Oasis at Knebworth — August 1996

On August 10 and 11, 1996, Oasis played two consecutive nights at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire to a combined audience of 250,000 people — the largest outdoor concerts in British history at the time. An estimated 2.5 million people had applied for tickets, meaning roughly one in twenty people in the United Kingdom tried to attend. The shows represented the absolute peak of Britpop and of Oasis's cultural dominance: for two nights, Noel and Liam Gallagher were the biggest band in Britain by a margin that seemed almost absurd.

Knebworth Park — the grounds of a stately home in Hertfordshire, roughly 30 miles north of London — had a long history of hosting major concerts, including Led Zeppelin (1979), the Rolling Stones (1976), and Pink Floyd (1975). But the 1996 Oasis shows were on a different scale. The setlist drew heavily from (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) and Definitely Maybe (1994), and the atmosphere was described as a communal celebration unlike anything in British music since Live Aid. 'Champagne Supernova,' 'Don't Look Back in Anger,' and 'Wonderwall' were performed to crowds that stretched to the horizon.

Knebworth Park continues to host concerts and festivals, and the 1996 Oasis shows remain its most famous events. The documentary Oasis Knebworth 1996 was released in 2021. For many fans, these were the defining concerts of the 1990s — the moment when Oasis's ambition matched their audience's devotion. Knebworth Park is open to the public for events and is approximately 30 miles north of central London.