Oasis quickly established themselves as the defining and most globally successful group of Britpop and the ‘Cool Britannia’ era, going on to release the highly anticipated Be Here Now in 1997 and Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants in 2000, both to huge commercial success. Founding members Arthurs and McGuigan left the group in 1999, with Andy Bell and Gem Archer joining for Oasis’ fifth album, Heathen Chemistry, released in July 2002. Despite Heathen Chemistry leaking online in full almost three months prior to official release, the album went straight to number one in the U.K. and later certified triple platinum.

The ‘Heathen Chemistry Tour’ began 17 June 2002 in support of the new album, by which time Oasis had become an unstoppable cultural force. The tour – although hugely critically and commercially successful – was marred by a number of unfortunate incidents, including a car crash, multiple spats between the Gallagher brothers and a bar brawl in Munich that resulted in Liam getting his teeth knocked out and the Germany leg being delayed until March 2003. Spanning 91 total dates across Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania, the tour finally wrapped up on 12 March 2003 in Berlin, Germany.