‘Can you imagine being in potentially the coolest band in the world and not doing it because you’re in a mard with your brother? Grow up! Headline Glastonbury!’

Well, you can call The 1975’s Matty Healy a prophet of sorts, because this week (as if you don’t already know), the most famous sibling rivalry in rock’n’roll was stitched back together. Oasis are coming. And though Healy got the Glastonbury bit wrong in his 2023 interview, they’re actually going one better, announcing 17 stadium shows.

Whether you’re a parka-swaddled true believer, a dedicated enemy of the Gallaghers, or just enjoy shouting ‘SOOO SALLY CAN WAIT’ at weddings, it’s hard to exist in post-90s Britain without knowing the tale of Liam and Noel. Fantastically talented Mancunian brothers found sneering rock band, sell a gazillion records, then spend three decades tearing each other apart in the press and in person.

Noel hit Liam with a cricket bat. Liam dropped out of a US tour. Noel left the band after a brawl in Paris. Liam did this tweet:

POTATO pic.twitter.com/C13BbKFyCH

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) July 9, 2016

You get the picture. The Gallaghers are the poster-boys of pout, the princes of pettiness. So the furore this week isn’t just about their fans getting to see them perform again. It’s about the enormity of their reconciliation – and the little spark of hope it brings.

True, it took about five picoseconds for people to start joking Oasis would immediately fall out again and that Noel’s recent £20m divorce might have something to do with the lucrative tour. But even so, underneath the jibes, the money, and the hilariously grumpy promo shot, there’s a glint of heaven. If Liam and Noel can bury the hatchet, maybe anyone can.

In their own way, they’re showing what it looks like when redemption happens to broken humans. Wounds healed. Respect restored. Joy released for hundreds of thousands of others. Their reunion hints at the fact we’re made to be in healthy relationships with our neighbours, even when that neighbour’s your irritating rockstar brother. For Christians, it’s a reminder that we’re called to work for reconciliation as Jesus did: putting our status aside and reaching out, even when others don’t deserve it.

Hopes may not be high for Oasis’ long-term future. They never were – and yet here we are. Hope’s funny like that. Like yeast, it works through the dough of life, changing everything. Is there a gesture of reconciliation you can offer this week? What might it change?

Josh Hinton
Head of Communications, LICC