Oasis’ Video Director Opens Up About Live ’25 Planning, Saying It Took 14 Months And Held “Well Kept Secrets”

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Oasis’ video director has revealed that the group’s Live ’25 reunion tour had been in pre-production for 14 months, explaining that there were “lots of well-kept secrets”.

The Britpop icons finished the massive run of shows in São Paulo, Brazil, last Sunday (November 23), after performing 41 concerts across 142 days and five continents.

They announced the first set of dates in August 2024, which included their first performances together in 16 years across the UK and Ireland. Rehearsals started this May, and Liam Gallagher officially joined his bandmates the following month.

The screens used at their Manchester Heaton Park shows measured 84 metres by 12 metres, which made them 20 metres larger than the ones used at the first dates in Cardiff. They were the biggest screens ever used at a concert in the UK.

Now, live video director and designer Jon Shrimpton has shared some behind-the-scenes insight into his work on Live ’25, confirming that the tour had been in development for more than a year.

“And there it was…. gone!” he wrote alongside a set of videos and photos (see below). “After 14 months of pre-production, lots of well-kept secrets, and five months of some of the most incredible sights and sounds I’ve ever seen at a stadium show, here we are.”

He continued: “The last night of the … it would be fair to say; culturally and financially successful Oasis ‘Live ‘25’ world tour, tonight, in São Paulo.”

Shrimpton went on to call the comeback run “a genuine career high point”, reflecting on “being the video director on this momentous event”.

He said: “Travelling around the world, in the eye of the storm. I’ve been genuinely honoured to work with the most incredible, talented, ego-free, happy crew that has ever been assembled, and there’s been nothing but love from everything I’ve seen written about the show…. even in the British press.”

 

“Lots of love and respect to @paul_normandale for his beautiful show design, and to @universalpixelsvideo for providing the marvellous video toys, and putting up with my OCD nonsense, and unreasonable requests.”

Fans have pointed out that the 14-month pre-production timeline means Oasis’ return had been agreed and underway by around May or June last year. One Reddit user said Liam would have already known about the reunion when he headed out on his ‘Definitely Maybe’ 30th anniversary solo tour.

“Thinking about all those interviews where Rkids fooled me into thinking they still didn’t talk to each other… good actors,” one post reads.

Another fan suggested that “when Liam said Noel was playing hard to get, [the tour] was already signed off”. They also referenced a reported podcast appearance from May 2024 where Noel apparently “let it slip” about the upcoming shows.

Someone else guessed that “the actual timeline will be 2023 start, and contracts finalised in 2024”. In 2023, Noel asked Liam to “call me” about getting the band back together. “You’d have thought by now, he’d have some kind of plan,” he added at the time.

In another comment, a fan brought up a Liam interview from 2024 where he claimed he had not spoken to Noel “in about 10 years”. They said that Liam “might tease us on X, but he can keep a secret”, pointing back to Shrimpton’s recent post about the tour’s long planning period.

Oasis at Manchester's Heaton Park Oasis at Manchester’s Heaton Park. CREDIT: Big Brother Recordings

Noel praised Liam onstage during the summer of 2024, suggesting the brothers may have been on better terms by then. “No one quite sounds like ‘r kid,” he said at the time. A month later, Liam dedicated a solo performance of “Half The World Away” to his brother, adding to the speculation that Oasis were preparing to reunite.

In a glowing five-star review of the Live ’25 opening night in Cardiff, NME wrote: “Playing before a pop-art-meets-psychedelia visual spectacular that never distracts but will look sick on a phone, they seem the quintessential stadium band playing the greatest hits of greatest hits.”

Liam and Noel shared one last hug of the tour onstage in São Paulo last weekend. Oasis have now announced that there will be “a pause for a period of reflection” as fans wait to see what they will do next.

On X/Twitter, LG has been teasing ideas for Oasis’ possible next tour, writing: “There’s loads more classics we need to play.” He said he wants the band to take on “a European tour”, and he listed some songs he hopes to bring back.

Oasis perform in Mexico in 2025 Oasis perform in Mexico in 2025. CREDIT: Joshua Halling/Big Brother Recordings

Gallagher hinted at more dates earlier this month, writing: “I know things you don’t know.” This came after a fan asked whether he was sad about the tour coming to an end. He also hinted at another run of shows last month, saying: “It’s not even half time yet.”

At the group’s Wembley Stadium dates in September, he told the crowd: “See you next year”, before playfully slapping his own wrist. However, Gallagher later said Oasis would need to “sit down and discuss” their next steps. “Next year might be a little enthusiastic,” he explained.

During the final show last weekend, Liam told the audience: “We love you, thanks for all your energy. Take care of yourselves, and we’ll see you again sometime.”

Noel’s daughter Anaïs Gallagher later looked back on the experience, calling it the “greatest year of my life, spent with the greatest people, soundtracked by the greatest band”. She said: “What was once thought impossible became possible. 41 shows. 142 days. A lifetime of memories.”

Current rumours about Oasis’ next live plans include a potential return to Knebworth, a homecoming residency at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, and more shows at London’s Wembley Stadium.

A British peer in the House of Lords appeared to accidentally reveal that Oasis would play Knebworth next summer before stepping back from those comments.

Oasis have released official live versions of songs from several cities on the Live ’25 tour. The releases so far include “Slide Away” from Cardiff, “Cigarettes and Alcohol” from Manchester, “Little By Little” from London, “Bring It On Down” from Edinburgh, and “Wonderwall” from Dublin.

A new film documenting Oasis’ reunion and comeback tour is also underway, produced by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. Reports say the project will include “phenomenal” footage of Liam and Noel’s first meeting before the shows.

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Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis marks turning 50 with playful dog wedding

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Rilo Kiley‘s Jenny Lewis marked her 50th birthday in unusual fashion – by marrying her dog.

On Thursday (January 8), Lewis celebrated her birthday by marrying her cockapoo, Bobby Rhubarb, the dog recognisable to fans of her 2021 single ‘Puppy And A Truck’, in which she sings about the” unconditional love” she feels for him.

According to Stereogum, Morgan Nagler and Farmer Dave Scher performed at the nuptials, while Lewis sang the Postal Service’s ‘Such Great Heights’ alongside Ben Gibbard and Phantom Planet’s ‘California’ with Alex Greenwald for guests at the wedding party.

Later taking to social media to share pictures of her vintage white dress and birthday cake, Lewis shared news with fans by declaring: “i married my dog for my 50th birthday…
BLESS!”.

She went on to repost well wishes from fans, one of whom wished the couple “Muzzle Tov”.

 

 

Last year, Lewis and co. took the ‘Sometimes When You’re On, You’re Really Fucking On Tour’ across the US, marking their first extended run of shows since 2008, although they did play a one-off gig for a livestream benefit in 2021.

The final date in the run came on October 18 at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre, and saw Waxahatchee – aka Katie Crutchfield – serve as the opening act, having been a self-confessed superfan of the group.

Together, they sang ‘With Arms Outstretched’, a fan favourite track from Rilo Kiley’s second album ‘The Execution Of All Things’, released in 2002

News of the comeback followed Jenny Lewis telling NME in 2019 that she was open to getting the band back together. Then, in 2023 the singer spoke to us again about the prospect of a Rilo Kiley reunion, dismissing immediate hopes by saying: “I’ve got a lot on my plate […] We’re not talking about it, but it’s not off the table.”

Although live shows have been few and far between since 2011, Rilo Kiley did reissue their 1999 self-titled debut album in 2020 and made it available on streaming services for the first time.

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