The record store owner who inspired lyrics to an Oasis song has reacted to news of the band’s reunion this week.
The Britpop band announced a major UK and Ireland tour called Oasis Live ’25 earlier this week (27 August). The tour is set to take place in July and August and will see Liam and Noel Gallagher share the stage together for the first time in 16 years.
The highly anticipated tour currently consists of multiple dates at Heaton Park in Manchester, Wembley Stadium in London, Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Croke Park in Dublin and Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh – and this morning three more dates were added due to “unprecedented demand”. Concerts outside of Europe are also currently being planned.
Now Peter Howard, owner of Sifters Records in Manchester, has reacted to the news of the reunion. Howard, 76, was referred to as Mr. Sifter in Oasis’ song “Shakermaker” in the line: “Mr Sifter was selling me songs when I was 16. Now he stops at traffic lights, but only when they’re green..”
Since the news of the reunion arrived, fans have been gathering in front of the record store all week.
Talking about the reunion with Sky NewsHoward said he expects demand for the tickets to be “chaos” because “there are going to be millions of people who want tickets. They expect the demand to be bigger than Taylor Swift’s whatever,” referring to Taylor Swift’s ongoing “Eras Tour.”
When asked how he felt when news of the reunion came through, he said: “Oh, how exciting – because we’ve been denying it for, well, years. Everyone who comes here asks about them, because they’re fans, you know.”
Oasis are finally getting back together 15 years after their split and have announced a major UK tour.
Record store owner who inspired Noel and Liam Gallagher says reunion is more in demand than ‘Taylor, what’s up’ https://t.co/c3ZmzQbEX4 pic.twitter.com/OSa9KVIP2P
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) 27 August 2024
“I thought it would happen later, after I retired. You surprised us all.”
He also recalled how the band wrote “Shakermaker” and how they “called me up to get permission to do it,” and their legacy: “They have good tunes, good rock stuff. Right place, right time.”
Tickets for Oasis’ 2025 UK and Ireland tour go on general sale this Saturday (August 31) at 9am BST – you can buy your tickets here (UK) and here (Ireland). Fans were also able to enter a prize draw to be entered into a pre-sale on Friday (August 30) before 7pm BST yesterday (August 28).
Oasis’ UK and Ireland tour dates for 2025 are:
JULY
04 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium
05 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium
11 – Manchester, Heaton Park
12 – Manchester, Heaton Park
16 – Manchester, Heaton Park – new date
19 – Manchester, Heaton Park
20 – Manchester, Heaton Park
25 – London, Wembley Stadium
26 – London, Wembley Stadium
30 – London, Wembley Stadium – new date
AUGUST
02 – London, Wembley Stadium
03 – London, Wembley Stadium
08 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
09 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
12 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium – new date
16 – Dublin, Croke Park
17 – Dublin, Croke Park
Ticketmaster has already outlined its strict ticket purchasing rules before the sale and confirmed that customers can only order four tickets per household and card.
The band also announced yesterday (August 29) that they have partnered with ticket resale platform Twickets for their upcoming reunion tour.
Meanwhile, Oasis fans are currently speculating about who might join the formerly estranged Gallagher brothers on stage next summer. According to previous reports, “no other original members of Oasis will be joining the reunion” and “members of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will step in.”
Now, however, co-founder Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs is also expected to go on tour.
Oasis Live ’25 is set to gross a staggering £400 million and follows the 30th anniversary expanded reissue of Definitely Maybe, which is released tomorrow (Friday 30 August).
Despite media speculation, the band also confirmed yesterday that they will not headline Glastonbury in 2025.
