Is Oasis' enduring popularity a modern-day comfort blanket?

Let's think for a moment about how “Oasis fever” has taken over the country over the past few weeks. Whether you are moved by their reunion or not, no-one can deny their popularity. When tickets went on sale for their world tour, “more than 10 million fans from 158 countries” queued to buy them. Perhaps the rapture that has characterised their British concerts is wrapped in a multilayered nostalgia. The Gallagher brothers represent a not-too-distant past which had certainties and securities. The opportunity to collectively gather in the glory of shared experience is a beguiling and reassuring one. Despite their staggering wealth, Oasis are clearly “of the people”. They have the same familial reference points, the same inadequacies and concerns. They laugh and they cry.

- Dr Jewell

And, as we hold up our smartphones to the sky in technologi