Oasis is Back with a 2025 Tour — What Does Their Return Mean?

Last summer, you might find yourself encountering an oasis in your social media feed: the long-awaited Gallagher brothers' reunion. After 15 years apart, they’re starting a UK and Ireland tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Oasis’s debut album, Definitely Maybe, released August 30th. Their tour this 2025 summer will also celebrate What's the Story (Morning Glory)? which followed the next year.

But their return isn’t just about the music; it revives the spirit of the Britpop era, the rise of lad culture, and the story of working-class youth. Will we look back without anger, or will lad culture still haunt our present day?

The Britpop Phenomenon:

Britpop was a British-based movement that emerged in the mid-1990s, defined by catchy alternative rock with melodic hooks. It reacted against the darker, grunge-influenced sound dominating the 1990s, offering something more relatable to British youth. As Blur’s Damon Albarn said in 1993, “If punk was about ditching hippies, then I’m ditching grunge!”

The movement embraced regional accents and working-class culture, weaving political statements and references to British life into its lyrics. Inspired by The Beatles, The Kinks, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, glam rock, and punk, Britpop sparked national pride in Cool Britannia. It helped cultivate optimism after the tough years of Thatcherism marked by economic hardship and political division.

Cool Britannia rebelled against the elitist, conservative 1980s, redefining British identity with pride in regional accents, working-class culture, and everyday struggles. It gave a voice to working-class youth who often felt marginalized.

Though brief, Britpop’s legacy endures—especially for millennials—and paved the way for post-Britpop bands like Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines.

Lad Culture: Its Rise, Repercussions, and Oasis's Role

Parallel to Britpop, lad culture emerged in the 1990s as a media-driven subculture, particularly among young, working-class men. Seen as a reaction to 1980s–90s feminism, lad culture featured heavy drinking, aggression, and rejected traditional family values. It became associated with misogynistic behaviours, sexual harassment, and a boorish, often toxic masculinity.

This culture celebrated rebellion and excess, becoming synonymous with Oasis and lad rock. The Gallagher brothers, with their aggressive personalities, confrontational public image, and working-class roots, embodied the defiant spirit of lad culture. Their swagger-filled music spoke to young men who felt left behind by the world.

However, lad culture leaves a complicated legacy. While it voiced young men’s struggles, it also reinforced harmful stereotypes and behaviours. Despite its flaws, lad culture’s rise wasn’t just about toxic masculinity; it also reflected a desire for identity and belonging. Oasis’s music, rooted in lad culture rebellion, also offered hope—an anthem for those seeking to escape their circumstances and economic limits.

The legacy of lad culture has evolved, or perhaps devolved, into darker, more insular corners of the internet. These online spaces often spread digital misogyny, where hostility toward women and feminism thrives, with some seeing themselves as victims of societal change. While lad culture once rebelled against traditional norms, the manosphere twists this into a reactionary ideology that demonizes women and resists gender equality progress. 

Recent UK youth polls show a complex picture: two-thirds see toxic masculinity as a growing problem, but young men and women hold differing views on gender equality and traditional roles. Some young men feel overlooked or fall short of ideal masculinity, making parts of ‘lad’ culture or the manosphere resonate with a minority.

Parts of lad culture and the manosphere remain popular among some young men, which is concerning given their developmental stage and vulnerability to manipulation — especially since they represent the future generation

Despite the prominent role of women in rock 'n' roll—often as the muses, groupies, girlfriends. The genre—born from a Black queer womb —often sidelines or erases their contribution. Oasis, however, had a slightly different dynamic. While they, too, featured women in these stereotypical roles, they also had a significant presence of women behind the scenes. One of the most notable was their mother, Peggy Gallagher, who raised the band.

Still, despite these behind-the-scenes influences, Oasis's live audience was overwhelmingly male, aligning with the broader trends of lad rock. This gender disparity is important to note in the context of Oasis's legacy. Furthermore, Noel Gallagher’s infamous “no female” rule for his rock ‘n’ roll “Hall of Fame” list reveals Oasis’s gender contradictions: while they often sidelined or objectified women publicly, they still recognized their importance behind the scenes.

Oasis Across Generations and Geographies

Ironically, in my Brazilian hometown and social circles during the 2010s, Oasis was not a well-known name. Music enthusiasts or millennials were more likely to recognize it. My father first introduced me to their music, and a close friend later helped me explore it more deeply. Oasis became the soundtrack to many of my teenage memories.

But when I moved to England, I noticed how deeply Oasis was ingrained in the national psyche. People played their music everywhere—from streets to football stadiums, their albums were easy to find, and I could physically feel their influence in the places outside London I've been.

Though Oasis embodied 1990s working-class youth, their influence remains strong worldwide across generations after 30 years. Notable for the increase in streaming of their songs. Their music evokes a yearning for escape and offers a vision of potential for young people from similar backgrounds timelessly. For many, their anthemic choruses and aspirational lyrics provided a powerful soundtrack to dreams of transcending their circumstances, resonating with those facing limited opportunities in post-Thatcherite Britain.

Their 2024 resurgence parallels Britain’s shift as it recovers from recession and prepares for Keir Starmer’s Labour Party to take power. After 14 years of Conservative government, the atmosphere was electric with the promise of change and renewed optimism. But I dare to say, so go away, say what you will not say with this conservative glove beneath the Labour façade. Not to mention ongoing economic challenges, including a severe cost-of-living crisis and strict (anti) immigration policies.

Today, Oasis’s music resonates with new generations, particularly Gen Z, who find the same anthemic choruses and defiant lyrics inspiring. Despite new genres rising, Oasis’s music still connects and inspires across borders. Their 2024 comeback aligns with UK’s shifting political and economic scene, echoing the 1990s Cool Britannia optimism. The Gallagher brothers’ reunion tour sold out quickly, proving their lasting appeal. Not to mention that their hits continue to echo in football stadiums, serving as anthems for fans to this day.

And all the roads we have to walk are winding, and all the lights that lead us there are blinding. Today, Generation Z is often derisively labelled as the 'snowflake generation,' but it’s undeniable how this generation champions minority empowerment and political awareness, while also grappling with the complexities of cancel culture. After 30 years, how many special people (will) change?