If You’re A Fan Of Oasis, Check Out The Documentary ‘Oasis: Supersonic’

Posted On July 17, 2020

Samantha Colleran, July 2020

Note: This post contains some spoilers about the documentary’s content, read at your own risk! There are also mentions of drug use throughout, if this topic makes you uncomfortable I advise staying away from this post and movie!

The appreciation and love I have for Oasis is recently discovered. I’m such a nerd when it comes to learning the history behind bands and artists and how they came to be, so when I stumbled across a documentary on Netflix about Oasis, I was so excited to watch it.

The documentary, titled Oasis: Supersonic, was released in theaters for one night only back in 2016. It was put on Netflix in the US in December 2018. Supersonic starts off in 1996, showing the band’s entrance to their legendary set in Knebworth. It then flashes back to the early 90s, where we’re introduced to brothers Noel (singer/songwriter/lead guitar) and Liam (lead singer) Gallagher, as well as other members of the band; Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs (rhythm guitar), Tony McCarroll (drums), and Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan (bassist). We learn about Noel and Liam’s upbringing and how their father Tommy was abusive, and their Irish immigrant mother named Peggie was the one who raised them. Noel had a love for music and would always lock himself in his room and mess around on his guitar and smoke a lot of weed. It’s later revealed that Noel channeled a lot of his anger and resentment towards his father into his art, even saying his father “beat the talent” into him. Liam wasn’t into music until a little later in life; he got whacked in the head with a hammer during a fight and had a realization that he was musically inclined. 

The documentary only highlights about two and a half years of the band’s career, but it’s so crazy to see how quickly they rose to fame. Noel was the last to join the band after being dropped from his roadie job for a local band called the Inspiral Carpets. Shortly after he joined, Oasis scored a record deal in ‘93 and were soon, arguably, the biggest rock group in Britain. (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? was the fastest selling album of the decade, and established the group’s place in the industry. The album also highlighted the strange relationship between Noel and Liam. The two are known for their oftentimes public arguments, but with this album the brothers managed to get through recording due to their musical bond. Noel would write lyrics and Liam would know exactly how to sing them, most times in just one to two takes. It’s fascinating to see the one thing that brought the Gallaghers together is what eventually tore them apart. 

The band made their TV debut on The Word with their single “Supersonic”, written by Noel. “We’d done gigs before that and there were people coming along because they’d read about us in the press, but nobody knew any of the songs. On the day that ‘Supersonic’ came out, bang, the crowd were right there, and I remember people singing the lyrics to ‘Supersonic’. You know, they’re singing your words back that you’ve nonsensically wrote down at f-cking three o’clock in the morning,” Noel says in the film. This one song caused them to skyrocket, the sudden launch into fame spiraling out of control far too quickly, which is noted a number of times throughout the film. 

The film also shows the band’s first time in Japan which is something I’d love to touch on for a brief moment. Similar to other rock phenomenons like Queen, Japanese fans went wild at the time of Oasis’ arrival. They waited outside the airport to greet them, followed them around, and a few even managed to get into their hotel! Japanese fans have such a unique and unmatched passion for music and rock artists, I love how the film talks about how grateful Oasis is for having fans like them. 

Although there are a number of high moments for the band throughout the film, we learn about perhaps one of the worst gigs the band has ever performed. In 1994, Oasis were set to play the Whisky-A-Go-Go, one of West Hollywood’s most famous nightclubs. Prior to the show, someone in the crew managed to get their hands on crystal meth. Confusing the crystal meth for cocaine, the band ended up doing “big f-cking lines” of it, according to Liam, and they were up for days on end. On the night of the actual set, the band was so out of it due to lack of sleep, the whole gig was doomed. Someone mixed up the setlists and Noel ended up playing different songs than everyone else, Liam threatened to fight people in the crowd, and he sat out for half of the songs when Noel began to sing some of the songs. This was one of the most notable public fights between the two brothers, Liam threw a tambourine at Noel’s head and they had words on stage. The end result? Noel quit the band for a few days and while hiding out at the house of a girl he met at an Oasis gig in San Francisco, he wrote “Talk Tonight”. A pretty crappy gig with a not so crappy end (for the time being).  

Band members and tour crew came and went, Liam and Noel fought too often about who did what on stage, more drugs were involved, news scandals broke out about the band’s behavior. Although they hit a number of lows, there’s such a unique energy that makes Oasis what it was, it was impossible for the band to give up when they were at such a peak in their careers. At one point in the film Noel says, “The songs on that record (…Morning Glory?), they’re extraordinary songs and they’re not extraordinary because of anything that I did. I only wrote them, and we only played them. It’s the millions of people since who f-cking sing them back to you to this day that have made them extraordinary.” That’s the power of Oasis. No matter what happened behind the scenes, there was always the music that brought everyone together, even the most stubborn people on the planet. 

The film comes full circle and ends with the band singing “Champagne Supernova”, one of my personal favorites, at Knebworth in 1996. The band reflects on their performances, Noel’s words stood out the most to me, “…but people will never ever ever forget the way that you made them feel. There’s a chemistry between the band and the audience. There’s something magnetic drawing the two to each other. The love, and the vibe, and the passion and the rage, and the joy that’s coming from the crowd. If anything, that’s what Oasis was.”

Although the ultimate disbanding was predictable yet disappointing, Oasis certainly was a powerhouse when they were at their peak, and their work is still impactful today. Just start to sing the opening words to “Wonderwall” and see how many people join in. 

You can check out the trailer for the documentary below. If you decide to watch, come back to this post when you finish it and let me know your thoughts!