With their concert revenue, Oasis promote small music venues in Manchester.
The income from the sold-out Oasis concerts in Heaton Park is reinvested into the local music scene of Manchester. As the city council announced, a funding pot of £ 250,000 will be set up, on which smaller, so-called “Grassroots” music venues can apply. The five shows of the Gallagher brothers as part of the “Live ’25” tour attracted a total of around 300,000 people to the north of the city. In addition to Oasis, international acts such as Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX, Elbow, Fontaines DC and Robbie Williams have also appeared in Manchester in the past few weeks. According to media reports, the city recorded around 1.3 million visitors: inside.
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City of Manchester benefits
The city of Manchester benefited financially, among other things, through the renting of urban parks and through trade taxes of larger venues. Part of the income will also flow back to the urban parks. Bev Craig, chair of the city council, emphasized the importance of smaller venues for the music landscape: “The big concerts may dominate the headlines, but they are only possible because there is a wide ecosystem with smaller venues that serve as a springboard for artists: inside.”
Promotion for local music scene
Jay Taylor from the British Music Playing Association Music Venue Trust also welcomes the measure. In view of increasing costs and shortened tax relief for small locations, the funding fund comes at the right time. The fund is to be managed by Music Venue Trust in the future, and the details are currently still being finalized. The step is a signal for other cities in the United Kingdom to also promote their local music scene more specifically.
According to Music Venue Trust, the most lost year for smaller venues in Great Britain, 125 venues had to close, around 14,500 planned events were eliminated. The proposal of a ticket of a pound per sold stadium or arena ticket is still in the room.
Comeback after 16 years
The current Oasis reunion has been the first tour of the group in 16 years. She started with concerts in Cardiff in early July 2025 and continued to take the Gallagher brothers and her band to Edinburgh, Dublin and North America after the London shows, where gigs in Toronto, New Jersey, Chicago, Los Angeles and Mexico City are planned. This is followed by two further appearances in the Wembley Stadium and appointments in Asia, Australia and South America.