The newly released documentary capturing Oasis's 2025 reunion tour, 'Don't Look Back in Anger', includes a rare paired interview with Liam and Noel Gallagher – their first since the 2009 backstage fight in Paris that broke up the band. During the interview, both Gallaghers note that had the band's story ended with that fight, their legacy would have been one of astonishing success curtailed by “chaos”. Instead, the reunion gigs, which proved wildly lucrative, allowed them to add a triumphant coda to that messy ending. “It feels like a weight has been lifted,” a surprisingly contemplative Liam says.
Why Music Documentaries Are Booming
The film is part of a broader trend of music documentaries and concert films drawing fans to cinemas. According to a count mentioned in the source, more than 30 such films have been released this year alone, ranging from high-definition gigs by K-pop groups like Enhypen, Stray Kids, and Ateez, to archive-rich career retrospectives of acts like Megadeth and James, and restorations of concerts from artists no longer with us, such as Soul to Soul and EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert. This count excludes straight-to-streaming music docs and scripted films like the Michael Jackson biopic and the Green Day-authored comedy Nimrods.
The current climate is particularly welcoming for the genre. Live footage has never been easier to capture, and archive footage is simpler to upload and digitise. With cinema attendance still significantly down since the pandemic, exhibitors are enthusiastic about showing films that lure in fandoms, particularly younger ones, that cinemas might otherwise not reach.
Artists' Control and Generational Divide
With studios and streamers lining up for these projects, artists or their estates can demand a share of control over the finished product, especially if they hold rights to archive material and songs. Intriguingly, Oasis did not seem to demand editorial control over 'Don't Look Back in Anger'; had they done so, the source suggests they might have nixed extended footage of a fan wearing a kit of the Gallagher brothers' hated Manchester United.
A generational divide jumps out between concert films and documentaries. Younger artists, without much history to trumpet, are largely subjects of concert films, showcasing the kineticism of their live shows to entice fans for future tours. Older artists with extensive archives and long narratives are more likely to be profiled in documentaries or hybrids, making their case for a place in pop's pantheon.
Oasis's Music as Folk Memory
'Don't Look Back in Anger' goes further than many peers by suggesting the band's music has grown beyond their control, becoming part of a wider folk memory. “You want to be writing songs that people take and stick into their lives and go 'It's mine now',” Liam says. The documentary spends as much time with Oasis fans, from Argentinian football ultras to Korean oyster-divers, as with the Gallaghers. A stirring moment occurs during the Manchester Heaton Park gigs, where cameras follow fans clambering over fences for a communal ticketless sing-along of 'Bring It on Down', as if the music has passed from the band to the public.
Compelling evidence is shown, including footage of 'Don't Look Back in Anger' (the song) being spontaneously sung at the vigil for the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. In another scene, a priest uses the Gallaghers' reunion to highlight the importance of forgiveness. The documentary features ecstatic wailing of fans and mass devotional sing-alongs, giving a distinctly religious quality to some footage.
Perhaps that's the power of music – or a slickly produced documentary – to make ephemeral rock stars immortal.
