News of the reunion of Liam and Noel Gallagher next year for their first Oasis gigs since the band’s dramatic breakup 16 years ago has brightened up the dog days of summer for more than just diehard fans. Not everyone loves Oasis, but most people enjoy a sibling feud. The Gallagher brothers went about it with such unbridled fury that the pleasure of seeing them back together on stage will doubtless be enhanced by studying their body language for clues as to how long the reconciliation will last.
Though the music world has supplied more than its share of fraternal fallouts over the decades – from the Everly Brothers to the Kinks’ Ray and Dave Davies and the three Gibbs of the Bee Gees – it is not uniquely blessed. Football had Jack and Bobby Charlton, politics has the Miliband brothers. Consanguinity and ambition are a flammable combination. Add fame to the mix and it burns even more intensely.
