and be vulnerable. I think I'm going to burst into tears as soon as they start, "Hello" (laughter). I didn't know if this was ever going to happen. Like, I didn't ever expect to be able to see Oasis. I'm being given something that I never thought I'd get.
GRIFFITHS: Fellow Americans John Peck and Alissa Strother, who are married, traveled here from their home in Austin, Texas. They got together at Florida State University more than 20 years ago, all thanks to the band.
ALISSA STROTHER: My first class, 8 a.m. in the morning, I walk in. I'm wearing my Oasis shirt. And he says, hey, nice shirt, and that was it (laughter). That's how we met.
GRIFFITHS: John remembers the moment well.
JOHN PECK: I was excited to see another Oasis fan 'cause I was super obsessed. And so I went up and introduced myself after class. And then we were just friends for a little while but then we started dating a couple of years later.
GRIFFITHS: John even proposed to Alissa during a Noel Gallagher solo concert. British fans love Oasis, too. Here with her family is Emily Brobyn from Manchester, the Gallagher brothers' hometown. She's followed them since their '90s heyday and even named her youngest son after Noel, the songwriter. She says they should never have split.
EMILY BROBYN: They should have always got over the differences 'cause life's too short, right? So many horrible things happening in the world and look at the joy that it's brought to so many people.
GRIFFITHS: Deputy music editor for The Guardian, Laura Snapes, says the band's first two albums have played a huge role in British culture.
LAURA SNAPES: There are so many actual anthems on them that have become almost like folk songs in the U.K. They are designed to be sung by thousands of people at once. They've got a sense of striving and us against the world and, like, trying to get out of your situation, which is obviously very appealing and communal and sort of reflects their working-class origins.
GRIFFITHS: But it's not just the songs. The Gallagher brothers' volatile personalities are a big part of their appeal, too, says music journalist Yasi Salek, host of the "Bandsplain" podcast.
YASI SALEK: There's just something otherworldly about Liam Gallagher's, like, confidence and swagger that I think really translated all over the world, also, the goss (ph). Like, the fact that they were, like, in the press constantly slagging off everyone else but also each other, and they were just, like, chaos. They were chaos incarnate. They were real rock stars.
GRIFFITHS: Oasis shows are still rowdy but also have a gentler side these days. Just like at Taylor Swift concerts in London last summer, some fans share bracelets as mementos. Brother and sister Pablo and Stella Marroquin have flown in from Guatemala. They came to London instead of waiting until the tour gets to Latin America, just in case the Gallagher brothers break up again.
STELLA MARROQUIN: They are playing in Mexico, which is close to us. So we had, like, the opportunity to see them there. But as my brother was saying, it was like, oh, I don't know if they're going to (laughter) still be there for September, so let's do it right now.
GRIFFITHS: If Oasis do split before the end of the tour, they'll miss out on some of their huge paycheck, which was clearly a big factor in the reunion, as shown by some very visible corporate tie-in deals. Inside the gig, it's full-on '90s nostalgia, with every song at least 25 years old. But that doesn't matter to fans who spend the two hours singing every single word. Are Oasis the best band in the world? Tonight, just maybe.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
OASIS AND UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) Because maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me.
GRIFFITHS: Robbie Griffiths, NPR News, Wembley Stadium.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
OASIS AND UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) And after all, you're my wonderwall. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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