Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Oasis Knebworth 1996’ on Paramount+, A Chronicle Of The Quartets Finest Live Moment – Decider

Liam and Noel Gallagher serve as executive producers for director Jake Scotts Oasis Knebworth 1996 (Paramount+), a chronicle of the Britpop rockers record-setting two-night stand at the historic open-air venue, a previous host to legendary sets from the likes of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. In 1996, Oasis were quite possibly the worlds biggest thing, and this doc aims to capture the euphoria of 250,000 fans getting to see their favorite band at its performative zenith.

The Gist: After taking the UK charts by storm in 1994 with Definitely Maybe, their Creation Records debut, Oasis had stomped all over the worlds consciousness with their sweeping 1995 follow-up, the multi-Platinum seller (Whats the Story) Morning Glory? and its representative singles: Wonderwall, Some Might Say, Dont Look Back in Anger, Some Might Say, and the epically faded psychedelic pop of Champagne Supernova. Led by the combative Gallagher brothers, vocalist Liam and guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Noel, Oasis combined four-chord rock music hedonism with a lifestyle to match, and spun up a spat with their fellow Britpoppers and perfect stylistic rivals in Blur just to keep things interesting. Britpop itself was having its moment in mid-1990s Great Britain, alongside the hit film Trainspotting, the rise of Tony Blair and New Labour, and UEFA Euro 96 overtaking the countrys sports venues, and its into that environment that Oasis announced its biggest concerts ever. Oasis Knebworth 1996 chronicles the announcement, the ticket scramble, the preparation, the expectation, and ultimately the cathartic release of the quartets record-setting two-night stand before 250,000 fans.

As directed by filmmaker and veteran music video helmer Jake Scott, Knebworth 1996 weaves an oral history told exclusively in voiceover by fans who were there together with archival photos and footage from attendees, prime access to the professionally shot performances, and re-enactments tinged with the aesthetic of the era. (Noel Gallagher and Oasis rhythm guitarist Paul Bonehead Arthurs reflect on the Knebworth shows, too, but theres no input from Liam.) An early segment centers around the band bashing out a ripping soundcheck version of Its Getting Better (Man!) to a collection of roadies, concert techs, and a smattering of early arrivals, but soon enough the vast green of Knebworth is churning with concertgoers, and Oasis starts cranking out the classics: Supersonic and Roll With It, Some Might Say and Cigarettes & Alcohol. Its not a straight, as-it-happened playlist, and some numbers fade out midway through. And as such, Oasis Knebworth 1996 isnt a straight concert film. It instead offers a snapshot of a particularly important moment in time, seen from many perspectives and soundtracked by some of its most iconic music.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Pulp and its fearless leader, Jarvis Cocker, offered a wholly different take on Britpop than Oasis ever did. But just as Knebworth 1996 celebrates those landmark concerts 25th anniversary, Pulp: A Film About Life, Death, and Supermarkets took Cocker and his band back to their hometown of Sheffield for a final sonic goodbye, 25 years after it all began. Meanwhile, the 2003 doc Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop offers a sound overview of the genre along with the interviews of all the heavy hitters, Liam and Noel included. Oasis superfans have likely already seen the 2016 doc Supersonic, which chronicles the same period of world domination that this film revels in.

Performance Worth Watching: Liam Gallagher, the loutish geezer who always gets the last word, has his whole bag of tricks handy in Knebworth 1996: bucket hats and goofy walks galore, clown prince crowd toasting, roguish brotherly bickering, and every bit of the live vocal power and onstage magnetism that made him the rock n roll frontman his brother Noel knew Oasis needed in order to be the biggest band in the world.

Memorable Dialogue: My favorite song ever, Acquiesce, was number two, a fan recalls in voiceover of Oasiss Saturday night performance at Knebworth. Life couldntve gotten better. Your arms are waving, Ive got my boyfriend to my left, a lukewarm semi-flat plastic beaker full of lager, and Im singing my heart out. Rawk and fookin roll!

Sex and Skin: A drunk lad moons the camera, and there are one or two blurry shots of topless women on shoulders. But compared to something like the debauched Woodstock 99, Knebworth 96 is utterly tame.

Our Take: We were a pretty decent band the night before I wrote Live Forever, muses Noel Gallagher about an hour into Oasis Knebworth 1996. But we were indie music. The day after I wrote Live Forever, we were gonna be the biggest band in the world. I knew it. And Noels usual self-congratulatory tone aside, Knebworth goes a long way toward proving his assertion. The quartet was at its creative and performative height in 96, their infamous boozing and drugging and bickering having not yet broken the bands back, and appropriately, numbers like Live Forever, Masterplan, Columbia, Acquiesce, and all of those huge singles put into sharp focus the Marshall Stack-propelled crunch, the soaring kiss-off choruses, and distinct vocal bray of the Gallagher boys combined voices. It all sounds so vital, its easy to hear these emblematic Oasis moments anew. Noel goes on to say the band was at its peak because Liam was at his peak. The way he sounds, the way he looks a band is only as good as its frontperson, and Oasis had the pick of the litter in Liam.

Its also valuable to hear the experiential side of Knebworth 1996, a concert stand from a bygone era. Fans recall how they even heard about the gig in a pre-Internet, pre-mobile phone age from a newspaper clipping, or radio live read, or archaic listserv announcement. When tickets went on sale on a Saturday morning, 2.7% of Englands total population flooded the nations phone lines in a mad dash for access. Knebworth also details the strain on motor coach service to the show area. As for the members of Oasis themselves, the band is captured from inside the helicopter that ferried them to the site, gazing down at the hundreds of thousands gathered, and later Liam careens around soundcheck in a golf cart. The doc is full of access moments like this that help color in the margins around what Oasis was accomplishing on stage. And when John Squire from the then just recently broken-up Stone Roses joins the quartet on stage for an epic reading of Champagne Supernova, the fan voiceovers and recollections of Noel merge in communion with the torch of rock n roll being passed.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Its been 25 years since Oasis was the biggest band in the world. But Knebworth 1996 puts the ringing of the amps and resounding of those choruses right back into the rock consciousness.

Watch Oasis Knebworth 1996 on Paramount+

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Stream It Or Skip It: 'Oasis Knebworth 1996' on Paramount+, A Chronicle Of The Quartets Finest Live Moment - Decider