Oasis announce final support act for UK and Ireland tour

Announcement comes after the band revealed former The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft would join them for their reunion tour next year

Oasis have announced that indie-rock band Cast will be the final act joining them for their UK and Ireland reunion tour next year.

Last week, the Manchester-formed rock band shared that Richard Ashcroft would join them on their sold-out series of shows, which will mark the first time brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher have performed together onstage in 16 years.

Cast, of whom both Noel and Liam are longtime fans, have since been confirmed as the opening act for Oasis on the same tour.

The announcement comes afterThe Independent exclusively revealed that Ashcroft and Cast would open for Oasis earlier this month.

It has been confirmed that this completes the lineup for the UK and Ireland shows.

Cast frontman John Power said in a statement: “I’m blown away at the reunion. Oasis are the voice of a generation and the songs that they wrote and sung were and still are the soundtrack to many people’s dreams. They are the people’s band.”

John Power called Oasis ‘the people’s band’ (PA)

He added: “I’ve known Noel and Liam all through the years, we go way back. It’s been some ride, some journey. I’ve felt and known their music personally, as a fan. It inspired me as a songwriter, it blew the whole scene open like nothing before and it reached way beyond the stratosphere. Everything changed.

“We were all part of that and we will all be part of this. I’m especially looking forward to revisiting my family’s Irish roots when the tour hits Dublin. Let the opening chords shimmer and shine next July.”

Cast were formed by Power in Liverpool in 1992, following his departure from The La’s – of whom Liam in particular was a huge fan – and by Peter Wilkinson, formerly of the band Shack.

They rose to fame amid the Britpop scene of the mid-Nineties and were signed after the Gallaghers offered them a support slot, releasing records including their 1995 debut All Change, and 1999’s Magic Hour.

They split in 2001 then reformed nine years later to release their fifth album, Troubled Times. Their seventh record, Love is the Call, was released in February this year and charted at No 22 in the UK.

Confirming he would open for Oasis last week, Ashcroft said: “As a fan from day one I was buzzing for many reasons when the news of Oasis’s return was announced. I can say with no exaggeration that the songwriting talent of Noel and Liam’s pure spirit as a lead singer helped to inspire me to create some of my best work.

“It was the perfection of ‘Live Forever’ that forced me to try and write my own. They dared to be great, made the dreams we had real and I will always remember those days with joy. Now it’s time to create more memories and I’m ready to bring it. See you next summer. Music is power.”

All of Oasis’s UK and Ireland tour dates have sold out. They will be supported in the US by rock band Cage the Elephant.

Liam appeared to hit out at some fans questioning their choice of support act last week, as he posted to X/Twitter after Ashcroft was announced: “To all the folk who are crying about us not showing love to the young bands and not letting them support there’s LEVELS to this game and I’m afraid 99 [per cent] of ya are way off.”