With Bonehead reportedly set to join the reunited Oasis line-up, check out the guitarist looking back on his time with the band and their history with NME.
The legendary Mancunian band comprised of brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher announced yesterday (August 27) that they have finally put their differences aside and are set to embark on their first run of live shows in 16 years next summer, dubbed ‘OASIS LIVE 25’.
The tour is currently scheduled to stop at Manchester’s Heaton Park, London’s Wembley Stadium, Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Dublin’s Croke Park, and Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium.
However, more gigs are expected to be announced soon due to huge demand. Tickets go on general sale at 9am BST/8am IST this Saturday (August 31) – you’ll be able to buy yours here (UK), and here (Ireland).
Oasis’ 2025 UK and Ireland tour dates are:
JULY
04 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium
05 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium
11 – Manchester, Heaton Park
12 – Manchester, Heaton Park
19 – Manchester, Heaton Park
20 – Manchester, Heaton Park
25 – London, Wembley Stadium
26 – London, Wembley Stadium
04 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium
05 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium
11 – Manchester, Heaton Park
12 – Manchester, Heaton Park
19 – Manchester, Heaton Park
20 – Manchester, Heaton Park
25 – London, Wembley Stadium
26 – London, Wembley Stadium
AUGUST
02 – London, Wembley Stadium
03 – London, Wembley Stadium
08 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
09 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
16 – Dublin, Croke Park
17 – Dublin, Croke Park
02 – London, Wembley Stadium
03 – London, Wembley Stadium
08 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
09 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
16 – Dublin, Croke Park
17 – Dublin, Croke Park
Since the announcement of the reunion, there has been a lot of talk about who could be joining Liam and Noel in the line-up. Previous reports claimed “no other original Oasis member is expected to join the reunion”, and that “the members of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will step in”.
It has now been reported that Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs is set to participate in the live comeback. The multi-instrumentalist was a co-founding member of Oasis – appearing in the initial line-up alongside Liam, Noel, bassist Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan and drummer Tony McCarroll.
The musician has been involved in Liam Gallagher‘s live show for a number of years – had to step away from the ‘Wonderwall’ singer’s previous tour following his cancer diagnosis. He was previously diagnosed with tonsil cancer in April of 2022 and has since announced that it is gone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw9kJUcFe0I
Back in April 2013, Bonehead joined NME in the NME archives to look back at previous Oasis magazine covers. While looking at the cover from June 1994, the guitarist shared: “It’s a picture of Liam in the Oasis bar if you can see that. That was in the bar in the hotel we were staying at in Portsmith I think it was. There’s a picture here with the caption ‘There’s nothing more revolting than a stool in a pool.”
He continued: “I remember coming back from the gig and it just turned into chaos. The bar in the hotel, from what I remember, there was a bar like there and directly in front of it was a swimming pool. So there was a pool in the bar and the barman decided to leave his post at one point. He probably nipped to the office to do what he did and that was our cue to just leap over the bar.
“Bottles of whiskey were taken, Brandy’s, went down into the pool, doing backstrokes drunk and of course when Bonehead jumps into the pool, chairs are going to follow. So there’s a picture, I think theres a quote somewhere here, ‘The swimming pool has been cleared of chairs and Bonehead and everyone decides logically that it is the hotel’s fault anyway its a stupid place to put a pool innit, frowns Liam. Just asking for trouble.”
Bonehead continued: “On a scale of one to 10 on Oasis nights out, I’d say that was probably a six. On an Oasis scale, we’ve had a few 10s and that doesn’t come close. To get on the front cover of the NME was something you dreamed of. I remember going out and buying the NME. I’ve still got a copy and I’ve got a huge scrapbook at home with all of the covers, yeah, brilliant thing.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKtFGC53TcQ
The guitarist also reflected on attending and being a part of the NME Awards and their rivalry with Blur. “In 1995, there was a massive, well everyone would day there was a massive rivalry between Blur and Oasis which I don’t believe there was, I think it was a huge press make-believe rivalry. I mean, when we’d bump into Damon in town or Graham or Alex you know, we’d sit them a chat and everything was alright.
“There was a few nights out around London and I bet Liam would bump into whoever, Damon or Alex and generally we’d be drinking at places and meeting and the atmosphere was always alright, you know, and we all got on. But put Liam in front of a camera with Damon next to him, and Liam being Liam, he would rise to the occasion.
“I think the press would like to make it this big thing. I think it was pretty healthy. You know, create a buzz around it all and people would be like ‘What’s this big rivalry between Oasis and Blur’.”
https://twitter.com/liamgfansclub/status/1828403213814407557
The former Oasis guitarist also took the time to reflect on the day he decided to depart from the band and the NME headline which broke the news to the nation.
“As you can see from the headline, ‘Oasis exclusive, bye bye Bonehead. Noel: we let him go’, Did you?,” he read, adding “That’s related to the fact that I just put out a statement saying that I had left the band after all the years I’ve been with them.”
“To be truthful, I think the fun had gone. The fun had gone for me and I could see at that stage when I left, he said. “Everyone had their personal problems which would sort of scale great heights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkNARlj_PUc
“I just thought ‘This isn’t fun, no one is smiling, they’re not laughing.’ You cant forget why you got into this and why you joined a band and why you picked up a guitar in the first place.”
In other news, Oasis have responded to speculation over a potential headline set at next year’s Glastonbury Festival.
Yesterday’s tour announcement said the confirmed dates “will be the band’s exclusive European appearances”. Additionally, reports in The Guardian and Somerset Live also claimed that they would not be headlining the festival next year.
Now, Oasis have responded to the the whispers about Glasto in a post on social media. “Despite media speculation, Oasis will not be playing Glastonbury 2025 or any other festivals next year,” it began. “The only way to see the band perform will be on their Oasis Live ’25 World Tour.”
Elsewhere, Ticketmaster has outlined its strict rules for purchasing tickets ahead of the sales – confirming that customers will only be able to order four tickets per household and card.
Meanwhile, Oasis fans are currently speculating who could join the formerly estranged Gallagher brothers on stage next summer. Previous reports claimed “no other original Oasis member is expected to join the reunion”, and that “the members of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will step in”.
However, it is now expected that co-founding member Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs will be hitting the road too.
Oasis Live ’25 is reportedly set to make a staggering £400million, and will follow the expanded ‘Definitely Maybe’ 30th anniversary reissue, out this Friday (August 30).
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