At MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Liam Gallagher, the lead singer of Oasis, honored the victims of the tragic Minneapolis church shooting. On August 27, a shooter opened fire at the Church of the Annunciation during a service at Annunciation Catholic School. The attack left two children dead, including eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel and a ten-year-old girl, and injured 18 others. The shooter fired over a hundred rounds before taking his own life. Authorities later found weapons with names of past killers and hateful messages against Jewish people. It was revealed that he had planned the attack by attending services to scout the location.
On September 1, as the packed stadium fell silent, Liam dedicated the song “Live Forever” to the children of Minneapolis. Fletcher’s father, Jessie Merkel, shared, “Fletcher loved his family, friends, fishing, cooking, and any sports that he was allowed to play. While the hole in our hearts and lives will never be filled, I hope that in time, our family can find healing.”
This concert was a significant stop on Oasis’s comeback tour, which kicked off on July 4 in the UK. It was the first time Oasis had performed in the U.S. since 2008. During the encore, Noel Gallagher noticed some fans experiencing their first Oasis concert. He said, “You might’ve wondered what it might be like to sing this next song with 60, 70,000 of your fellow Oasis fans. Well, you’re going to find out what that feeling is like.”
After wrapping up in Pasadena on September 7, the band will head to Mexico, followed by shows in Japan, Australia, and Brazil, with the final concert in São Paulo on November 23.
