Reports of a reunion initially surfaced during April 2011, with several media outlets claiming that singer
Ian Brown and guitarist
John Squire had reconciled for the first time since Squire left the band in 1996. At the time, these were swiftly denied by bassist
Mani. However, on 18 October of the same year, the band called a press conference to confirm their reunion and two homecoming shows at Heaton Park, Manchester on 29 and 30 June 2012. In addition to this, they also stated their intention to complete a reunion world tour and an album of new material. All 150,000 tickets for the initial two Heaton Park shows sold out in a record 14 minutes. A third show scheduled for 1 July 2012 was promptly put on sale. However, tragedy struck when a young fan went missing following the Friday show. His body was found 10 days later. Whilst no specific dates were announced, during the reunion press conference Ian Brown stated that the band would visit Ireland, with Ian Brown saying "After Manchester, Ireland is always next on our list". Their
Dublin date was announced as being for
Phoenix Park on 5 July 2012, on the weekend normally reserved for the
Oxegen music festival, which did not take place in 2012. On 7 November 2011, three further dates were announced for festival headlining slots in Scotland, Spain and Japan. ==Schedule==