Liam Gallagher & John Squire: Live Hometown Show
Written & Edited by Millie Cain.
The high ceilings of 02 Apollo seemed to shake with anticipation as the middle aged Gallagher haircut and Stone Island youth army stomped their feet and howled some form of football chant awaiting the arrival of two Manchester legends. But first, they swayed, their £7.50 pints trembling in the wake of one, rather introverted, quite polite man, as Jake Bugg took to the stage to support the new alliance of aged Britpop stars.
Bugg has never changed, perhaps that’s why he’s so beloved, or maybe it’s his absolutely stacked discography of modern indie classics. The crowd was packed, we’d warily eyed up the queue that snaked the whole way down the street hours before, especially since their shouts could be heard from Picadilly. Wearing plain black with a single blue spotlight and an acoustic guitar, Bugg commanded the din, yet couldn’t tame the electric buzz that comes with hometown shows. Breaking into hits such as “Seen It All” and “Slumville Sunrise” he proved his own talent as a single performer on acoustic to not only fill such a huge space, but charm even the most raucous crowd. While not the chattiest, his songs speak for themselves and I was pleasantly surprised to hear a new song of Bugg’s that hadn’t already been pummelled, drained and dried out daily by Radio X. We were eager, leaning forwards, as if we could taste the new material. What it promises is his classic, instant charm with original sound. Bugg, predictably, finished off his set with “Two Fingers” and “Lightning Bolt”, to deafening roars from the crowd as they clambered on top of each other and chanted along, louder than any band Bugg could have at his back. He wound the crowd up, shook the bottle and ran, nodding his head in thanks and clearing off stage while fans screamed and hands tore through the air.
Backdropped by the sound of George Harrison’s ‘Ski-ing’, Gallagher’s silhouette reached the stage first to belted out cries of “Liam, Liam, Liam” baying for their parka-monkey leader, donned in his finest long waterproof coat to protect him from the beer sweat of 3500 people staring right back at him – but let’s remember this is light work for the former Oasis frontman, and for The Stone Roses’ lead guitarist who followed Gallagher onto stage. The pairing is any Britpop dad’s wet dream and they genuinely delivered what they would all hope for. Unlike Squire’s former fellow bandmate Ian Brown who shocked and generally disappointed audiences with his run of shows last year, Squire and Gallagher made sure these fans got their 75 quid’s worth and left nothing to spare.
Opening with the album’s lead single “Just Another Rainbow” the funky drums and irresistible bassline led into a track that amped up their audience, who already knew every word, and as Gallagher cruised around the stage, mouthing ‘I love you’ under the spiralling colourful lights, Squire held longer, technical solos, showing off undeniable talent and experience. The brightness of the colourful stage was blinding, as was Gallagher’s pure confidence, obviously, we expect nothing less than his decades old arrogance, with a slightly mellowed edge as he’s really learnt into family life – even recently announcing son Gene’s new band Villanelle will be supporting him on his upcoming sold out UK tour.
‘The Wheel’ brought an almost hypnotic moment, a slower, winding track, with a sea of palms raised. The track slowly built, snakelike in its power, as the lights span and yet Squire stood forward, cool and collected, as if he wasn’t holding thousands of people in the calluses of his fingers. In a sound reminiscent of ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ era Oasis, ‘I Love You Forever’ was a more fluid moment in the set. There’s a certain degree of respect that had to be felt on that stage, and it was surprising but nice to see Liam take a step back and allow Squire and his bandmates to shine. Drummer, Joey Waronker, and keyboardist, Christian Madden were both on raised platforms, and Gallagher frequently would wander off stage and just allow these musicians to have their own moment in longer instrumental sections.
Of course, Gallagher can only be kept at bay for so long, before delving into ‘I’m So Bored’ he stirred up the footy casuals by loudly sharing his love for his beloved Man City, then allowed the crowd to squirm as he launched into a more critical track. An almost Trainspotting soliloquy of a song that calls out the middle aged crisis and their own generation of ageing rock stars, there’s a feeling of pushing back against imagined confinement and its clear from both Squire and Gallagher’s solo careers that they will continue pushing on and rinsing every avenue open to them as long as it keeps them onstage, doing what they love. Seems to be working out, with their run of tour dates completely selling out and extra dates being added due to phenomenal demand.
For crowd favourite ‘Liverpool To Mars’, there was an awakening in the room and a collective intake of breath before launching into song alongside the band. There were tiny kids in the crowd alongside up to 2 generations of families still stretching up and standing together in a real shining moment.
For their final song, loud boos echoed and the crowd then went into chanting in honour of Squire, as they marched into ‘Raise Your Hands’, with a long dedication to. ironically, the former boxer Ricky Hatton. Gallagher waved maracas and a tambourine along, and he stepped aside to allow Squire to lead in this finality, there was a serious feeling on the stage that the presence of 2 giants in this genre to share a stage, share a creativity and together form a sound that allowed their own pasts to transcend but also bring a refreshing new hope to their music. Waving away the crowd, volleying a tambourine up onto a young boy on the balcony and wandering off into the red fog of the stage, the crowd twitched anxiously waiting for their encore. There was a hushed feeling in the room, shared hopes and prayers that maybe, just maybe they’ll play ‘Wonderwall’ but alas, they were sated with a surprising cover of classic ‘Jumping Jack Flash’ by The Rolling Stones – leaning into their own influences before them, and taking one last look at the gleaming eyes boring into them, Gallagher and Squire gave us a wave, and said goodbye, at least for now.
