Liam Gallagher, Utilita Arena Sheffield, review: The Last Night of the Britpop Proms
A huge digital clock slowly counted back thirty years from 2024 whilst Sheffield Utilita Arena shook to the sound of some of the greatest British rock records of all time by The Who, David Bowie, Slade, The Sex Pistols and The Jam at a volume you could feel in your bones. The 14,000 strong crowd were already singing gleefully to The Stone Roses’ I Am the Resurrection when the clock reached 1994 and Liam Gallagher swaggered out to lead a 9 piece band in an almighty thrash through Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, the opening track of Oasis’s Britpop defining debut album, Definitely Maybe.
The absolute pandemonium that erupted was beyond thrilling. Everyone in the place was on their feet, fists in the air, singing at the top of their voices. Someone set off a flare, sending a stream of purple smoke pumping above the crowd. Screens flashed images of the blankly cool 21-year-old Oasis frontman while his 51-year-old self – still looking svelte and handsome – shook a tambourine and roared his signature song. “It’s just rock and roll! It’s just rock and roll!” he sneered as thunderous drums and distorted guitars reached a climax. Isn’t it just?
It has been 15 years since Oasis abruptly broke up with songwriter Noel Gallagher vowing never to play with his lairy, volatile younger brother again. Whatever their family squabbles, Liam has remained the torchbearer for their era defining band, his own biggest fan, rising to solo superstardom by adhering to the Oasis blueprint – big songs, big guitars, big attitude essentially. Relatively healthy and clean living now compared to his wild youth, Liam’s biting voice retains all its primal power, with an extra edge of grit and the durability of a seasoned veteran who’s not going to lose it mid-show. A dedicated music lover who has just come off a tour playing new bluesy psychedelic material with Stone Roses guitarist John Squire, Liam was plainly having the time of his life singing the songs that made him famous. “This is another old song,” he teased. “I don’t have any new ones for you, so it’s gonna have to be the old ones tonight.” Sometimes, the old ones really are the best.
A mid-section foray into early Oasis B-sides was a reminder that there was genuinely a lot of dimensions to their songcraft, with original Oasis guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs on acoustic guitar and a string quartet coming out to underpin some of the dreamier numbers. There was a sense that Liam may have been holding out an olive branch to his estranged sibling, as he sang a tender lead vocal on the yearning Noel song, Half the World Away, for the first time ever. Could a rapprochement be on the cards?
Honestly, I hope so. Because this glorious show was a reminder that no audience sings louder than an Oasis audience. It was like the last night at the Britpop proms, as thousands of voices bellowed every word back at their roaring hero on stage, the music enveloping us all in an emotional time machine.
Liam Gallagher plays Utilita Arena Cardiff on Monday, then touring until June 28 (liamgallagher.com); A 30th anniversary edition of Definitely Maybe will be released by Big Brother on August 30
