“YOU are Glasgow and we are all together” Liam Gallagher declares before launching into one of the most exhilarating sets the SSE Hydro has seen all year.
2017 has undoubtedly belonged to the former Oasis frontman. Hitting the headlines with every brutally honest interview, sarcastic quip and viral tweet, Gallagher’s return to the fray has been one of the biggest talking points of the last 12 months. Rising from the ashes of his much-maligned post-Oasis project Beady Eye to reinstate his position at the forefront of British guitar music, his long-awaited debut album As You Were was well-received by fans and critics alike while his brazen attitude and inimitable swagger have been a breath of fresh air to a new generation of indie lovers.
After a small run of dates earlier this year which included a memorable show at the legendary Barrowlands, Gallagher returns to Glasgow as part of a sold-out arena tour; a victory lap finale to an incredible comeback year. Strutting onto the stage, as if he’s about to enter a boxing ring, it doesn’t take long for the SSE Hydro to erupt into absolute chaos as guitars ring around the venue and beers are flung in the air. “Tonight, I’m a rock ‘n’ roll star” Gallagher sings; and you believe every word. Over ninety adrenaline-charged minutes, we watch a 45 year old man in a pink parka belt out one rock’n’roll anthem after another while rooted to the spot. Yet, you just can’t take your eyes off him. Utterly magnetic in his coolness, he radiates raw power and energy in everything he does.
He needs to do no winning over of course; he is very much preaching to the already converted. Every movement and utterance is met with a roar from the euphoric, Pretty Green-clad crowd. It also helps that he opens with a one-two knockout in ‘Rock N Roll Star’ and ‘Morning Glory’, before following it up with ‘Greedy Soul’ and his massive comeback single ‘Wall of Glass’. Despite the volume being generated on stage, it’s nothing compared to the noise coming from the crowd who manage to overpower almost every song in their collective voice. It immediately sets a high precedent for a night that has been a long time coming for many people in the room.
Liam hasn’t been shy in his desire to live out the good old days so it’s no surprise that the setlist features a heavy dose of old material alongside the new. With eleven of the band’s songs on show, iconic anthems like ‘Some Might Say’, ‘Slide Away’ and ‘Supersonic’ are predictably massive crowd-pleasers while the inclusion of B-side ‘Rockin Chair’ and ‘Be Here Now’ are equally welcome; the former lives up to its reputation as the best “lost Oasis song” with Liam delivering one of his finest vocal performances of the night while the latter is recovered from the scrapyard to end the show in spectacular fashion.
Above all else, it’s a celebration of good old rock’n’roll. His brother may have penned most of these songs but as Liam so bluntly put it on Twitter: “He wrote ‘em, I sold ‘em”. Where the frontman succeeds is his ability to conjure the spirit of those mercurial years with renewed vigour and supersonic confidence. And while his vocals aren’t quite what they once were, sometimes you just have to admit that it’s fun to revel in nostalgia.
It’s not all about throwing it back though with many of the solo songs holding their own, proving that As You Were holds a deserving space amongst the rest of his most well-loved material. The spiky ‘Greedy Soul’ provides an early highlight while the more reflective ballad ‘For What It’s Worth’ bears the hallmarks of Oasis classic ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’. From ‘Wall of Glass’ to ‘Universal Gleam’ each track is just as euphorically received as those from the Oasis back catalogue.
The frontman delves right back into it though for an outstanding encore which sees the night out in triumphant fashion. The jubilant crowd, singing along in their loudest terrace holler, are treated to ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’ and a beautifully stripped back version of ‘Live Forever’ before the frontman generously re-emerges to perform ‘I’m Outta Town’ and ‘Wonderwall’.
From devoted fans of the nineties reliving their youth to the new generation of rock fans, Liam Gallagher remains as paramount and influential as ever. Love him or hate him, he’s one of the best frontmen the country has ever produced and it remains to be seen whether we’ll ever see a rock ‘n’ roll star of his ilk ever again. Leaving the stage with as much nonchalance as he enters it, it’s an effortless performance that reminds us that he’s back exactly where he belongs.
