Oasis thrills football fans with a heartfelt tribute to Diogo Jota, performing 'Live Forever'; video

In front of 74,000 people enthralled by their generational anthems, the iconic Britpop band Oasis kicked off their long-awaited comeback tour this Friday in the Welsh city of Cardiff, more than 15 years after their bitter split. The performance was marked by the band's tribute to the late footballer Diogo Jota.

On the first of their two nights at the Principality Stadium in the Welsh capital, the once-feuding brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher delivered a string of their greatest hits that left the 74,000-strong crowd enthralled.

During the presentation, one of the surprises was when they performed the song "Live Forever" and Jota's image was projected on the stage screen. It was a figure of the footballer with his back to us, wearing the number 20 shirt, which has become immortalized at the Anfield club.

The band's fans were delirious and emotional, given the impact generated by the news of the soccer player's death in a traffic accident.

The death of the Portuguese international and his brother, also a second-division footballer, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday on a highway in northwestern Spain, shocked the world of football and sports in general.

In Liverpool, near Anfield Stadium, where a book of condolence was opened, dozens of Reds fans left bouquets of flowers, heart-shaped balloons, and scarves with the inscription "Rest in peace Diogo Jota."

The Oasis Live '25 tour includes 41 concerts in cities such as London, Manchester, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Sydney, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Santiago, and Buenos Aires. Since the group's split in 2009, following yet another fight between the brothers at a festival outside Paris, many had given up on seeing them together on stage again.

Just a few hours before kick-off, Cardiff city centre was already echoing with the excitement of fans singing along to the group's hits on packed pub terraces, dressed in their t-shirts.

Oasis. Mark Cassidy, a 31-year-old American, came "just for this" from New York with a friend. Charlotte Abisset, a 37-year-old Frenchwoman, has been a fan "for 25 years" but has never seen the group in concert. "I'm very excited, I still can't believe I'm going to experience this historic moment," she said.

Oasis announced their return last August, just days before the thirtieth anniversary of the band's first album, "Definitely Maybe." After their split, the Gallaghers continued their career on their own, without achieving the glory of the

Oasis, and they frequently clashed in the media. The surprise announcement of their return sparked a real frenzy among fans, both old and new, to get their hands on tickets.

Around 900,000 tickets were sold in just a few hours for the concerts in the UK and Ireland. But the chaotic online sales process and the skyrocketing ticket prices due to a so-called "dynamic" pricing system sparked controversy and an investigation by the British regulator. "Are they having a good time? Is it worth the £40,000 they paid for the ticket?" joked Liam Gallagher from the stage. As she left the stadium, Debbie Bonfield, a 65-year-old Welshwoman, said that "what they were charging the fans was a rip-off," but that "the atmosphere made up for it."

"It was incredible, I loved it," he said. The tour is shaping up to be very profitable. Barclays bank estimated that Oasis fans could spend more than 1 billion pounds (around $1.365 billion) on tickets and related expenses such as transportation and accommodation.

According to British media, the band has been playing again for several months and most recently rehearsed live in London. For the tour, they added new members, such as a keyboardist and a drummer.