October 1996.
Charles and Diana have just completed their four-year-long divorce proceedings, Rupert Murdoch has just launched the Fox News Channel, and Alan Shearer is the most expensive footballer on the planet.
Oh, and a couple of brothers from Burnage are the most recognisable rock stars in Britain.
The brothers are Gallaghers, their band is Oasis, and they’re a Force of Nature.
Fast forward a couple of decades and the phenomenon has long since subsided.
Noel and Liam’s fractious and highly publicised relationship came to a head before a gig in Paris in 2009; the band disbanded and an era ended.
It’s been seven years since their no show in the French capital, and seven years since the famously feuding brothers shared anything other than social media unpleasantries.
Nonetheless, their legacy is such that a film – titled Supersonic – documenting their stratospheric success has been released to mark the 20th anniversary of their monstrous Morning Glory tour.
From Whitley Bay to West LA, taking in Nantes, New York and Knebworth along the way, the tour cemented Oasis’ status as the biggest band on earth.
The story of how this juggernaut came to be is the latest venture for the team behind highly acclaimed documentary films ‘Amy’ and ‘Senna’.
Supersonic premiered at the Printworks’ ODEON cinema on Sunday, October 2 with ex-members Liam Gallagher and Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs both in attendance.
Noel was not present at the exclusive premiere, with his younger sibling claiming that the occasion wasn’t ‘A-list enough’ for his big brother.
The 44-year-old rocker was at his clichéd best during the bash, lambasting Noel for ‘acting like Sting’ and claiming he was ‘right about everything’ that went on – from being in an unsigned club act to a stadium-filling superstar.
It was back in 1991 that the three-piece of Arthurs, Tony McCarroll, and Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan sought a lead singer for their Oasis precursor, The Rain.
Two Gallaghers and a name change resulted in platinum masterpiece, Definitely Maybe.
The group’s ‘difficult second album’, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, managed to eclipse its predecessor, securing the Burnage band’s status as Britpop’s key players.
Naturally, Oasis’ immense achievements came as no surprise to their former frontman who, in a slightly hastier ‘interview’, said he’d expected nothing less.
Gallagher said: “I joined a band that had no name, people might have got it mixed up with a band called The Rain, but I’ve always been in Oasis and I always thought we would be big.”
Former guitarist, Arthurs, contests those views.
Instead, the 51-year-old told MM that the band’s accomplishments had exceeded his ‘wildest expectations’.
“We had a massive belief in what we did,” he said.
“We had a vision and we wanted to take this band as far as we could but even then, with Noel coming in and writing the songs, I’d be a liar if I said I believed it would ever get as big as it did.”
Despite global acclaim, the group always endorsed their home town, never shying away from their roots; making Manchester the perfect setting for the release of this feature length celebration.
“To do it [in London] and not come back here wouldn’t wash with me,” Liam told MM.
Bonehead also averred his ‘pleasure’ at the premiere’s location.
“This is where we started, this is where we’re all from,” he said.
The rock star added: “I still live here and it’s where we put the really hard work in before we signed the deals. It’s nice to do the premiere here with the people of Manchester.”
Supersonic’s release signals a month of serious nostalgia for Oasis enthusiasts with acclaimed exhibition Chasing The Sun finally making its long-awaited arrival in Manchester on Friday, October 14.
Curator and photographer, Lawrence Watson, has expanded the free show, which attracted over 40,000 visitors to its London debut two years ago, for its homecoming by adding rare artefacts and unseen photos to an already bustling collection.
The exhibition even includes a life size replica of Bonehead’s West Didsbury living room, setting for the Definitely Maybe album front cover, giving fans the chance to recreate one of the 1990’s most iconic images.
Chasing The Sun opens for 11 days at the Old Granada Studios, while Supersonic, along with a special edition reissue of Be Here Now, went on general sale on Friday.
The film is also available on iTunes from October 24 and is released on DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital Download the following week.
October 2016. Get mad for it.
Image courtesy of Ben Lowe, via YouTube, with thanks.
