Stop all the clocks, the unthinkable has happened: "The guns have fallen silent and the stars have aligned". Oasis are back, and it’s all anybody in Manchester is going to be talking about until next summer - and beyond. After 15 years of feuding, the Gallagher brothers announced at the end of August that they would be reforming and playing a world tour in summer 2025, including dates across Europe and a recently announced leg in Canada, America and Mexico.
Some things, however, sadly can’t be brought back from beyond the grave – and that includes four of the iconic Manchester venues Oasis played at back in the early years of their career, leading up to the release of their debut album Definitely Maybe in September 1994. READ MORE: Oasis announce NEW tour dates for 2025 Of course, many of the city’s bigger and more mainstream venues they played at in the 90s are still standing: Manchester Central Convention Complex (GMEX), the Apollo in Ardwick, Manchester Academy, Emirates Old Trafford (then the Lancashire County Cricket Club) and the now-named AO Arena. Maine Road, the former Manchester City ground they played at in 1996 – the brothers from Burnage having long moved on to filling out arenas – was demolished in 2003 and is now covered over by housing.
Oasis fans fill Maine Road ahead of the band's concert in 1996 But it’s those smaller, more underground venues which, for one reason or another, didn’t survive past the 2000s – with the exception of Club 57 in.