'A wasted opportunity' - Mixed reactions as Oasis support acts for reunion tour ‘revealed’

The support acts for Oasis‘ 2025 UK and Ireland reunion tour have reportedly been revealed.

The hit Britpop band finally announced their highly-anticipated reunion 15 years after their dramatic split.

Brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher will reunite for a comeback tour of the UK & Ireland next year, their first time returning to the stage together since the latter quit the band in 2009.

Next summer will see Liam and Noel Gallagher bring Oasis Live ’25 to Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin for the Britpop band’s first shows since 2009.

Fans have since been speculating over who could be opening for the formerly estranged brothers at the gigs. So far, support has only been announced for the North American leg – with Cage The Elephant appearing on the line-up.

According to an “exclusive” report by The Independent, support at the UK and Ireland concerts will come from the former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft and Cast. The latter group recently opened for Liam on his ‘Definitely Maybe’ 30th anniversary tour.

The Independent reported that sources close to the Manchester-formed rock band said the two acts have been booked to open for them on all of their scheduled UK and Ireland dates next year.

Singer Liam Gallagher previously teased the news from his X/Twitter account last week, following the announcement of the North America and Australia legs of the Oasis ‘25 tour. An official announcement is expected to go out next week.

The Independent added that Cast will reportedly perform first, followed by Ashcroft, then Oasis.

Ashcroft is a longtime friend of both Liam and his older brother, Noel, who supported his band (known simply then as Verve) back in 1993.

As a tribute to the Lancashire-born vocalist, Noel penned the song “Cast No Shadow” from Oasis’s second album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

“[Ashcroft] always seemed to me to not be very happy about what was going on around him, almost trying too hard,” Noel once said in an interview with Select magazine.

“I always felt he was born in the wrong place, and he was always trying to say the right things, but they came out wrong.”

Cast are another northern 90s act, having formed in Liverpool in 1992 during the Britpop boom by John Power and Peter Wilkinson, formerly of The La’s and Shack respectively.

The band split in 2001 following the release of their fourth album, but reunited nine years later, and have released three more records since.

They have supported Oasis before, when the band played their historic Knebworth shows in 1996.

Fan reactions to the speculated support acts has been mixed, with some welcoming the acts as "a legendary trio", and others slamming the band for not promoting younger acts.

One music blog took to Twitter to say the support act spots "could’ve been a great opportunity to showcase current and upcoming UK/Irish bands and help push guitar music back into the mainstream.

"Having Richard Ashcroft and Cast seems like a wasted opportunity to me," they added.

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