It is challenging to articulate the immense popularity of Oasis in the U.K. during the ’90s, but one of the best ways to grasp it is by exploring their iconic two-day performance at Knebworth on August 10 and 11, 1996.

By that time, Oasis had released two hugely successful albums: 1994’s Definitely Maybe and 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Both albums reached No. 1 in the U.K. and featured multiple hit singles, including “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” There was no doubt that Oasis had emerged as one of the most famous bands since the Beatles.

“Is it fair to say Oasis are bigger than Jesus Christ?” Noel Gallagher was asked in September 1996, referencing John Lennon’s infamous remarks from 1966. “It is fair to say that Oasis are taller than Jesus Christ,” Noel replied.

A ‘Massive Empty Field’

Noel had visited the site where his band would perform beforehand.

“They took me to the site, and it just looked like this massive empty field that we could never possibly fill,” he recalled to Rock Cellar in 2021. “I told them we’d agree to do two nights. After all the ticket requests came in, they came back and said we could have done eight.”

When Oasis arrived to perform those two shows at the 1996 Knebworth Festival, about 25 miles north of London, throngs of fans showed up. Tickets sold out within minutes, with approximately 2.5 million people applying for them. Each concert attracted 125,000 attendees, totaling a quarter million. At that time, it was the largest outdoor concert in U.K. history for a single act, a record Oasis held until 2003 when Robbie Williams of Take That drew around 375,000 at the same venue.

Watch Oasis Perform ‘Acquiesce’ at Knebworth on August 10, 1996

“I can’t put it into words,” Noel said to BBC Radio 1 the day after the first show. “I can only understate it really because you can’t see the back of the gig as it’s dark and it’s f***ing two miles away from where you’re playing. I’ve been doing interviews all day trying to put it into words and I’d rather not f***ing try to tell you the truth. Absolutely mind-blowing. Now I know what the word big means. We thought we were big when we played Earls Court, then Maine Road. But after last night…There’s big, then there’s bigger than big, and then there’s f***ing like last night…Now that is big.”

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It was even more remarkable considering Oasis had not been together for long.

“We went from playing little clubs to selling out two days at Knebworth in just two years,” guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs told Rock Cellar. “It wasn’t just hype. It was as though we could do no wrong.”

The Downsides to Knebworth

However, as with many massive events, not everything went smoothly. Noel was not keen on repeating such an experience anytime soon — that brilliant moment had occurred, it was fantastic, and now it was time to move on. “Knebworth was top, but I wouldn’t do it again,” he stated a year later in August 1997. “There’s too much flying about in f***ing helicopters with those gigs. I don’t like flying: it’s f***ing petrifying.”

In that same interview, Liam Gallagher remarked that despite how incredible the experience was, the aftermath was poorly managed.

“After Knebworth we should’ve gone on holiday for a couple of months,” he explained. “Chilled right out. It was a big high and all that tackle. Then a week later we were on a plane to f***ing America, playing in front of 10,000 people. Which is not good for your ego.”

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The reality about Oasis was that they were always significantly more popular in their native U.K. than in the U.S., where they struggled to connect with audiences (to date, they have never achieved a No. 1 hit album or single in America).

The New York Times summarized it well: “What Oasis has done in Britain, unifying an entire country under the banner of a single pop act, a band could no longer achieve in a country like the U.S. In Britain, the band reigns unchallenged as the most popular act since the Beatles; there is an Oasis CD in roughly one of every three homes there. Last month, the band drew 250,000 people to Knebworth for the biggest outdoor concerts in the country’s history. The group’s battling brothers, Liam and Noel Gallagher, appear as regularly as royalty on tabloid covers.”

Watch Oasis Perform ‘Champagne Supernova’ at Knebworth in 1996

In 2021, a live album and documentary film were released featuring footage and audio from Oasis’ Knebworth performances.

“Oasis had this ‘lad’s band’ label but it was very equal in terms of boys and girls,” said Jake Scott, the film’s director, to Hot Press in 2021. “I’ve looked at the footage intimately and what comes across is the crowd’s genuine love of the band, love of the music and love of the lyrics – they know every f***ing word. I really wanted to make the film a story about the fans and their relationship with the band and vice versa and how that symbiosis occurred over two days.”

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Reflecting on Knebworth (not in anger), Noel expressed amazement that such a large event unfolded with relatively little drama.

“You know that 250,000 people came to that weekend and there was one arrest?” he stated to Radio X in 2019. “In this day and age there would be extreme violence and extreme selfie taking and extreme streaming… So they are a good memory of a different time.”

Liam humorously admitted he doesn’t have a strong recollection of the concerts but acknowledged it was an incredibly positive experience for both the band and fans.

“Knebworth for me was the Woodstock of the Nineties,” he remarked in 2021. “It was all about the music and the people. I can’t remember much about it but I’ll never forget it. It was biblical.”