Oasis Documentary to Chronicle Massive 1996 Knebworth Concerts

Jonathan Cohen
·2 min read
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It’s been nearly 12 years since Oasis last played live, but that hasn’t stopped the beloved U.K. band from burnishing its legacy with such projects as the 2016 documentary “Oasis: Supersonic.” That film began and ended with Oasis’ career-defining, box office record-breaking 1996 U.K. concerts in front of more than 250,000 people at Knebworth, which will now receive their own full documentary treatment this fall.

“Oasis Knebworth 1996” will arrive in theaters around the world on Sept. 23, with tickets going on sale on Aug. 10. Blessed with the full cooperation of Oasis’ famously feuding brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, who serve as executive producers, the project was directed by Jake Scott, who helmed the video for Oasis’ 1995 single “Morning Glory,” Scott previously directed memorable ‘90s rock videos such as R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts,” Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees” and Soundgarden’s “Fell on Black Days,” among many others.

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According to a release, the film “is told entirely in the moment through the eyes of the fans who were there” and is built around “never-before-seen archive concerts and backstage footage,” as well as interviews with Oasis’ members and organizers of the concerts. Sony Music Entertainment is financing and distributing the project, which will be released theatrically by Trafalgar Releasing (Roger Waters’ “The Wall,” Coldplay’s “A Head Full of Dreams”).

Staged on Aug. 10-11, 1996 and representing the arguable peak of the Britpop era, the Knebworth shows crowned a whirlwind two-year period for Oasis which saw the group ascend from small U.K. clubs to the top of the charts with the albums “Definitely Maybe” and “What’s the Story Morning Glory?” Thirteen of the 20 songs were drawn from those two albums, while new songs such as “My Big Mouth” and “It’s Gettin’ Better (Man!)” and an orchestra-backed cover of the Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” rounded out the set lists.

“Knebworth for me was the Woodstock of the ‘90s,” says Liam Gallagher. “It was all about the music and the people. I can’t remember much about it, but I’ll never forget it. It was biblical.”

After years of in-fighting, Oasis split for good in 2009, with the Gallagher brothers moving on to solo projects. In April 2020, Noel Gallagher released a demo for a previously unknown 2000s-era Oasis song, “Don’t Stop,” marking the first unheard music from the group since its breakup.

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