Oasis are definitely, maybe returning to Slane Castle for at least one – and possibly two – concerts next year.
At least that is what the online rumour mill is suggesting this weekend after the band’s official account posted a striking video of Liam Gallagher standing on a stage overlooking an empty field to a soundtrack of birds tweeting.
It is not, however, any old field. Internet sleuths were quick to point out that the field in question looks uncannily like Slane’s natural amphitheatre, right down to the curves of the hills and the positioning of the trees.
Not only that but the pose that the band’s mouthy frontman is adopting in the latest video is almost exactly the same as an image that was taken from the Slane stage in 1995 when the band performed there, right down to the clothes and the tambourine he is holding behind his back.
That is all that people have needed to decide that Oasis are coming back to Slane to headline two concerts, possibly over the first two weekends in September.
Back then, Oasis were playing second fiddle to REM who were headliners at the castle as part of their Monster tour.
Oasis were just months away from releasing a monster album of their own with What’s The Story Morning Glory the following October.
That Slane appearance was not without controversy, with Gallagher complaining to the crowd for, he said, throwing projectiles at him.
Oasis returned to Slane in 2009 as a headliner and there was no-one throwing anything at them on the second occasion.
An official announcement about a 2027 tour has been teased by the band for weeks now but a separate post on its Instagram account over the weekend that has the date 14/09/26 in lights appears to make it clear that details of the all the concerts in Ireland and Britain will be confirmed on Monday.
The band’s return to touring led to a scramble for tickets at the end of August 2024.
It was not without controversy, with the band deploying dynamic ticket pricing much to the anger of fans, some of whom ended up paying much higher prices for their standing tickets than others.
That system of ticket-selling was quickly discontinued for the rest of the global Oasis tour that followed. In recent weeks the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has launched a legal action against Ticketmaster for the maner in which that sale was conducted.
If Oasis do confirm two Slane dates for September 4th and 5th next year, there will be around 160,000 tickets up for grabs and it is likely pricing will be considerably more transparent.
If such a concert (or concerts) does happen, it will also be the first time that Slane Castle has hosted two different headliners in the same year, with Fontaines DC set to play in the same venue over two nights at the end of June.