Paul Weller won’t be going to the Oasis Live ’24 tour because he doesn’t like “big gigs”.
The Jam star – who is good friends with Oasis star Noel Gallagher – has confessed he won’t be going to any of the reunited band’s concerts this year because he isn’t a fan of stadium shows and prefers to see bands perform in more intimate venues.
During an interview with Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2, Weller explained: “I’ve not been to see them [Oasis], no …
“I’m not a big fan of big gigs, I said to Noel, a few weeks or months ago: ‘Are you going to do any warm-ups?’ which he wasn’t, but, I’d go and see something like that in a smaller venue, but I just don’t like big gigs. It doesn’t matter who it was, really.”
He added: “Inevitably, it doesn’t matter too much where you’re sitting unless you’re right in the front row, you just end up watching the screens. It kind of spoils a bit for me because I want to see whoever is playing or singing, and I want to be able to see them.”
Weller, 67, went on to insist he’s pleased for his pal Noel because the Oasis reunion has proved to be a “big cultural moment”.
He said: “You know how it’s going to go for him, it’s going to be mad. I said to him that it’s going to be a cultural moment because the amount of people I speak to just out on the street, not necessarily who you’d think would be an Oasis fan, but they are all going to it, and it’s a big cultural moment, I think that will be remembered forever …
“There’s probably not too many bands like them [Oasis] at the moment, y’know, kind of guitar music. I can’t think of any, not from the UK anyway, maybe Fontaines DC is different and people like that. So, I think it’s definitely a younger audience who missed out on that ’90s thing.”
The Oasis Live ’25 Tour started in the UK in Cardiff with shows on July 4 and 5 before heading to the band’s hometown of Manchester for five gigs at Heaton Park between July 11 and 16
After concluding the UK and Ireland leg – with gigs in London, Edinburgh and Dublin – Oasis will take the shows to North America, South Korea, Japan, Australia and South America, where the tour will conclude in Sao Paulo, Brazil on November 25.