What did Oasis play at Knebworth in 1996?

10 August 2024, 07:30 | Updated: 11 September 2024, 15:27

Noel and Liam Gallagher performing at Knebworth in August 1996. Picture: Brian Rasic/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

By Radio X

Which songs did the Manchester band perform at their biggest ever shows in August 1996?

It's now 28 years since Oasis played two sold-out nights at Knebworth House, Hertfordshire.

Over the weekend of Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th August 1996, the band performed to 250,000 people in what's now regarded as the high point of the Britpop era.

The Knebworth shows were the subject of a major film, released in September last year. But while most accounts talk of the scale, the hedonism and the enormous guest list, what about the actual music?

OASIS - Some Might Say (Live at Knebworth) [Sunday 11th August, 1996]

Oasis were fresh off the success of their second album (What's The Story) Morning Glory? which had been released the previous autumn. Their last UK single had been the evergreen Don't Look Back In Anger, which had topped the British charts in February 1996.

Liam Gallagher on stage with Oasis at Knebworth, 10 August 1996. Picture: PA News/Stefan Rouseau/Alamy

The band walked on stage to The Swamp Song, which was originally one of the b-sides to Wonderwall back in October 1995.

Noel Gallagher kicked off the show by announcing: “We’re all making history tonight.” Both shows opened with Columbia, followed by Acquiesce and Supersonic.

An aerial shot of the Oasis gig at Knebworth in August 1996. Picture: Mick Hutson/Redferns/Getty Images

The encore was the anthemic Champagne Supernnova, which was a highlight of (What's The Story) Morning Glory? and had been released as a single in its own right in some countries. Both shows ended with a frantic cover of The Beatles' 1967 classic I Am The Walrus.

The setlist was the same for both nights at Knebworth - here's what they played: