When you personally think of a music legend who do you think of? Bowie, Prince, Lennon, Hendrix or Kurt Cobain maybe?
Some might say (Oasis pun intended) that Oasis are a legendary band, and I’d agree, but what about Liam specifically? He may not have the greatest lyricist team behind him (rhyming free man with European on ‘Chinatown’, a song which also includes the lyrics “Well the cops are taking over, while everyone’s in yoga”, doesn’t exactly reach the heights of Lennon’s witty lyricism in ‘Imagine’) but there’s no doubting in my mind that Liam is up there with the greats.
Yes he’s arrogant, but he’s forthright and plainspoken attitude is endearing. And his feelings of sheer love, regret and fragility are hidden behind what some people may see as an egotistic façade (listen to ‘For What It’s Worth’ on debut solo album ‘As You Were’, a song about cheating on his now ex-wife Nicole Appleton, and you will fully understand what I mean).
Since Oasis split some eight years ago, Liam has had to often live in the shadow of brother Noel who the media have often noted as ‘the talent’, ‘Oasis’ brains’ and even ‘the main Gallagher’, but Liam is definitely back with a vengeance.
Of course tonight’s show at Newcastle’s biggest venue, the Metro Radio Arena, was set up to showcase Liam’s brand new material but that didn’t stop him from creating a nostalgic show that included a number of Oasis classics including the likes of ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’, ‘(What’s the Story?) Morning Glory’ and ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’.
In terms of tracks from ‘As You Were’, ‘Greedy Soul’, ‘Bold’ and encore track ‘I’ve All I Need’ fitted so perfectly into the set that they could quite easily have been written some 15/20 years ago by Oasis.
“It’s been a long time Newcastle, but you’ve always been on my mind” declared Liam. Let’s hope he doesn’t wait too long to return as tonight was special, really special.
