For 15 years, Dylan Shepherd’s band was as shut as you would get to seeing Oasis onstage.
Shepherd fronts Supersonic, an Oasis tribute act that’s nailed each element of their Manchester heroes’ dwell units, from Liam Gallagher’s anorak jacket-bedecked swagger to the exact jangle of his brother Noel‘s guitar. For fans worried that the famously acrimonious Gallagher brothers would never reunite after their chaotic 2009 split, Supersonic was a solid alternative.
Never has a band been happier to be upstaged.
“Like everyone else, we were shocked and elated when Oasis announced they were getting back together,” Shepherd said. “We came up with the concept of going and doing a bunch of shows in cities just before them to get people even more fired up, if that’s even attainable.”
On Friday, simply earlier than Oasis performs the Rose Bowl, Supersonic will headline the Whisky a Go Go, the positioning of Oasis’ notorious drug-fueled meltdown onstage in 1994. Supersonic will seemingly behave higher than the Gallaghers, however for Angeleno Anglophiles, this week’s revelry is on par with Taylor Swift’s Eras tour or a BTS reunion coming to city.
For one weekend, L.A. will roughly develop into Manchester with palm timber.
“We went to their first Manchester show in July and it was unbelievable, the atmosphere was just buzzing,” Shepherd mentioned. “Out of every shop window, every bar, you could hear Oasis, and they sounded better than they ever have.”
In a time when large pop excursions are the barometer of well being for the dwell music trade, Oasis’ reunion feels each old school and refreshing — a hard-partying, live-wire rock band is out of the blue the most popular ticket on the town. The band’s exhibits within the UK remodeled its metropolis facilities with a fervor nearer to nationwide heritage than mere rock band fandom.
Now, for the primary time since 2008, it’s L.A.’s flip.
Anybody who has seen the documentary “Depeche Mode: 101” or attended a Morrissey present with a Chicano-heavy crowd is aware of that L.A. seems for its idols throughout the pond. Some superfans right here couldn’t anticipate the band to make it over.
“I’ve been a fan since the ‘90s, but I never got to see them back in the day and I’ve just been waiting for them to resolve things,” mentioned Rose Ghavami, an L.A. promoter and DJ who flew to the U.Okay. for 2 Oasis exhibits. That wasn’t practically sufficient, although.
Followers of rock band Oasis arrive for an exhibition of photographer Kevin Cummins’ work on the band at Musichead Gallery in West Hollywood on Sept. 4, 2025.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Occasions)
“I’m crazy. I’m going to the Rose Bowl on Saturday and then to see them in Mexico City the following weekend. Centering travels around these concerts has been super-emotional. I definitely cried alongside with everyone, singing every word,” Ghavami mentioned.
Between these exhibits, she’s internet hosting an Oasis-themed pre-party at Cha Cha Lounge in Silver Lake on Friday. Amongst her contingent of Britpop followers right here, she sees parallels to a different group’s historic sweep of American stadiums.
“I wasn’t around for Beatlemania, but this feels similar to that,” Ghavami mentioned. “It’s usually cringe to wear a band’s shirt to their concert, but this gets a pass because people were head to toe in gear from their bucket hats to their socks. I see people walking down the street here with Oasis gear, and you stop each other to ask ‘Are you going to the show?’”
Buyers exhibiting off their Oasis merch
(Vivien Killilea)
Certainly, the traces on the Oasis pop-up merch mart in Hollywood have been formidable, as followers rushed to commemorate the reunion they feared would possibly by no means come. The tour’s rapturous opinions — and a notable lack of drama between the Gallaghers — cemented this because the must-see rock occasion of the yr.
Even for seasoned Oasis tour vets, the outpouring of goodwill and camaraderie between the band and followers has been invigorating.
Kevin Cummins is a British photographer who captured the group in its earliest days, simply earlier than releasing its debut LP “Definitely Maybe.” He’s exhibiting photographs from his e-book of that period, “Oasis: The Masterplan,” at Musichead Gallery in Hollywood beginning this week. Even he’s shocked by how frictionless and joyful this reunion has been.
“I watch football with Noel in England, and we’d talked about a reunion on and off over years. He’d always say no, it’ll never happen, it won’t work,” Cummins mentioned. “So I was as surprised as anybody about the scale of these gigs and the reception they’re getting. When I speak to Noel after the gigs, he says each is better than last one. I don’t think even they quite believe how huge this has become.”
Cummins has photographed the band for 3 many years, and at all times admired how Oasis followers recognized with their working-class insouciance and biting humor. In a political local weather the place each cultural determine can develop into immediately polarizing, Oasis’ reunion was the closest factor the U.Okay. received to a nationwide consensus.
In an L.A. ravaged by fires, ICE and a doom-stricken temper in its hallmark leisure industries, Oasis’ return is a uncommon spectacle to sit up for as effectively.
Liam Gallagher, left, and Noel Gallagher, proper, from the band Oasis carry out throughout their reunion live performance on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Cardiff. (Photograph by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
(Scott A Garfitt / Invision / AP)
“In England, the gigs were a time of renewal, if that’s not too corny,” Cummins mentioned. “This year has been pretty miserable year politically, so this tour has come along and been great distraction. Oasis has always been a band people were fiercely proud of, and this is like going to football game where 80,000 people are rooting for same team.”
All week, L.A. bars and nightclubs have packed their calendars with Oasis-themed events. Regulars at Membership Underground, a decades-long British indie evening now at Grand Star Jazz Membership in Chinatown, would naturally get in on the event.
“Every week, ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ is our closing song,” mentioned Lawrence Gjurgevich, who throws Membership Underground as DJ Larry G (naturally, they’re throwing a pre-party Friday evening). Affection for Britpop in L.A. “Goes back to the original KROQ, which played bands like New Order, the Smiths, the Cure,” he mentioned. “There’s always been a lineage here that continues with bands like Arctic Monkeys and Fontaines DC.”
Gjurgevich misplaced his dwelling within the Eaton hearth, and whereas he’s buried within the rebuilding course of, these Oasis exhibits are each a respite and a reminder of why he made a life in L.A.’s music scene. “The shows are in our backyard, which is amazing,” he mentioned. “We’re rebuilding and it’s heavy, but this has been something to look forward to, a place to make new friends.”
Even younger newcomers, who missed Oasis in its boozy ‘90s heyday and 2000’s collapse, are compelled by this tour, mentioned Vacation Kirk, an L.A. promoter, author and memelord (who’s partially accountable for the nu-metal revival amongst Gen Z).
“If you’re under 25, you don’t remember how omnipresent Oasis was. You couldn’t get away from them, they could park singles at number one by sheer will,” Kirk, who in his early thirties, mentioned.
Kirk is pivoting to Britpop for an Oasis-heavy pre-party at Gold Diggers on Friday. There’s actually a nostalgia issue for older followers, but additionally a curiosity from youthful ones a couple of band that slung insults, fists and cocaine in equal measure whereas writing a few of its period’s most affecting songs.
A fan, Rose, seems at British rock band Oasis’ photos shot by photographer Kevin Cummins displayed for an exhibition.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Occasions)
Gen Z followers are “fascinated by the idea of being an uncompromising rock band and conquering the world. That’s so far out of anyone’s conception of what’s possible today,” Kirk mentioned. “Can you imagine Sabrina Carpenter, in an interview, saying she hated Taylor Swift? It’s so fun to think that you can do that and it wouldn’t ruin your career. I’ve seen so many Liam Gallagher fancams on TikTok where the comments are like ‘OMG, so babygirl’” – a Gen Z time period of endearment for older males – “because no other frontman has had that swagger since.”
Even for followers neglected out the Rose Bowl exhibits, the Alamo Drafthouse cinema in downtown L.A. screened the 2016 Oasis documentary “Oasis: Supersonic” this week to supply a style of the band at its incendiary peak.
“There’s such an appeal for young audiences to see these cultural documents of a world before the celebrity became so image-conscious and considerate of stakeholders,” mentioned Jake Isgar, the pinnacle of specialty programming for Alamo Drafthouse. “The Gallagher brothers can’t help but be themselves, and that’s why people are so drawn to them.”
A element of a contact sheet of British rock band Oasis by photographer Kevin Cummins.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Occasions)
Whereas Pasadena would be the middle of the rock and roll universe this weekend, Oasis posted a dwell map of pre-parties and band-historic websites in Los Angeles the place the devoted can take a pilgrimage. (Yep, the Whisky is on there). It’s been a brutal yr for therefore many in L.A., and the possibility to lastly throw again as a lot beer because the Rose Bowl will serve you and scream alongside to “Acquiesce” and “Morning Glory” is proof anybody – even the Gallagher brothers – can discover a strategy to reconcile and get better.
“I’ve seen people bringing their children to these shows, multiple generations having communal experiences. I can’t think of another band that could have this impact,” Ghavami mentioned. “After ICE raids, fires and political tension, things are awful. We need to bring joy back to people. Something simple like one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. I’m excited to be alive for it.”
