The Guide #260: From Oasis to K-pop, music is going mad for the big-screen documentary — SkimNews
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- "Don't Look Back in Anger" captures Oasis's 2025 reunion tour and features the first Liam-Noel paired interview since their 2009 backstage fight in Paris, with the brothers framing the gigs as a "triumphant coda" to a legacy that could have ended in "chaos."
- Cinema programmers have screened more than 30 music documentaries, concert films, or hybrid concert-docs in the past year alone, according to the author's count — ranging from K-pop concert films (Enhypen, Stray Kids, Ateez) to career retrospectives (Megadeth, James) and archive restorations (Soul to Soul, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert).
- Music docs split along generational lines: younger artists with limited history lean toward concert films showcasing live kineticism, while older acts with deep archives (Megadeth, James, Oasis) lean toward career-spanning documentaries to stake claims to pop's "pantheon."
- Cinema attendance remains significantly down since the pandemic, making exhibitors eager for films that draw fandoms — particularly younger K-pop audiences — that traditional theatrical programming might not reach.
- The Oasis documentary appears to lack editorial control from the band — it includes extended footage of a fan wearing Manchester United kit, a team the Gallaghers publicly hate, suggesting they did not demand veto power.
- The film emphasizes how Oasis's music has outgrown the brothers, featuring fans from Argentinian football ultras to Korean oyster-divers and including footage of the title song being spontaneously sung at the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing vigil — a "folk memory" framing that, as Liam puts it, means the songs are no longer "ours" but "mine now."
Why it matters: Cinemas still recovering from pandemic-era attendance declines are betting on music docs and concert films to lure younger fandoms — particularly K-pop — that traditional programming misses. For legacy acts, the format functions as reputational insurance, with Oasis, Megadeth, and James using career retrospectives to stake claims to pop's "pantheon," while younger acts use concert films to convert streaming fans into tour ticket-buyers.
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