12 July 2025, 19:44 | Updated: 12 July 2025, 21:45
Liam and Noel Gallagher walk out on stage
Oasis playing the first of five nights at Heaton Park on their Live '25 World Tour. Picture: Izzy Clayton/Alamy Live News
By Rebecca Henrys
Fans reportedly booed Liam Gallagher during Oasis' first hometown concert on Friday after he made a surprise dedication before playing one of the group's songs.
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The band's return to the stage in Manchester after nearly 16 years saw more than 70,000 fans fill out Heaton Park in the first of five sold-out shows.
There was a brief moment of tension just as they were about to perform D'You Know What I Mean as Liam dedicated the song to someone in the crowd - prompting boos from some.
He said: "I'd like to dedicate this to the greatest manager of all time, Mr Pep Guardiola."
Brother Noel snapped at the crowd: "Who you f***ing booing, who you f***ing booing?"
Manchester City manager Guardiola has delivered the club the Champions League and six Premier League titles.
Noel told crowds at the homecoming concert that he was aware that "the boss," referring to Guardiola, the manager of the football team he supports, was in attendance.
A group of people wearing bucket hats walking towards the camera
Oasis fans arrive at Heaton Park for the British rock band's highly-anticipated second leg of their reunion tour in Manchester. Picture: OLI SCARFF/AFP
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Liam’s two sons Lennon, 25, and Gene, 24, and Noel’s three children Anais, 25, Donovan, 17 and Sonny, 14, were with Guardiola at the show where they snapped a group photo.
Gene, whose mum is Liam’s ex-wife Nicole Appleton, shared the image to Instagram, with the caption: "Pic of the century alright now everyone els f*** off."
The 24-year-old has previously spoken of his friendship with his cousin Anais, and said: "We’re a big happy family."
Greater Manchester Police said the event passed "without incident," although six men were arrested and in custody for a range of reasons including being drunk and disorderly and on suspicion of drug and fraud offences.
Five drones were also seized after breaches of air space restrictions.
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle said: "We are really pleased to say that fans attending the concert tonight have been able to do so safely and without incident.
"We have had an extensive, highly visible presence at the venue and across the city today to ensure everyone’s safety, and a dispersal notice covering Heaton Park remains in place until 2am tomorrow morning to allow us to deal with any anti-social behaviour robustly."
Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester City Council, said before the concert on Friday that the city was "all set to welcome music fans from across the globe" for "a supersonic string of hometown dates from Liam and Noel."
Councillor Craig added: "The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time. We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy, whether they have tickets for the Oasis gigs or not."
She urged people without tickets not to travel to Heaton Park, warning that there is "nothing for them to see or do there," instead suggesting they celebrate the reunion in the city centre.
Temperatures were in the high 20s in Manchester on Friday evening and Oasis had told fans to prepare for "extreme sun and heat."
In a post on social media, the band urged concertgoers to "wear a (bucket) hat," put on sun screen, stay hydrated, seek shade and look after one another at Heaton Park.
The five sold-out shows there follow the band’s first comeback gigs in Cardiff last week.
After Manchester, Oasis will visit London’s Wembley Stadium, Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium and Dublin’s Croke Park throughout July, August and September.