Inside the Oasis Live 25 Tour: Daniel Broadley on Postcards and Partnership

For Daniel Broadley, the Oasis Live 25 campaign began not with fanfare, but with a quiet email asking if he was free to “discuss an upcoming tour.”

Only later did the pieces fall into place — and only after a call with photographer Joshua Halling did the duo decide to join forces rather than compete.

Together, they stepped into a project that would stretch across continents, formats and emotional registers. Daniel’s now-signature ‘postcards’ became the anchor for a sprawling visual universe, while a tight-knit team kept the work sharp through the demands of touring life. Here, he talks through his inspiration behind the project.

LBB> How did the opportunity to work with Oasis first come about?

Daniel> I received a blind email from Sarah Mansfield (Head of Creative) at Ignition simply asking if she could “discuss an upcoming tour” with me. I didn’t think anything of it until I checked the ignition roster and deduced that it was likely for Oasis. At the same time my good friend (and renowned photographer) Joshua Halling also received the same email and after our initial calls we decided that rather than going against each other for the same job we would offer ourselves as a team, with him leading photo and myself leading video.

LBB> The “postcards” format has become a defining visual language for this tour. Where did the idea start, and why was this such a good storytelling device for Oasis?

Daniel> The ‘Postcards’ concept wasn’t originally in our pitch deck, but the components for them were. We knew we wanted to focus on the different generations of fans and the ‘individual experience’ of the people at the shows. It wasn’t just about those avid fans on the front barrier, we wanted to shine a light on the people at the back, on the balconies and dancing outside the venues.

I distinctly remember being inspired by Charlotte Alex’s work for Sigrid just as our tour was starting, her use of stillness was refreshing to see amongst the current fad of high-octane flash-cut montage edits.

The term ‘postcards’ had already had a viral moment on the internet a year or two prior to this tour in the travel/tourism sphere. The earliest adoption of the concept (that I can remember seeing) was from Daiki Shinomiya who’d gained a lot of notoriety online for keeping the camera static and letting the action play out in the frame whilst visiting different cities across the world.

The technique is nothing new, in fact it’s as old as cinema itself, but It’s not something I’d seen done a whole lot in the modern live/entertainment world and so it felt like fertile ground to explore for this tour.

LBB> You worked with an extremely small crew, shooting both digital and film, with rapid-fire turnaround. How did you work together to ensure craft, speed, and creative decisions were synced up within the touring environment?

Daniel> Ironically, in order to keep it all together I had to just learn how to let go, and trust the creatives I had around me. Instead of bombarding everyone with extensive shot lists and immense pressure I opted for a more ‘broad strokes’ approach to my direction, encouraging the creative strengths I saw in each creative. In doing so it allowed our collaborators the chance to use their instincts and find unique moments to accompany what I was already capturing during the show.

LBB> Across the tour you’ve created everything from social content to drone light shows and Piccadilly Circus OOH. How did you shape the overarching creative vision to accommodate the mix of formats, and how did you build out Oasis' visual universe?

Daniel> It was as much about looking back as it was looking forward when it came to developing a visual style for this tour. The world’s nostalgia for Oasis is a powerful tool and leaning on that brings a certain familiarity for the fans, but lean too heavily and it could easily feel too dated and/or pastiche. Likewise with the more modern techniques, it could come across like a legacy band pretending they’re still young. Finding a balance was crucial and came with a lot of trial and error during the first wave of shows.

LBB> Touring productions come with their own pressures — tight schedules, unpredictable conditions, constant travel. What were the biggest creative or logistical challenges on the Live 25 tour, and how did you navigate them?

Daniel> As someone who built nearly their entire career on short form content I think the biggest challenge was just the sheer length of this project. On the personal side, being away from my partner, my dog, my friends, that was tough. But from the creative side it was trying to stay as engaged as we were at the start of the tour right up until the final show, without burning out or becoming creatively fatigued. Fortunately the answer presented itself very quickly; our team. Joshua Halling (lead photographer) has been a close friend of mine for over a decade and we have such a respect and understanding for the way we work, if at any moment I felt as if I was running out of ideas he would offer something that would instantly wake me back up again. Jay Davison (Second DOP) is also a very capable director in his own right and as the tour progressed he was able to step in, conceptualise and execute entire recaps, giving me a chance to creatively rest and recoup for the next city/country. Harriet Bols (Second Photographer) is one of the most talented people I’ve ever met, but beyond that her energy was infectious. Together this group of people became like a family to me, I trusted them implicitly with the project and that trust led to us all creating some of our proudest work, both individually and as a team.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly Sarah Mansfield (Head of Creative) at Ignition stepped up far beyond her title, she was both a logistical and creative producer, and a fierce advocate for our creative vision. The amount of strings she pulled, and fires she put out to make this campaign what it was deserves all the praise in the world.

LBB> What was the experience of being in tour with the band both creatively and personally like? Were there any moments you captured that felt especially meaningful or unexpected?

Daniel> There was one particular postcard of a man crying his eyes out to Don’t Look Back In Anger on the front barrier. I remember watching him through the lens and shedding tears myself as he sang his heart out. I wanted to put the camera down, climb the barrier and sing along with him. Such a powerful moment to witness. He represented every Oasis fan in that moment, and what this reunion means to them.

LBB> How has this project pushed or evolved your approach as a director? And has working on the most-viewed content of the tour (275M+ views) influenced how you think about scale, audience, or the future of tour filmmaking?

Daniel> The crazy thing about this whole campaign is that, for maybe the first time in my career as a director, I ran it entirely off of instinct. Everything was channelled from a feeling I/we-as-a-team had. And I will forever be thankful to everyone at Ignition/Big Brother, and UROK who put their trust in us, and let us flex without restraint, their feedback was always minimal and just, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we all managed to create together.