Richard Ashcroft hilariously pokes fun at viral Oasis fan caught using Shazam to identify Bitter Sweet Symphony

Richard Ashcroft had the crowd at Heaton Park howling with laughter on Friday, after he referenced the now-viral clip of an Oasis fan struggling to to identify one of his greatest hits.

The Verve frontman, 53, has been opening for Liam and Noel Gallagher on their eagerly-awaited reunion tour and winning rave reviews every night.

However, at the band’s opening gig at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff last month, one fan was caught unawares when the Verve began their iconic hit, Bitter Sweet Symphony, while the rest of 75,000-strong crowd sang along.

In a clip shared to TikTok, the concertgoer could be seen opening up the Shazam app to try and identify the beloved 1997 track, which the Rolling Stone once named as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The video was captioned: ‘Imagine not knowing the greatest song of all time’, and quickly went viral online, with many Verve fans furious by the perceived slight and declaring the fan in question didn’t deserve their ticket. 

They raged: ‘Seriously! I couldn’t get a ticket because of these people’; ‘This is the people who got our tickets’.

‘If you don’t know bittersweet symphony we can’t be friends’; ‘And there’s real fans from the 90’s that couldn’t get tickets’.

Richard Ashcroft had the crowd at Heaton Park howling with laughter on Friday, after he referenced the now-viral clip of an Oasis fan struggling to to identify one of his greatest hits (seen)

The Verve frontman, 53, has been opening for Liam and Noel Gallagher on their eagerly-awaited reunion tour and winning rave reviews every night (pictured ope

However, at the band’s opening gig at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff last month, one fan was caught unawares when the Verve began their iconic hit, Bitter Sweet Symphony, while the rest of 75,000-strong crowd sang along 

‘nah there’s no way i lost tickets to someone shazaming one of the most popular songs of the britpop era’; ‘this is who i lost my tickets too’.

But Richard evidently saw the funny side and took the opportunity to poke fun at the clip while opening for Oasis on Friday in their home city of Manchester.

As he began the famous tune, he shouted out: ‘Get your Shazams out!’ sending a ripple of laughter through the crowd. 

While footage of the moment soon spread on social media, with one person tweeting: ‘richard ashcroft encouraging people to shazam bitter sweet symphony might be the best thing i’ve seen today’.

It comes after the crowd were blown away by Oasis’ reunion as they  delivered an electrifying set, packed with energy and nostalgia.

Taking to social media to share their reactions, many lauded it as ‘greatest rock n roll show of all time’ as they praised the ‘momentous’ occasion.

Comments included: ‘LIAM SOUNDS SO F****G GOOD!!! OASIS ARE BACK. THIS IS BETTER THAN JESUS’ RETURN!!!’;

‘I died and ascended to a new plane’;

But Richard evidently saw the funny side and took the opportunity to poke fun at the clip while opening for Oasis on Friday in their home city of Manchester

As he began the famous tune, he shouted out: ‘Get your Shazams out!’ sending a ripple of laughter through the crowd

While footage of the moment soon spread on social media, with one person tweeting: ‘richard ashcroft encouraging people to shazam bitter sweet symphony might be the best thing i’ve seen today’

‘The birth of my daughter 4 months ago was the best day of my life. tonight became the second best night of my life. To witness oasis with my dad and my brothers means the world to me what a night #Oasis #oasiscardiff’;

‘Goosebumps. That was epic!!! #oasiscardiff #OASISLIVE2025’;

‘Timeless. Absolutely f*****g incredible. You HAVE to go see them. Oasis are BACK’;

‘If you think you’ve seen everything,I can confidently say that you haven’t, unless you were inside the tonight for round 2 of @oasis  @liamgallagher Rock n Roll is BACK…just incredible! #Oasis #oasiscardiff #OASISLIVE2025’;

‘What a performance that was tonight #Oasis #oasiscardiff #OASISLIVE2025’;

‘Greatest rock n roll show of all time #Oasis #OasisLive25’;

‘Oasis didn’t just reform – they redeemed themselves. It wasn’t just nostalgia. It was rebirth. #oasislive25’;

‘Everybody who didn’t get Oasis tickets and convinced themselves it wouldn’t even be that good are now absolutely fuming… and I don’t blame them. Mega. Just, mega. #oasislive25’;

‘Anyone with tickets for #oasislive25 you are in for an absolute treat. I’ve never seen them so on form and it was banger after banger. Roll on Saturday at Heaton Park.’

The video was captioned: ‘Imagine not knowing the greatest song of all time’, and quickly went viral online, with many Verve fans furious by the perceived slight and declaring the fan in question didn’t deserve their ticket 

Bitter Sweet Symphony’s accompanying music video (pictured) featured Richard walking down the street has also become iconic and has been parodied numerous times 

Kicking off the show, Liam and Noel walked out with their arms around each other in a sweet display of unity, before they proudly gazed on at the crowds, who erupted into rounds of deafening applause.

As the masses gathered on Friday, Liam said: ‘Manchester vibes in the area,’ before he kicked off the show with Hello, which served as the opening track for their 1995 classic ‘What’s The Story (Morning Glory).

They then went into Acquiesce – a song from their first 1995 album, which was followed by the iconic Morning Glory – the titular song of the second studio album.

Liam shouted out: ‘Yes beautiful people! It’s been too long.’

He then ordered the crowd to ‘turn around and bounce’ ahead of Cigarettes and Alcohol.

After performing Some Might Say, Bring It On Down and Fade Away, Liam went off for a rest, while Noel performed his acoustic version of Talk Tonight.

Then Noel appeared emotional as he performed Half The World Away and even stopped singing for a few bars at one point.

Liam later said: ‘Are you having a good time?’ before addressing the ticket chaos: ‘Was it worth the £40,000 you paid for the ticket.’

Tickets were meant to start at £74.25 for seated tickets at their Wembley shows, with the most expensive ticket being a £506.25 pre-show party. 

And as history was made with Noel Gallagher , 58, and brother Liam , 52, appearing on stage together for the first time in over a decade, fans couldn’t contain their love and excitement 

More than 75,000 fans watched history be made Oasis appeared for the first time on stage together in 16 years at at the Principality Stadium 

The brothers put on a united front at their first show

Throughout their various sets, poignant pictures of the family’s home in Manchester flashed up on the screen along with baby pictures of both brothers.

Old black and white pictures of their mum Peggy and dad Tommy were also flashed in the screen from time to time as Stand By Me played.

The brothers ended the show with Rock n Roll, but fans cheers for an encore, with the pair strolling back out, with two of their fan favourite hits still to come.

The crowds went wild as they belted out Wonderwall and the brothers became very emotional as they began to close down the show.

‘Thanks for putting up with us over the years. We’re hard work. We get it,’ Liam gushed.

They then rounded off their first gig in 16 years with legendary track Champagne Supernova.