Liam Gallagher And John Squire
Barrowland, Glasgow, 13 March, 2024
★★★
On this, the first night of their inaugural tour as collaborators, Liam Gallagher and John Squire do exactly what they vowed to do in their recent MOJO cover feature – play all the songs from their self-titled debut album. If you want to hear live renditions of some Oasis or Stone Roses favourites, then Liam’s forthcoming solo gigs and various touring tribute acts are available.
This means that the Gallagher and Squire show, at least as it stands at the moment, clocks in at just over an hour. No that tonight’s sold-out crowd seem to mind, as they’ve clearly absorbed the album well enough to bellow along to every song.
Arriving on stage to enthusiastic chants of “LI-AM! LI-AM!” – Squire’s one-syllable Christian name presumably doesn’t lend itself to rhythmic chanting - they proceed to tear into the set with gusto. “Glasgow Barrowland, let’s fucking do it!” shouts Gallagher, as if he’s about to lead those in attendance into battle. The singer is currently celebrating his 30th year in the spotlight, and is obviously enjoying himself. While the reliably inscrutable Squire only has eyes for his beloved guitar, Liam is positively garrulous by comparison. He’ll always be too studiedly cool to crack an actual smile, but he engages with the crowd (“thanks for bringing your beautiful faces out tonight”) and even dances around the stage a bit.
READ MORE: “We put an offer on the table for Oasis and Noel said no” Liam Gallagher interviewed
Both dressed in regulation anoraks and backed by a band comprised of seasoned sidemen Barrie Cadogan (bass), Joey Waronker (drums) and Chris Madden (keyboards), the Gallagher Squire set lopes off with debut single Just Another Rainbow, a cheerfully brazen homage to The Beatles’ Rain given an extra psychedelic jolt by Madden’s Hammond and some particularly Hendrix-like guitar workouts from Squire. Squire is a great guitarist, that much is self-evident, but tonight serves as a reminder that he’s also still an expert craftsmen of chiming guitar pop, something underlined by the cascading lines and hook-filled chorus of Mars To Liverpool’s spangled folk rock.
As anyone who’s heard The Second Coming can attest, the guitarist is also a fan of heavy Led Zeppelin-style blues rock. That isn’t Gallagher’s natural milieu, but he rises to the challenge during I’m A Wheel, ferociously countering Squire’s 12-bar licks with menace and a full-throated power far beyond the capabilities of Squire’s old sparring partner Ian Brown.
READ MORE: The Stone Roses’ John Squire: “A new album would have been beyond us”
Their faithful closing cover of The Rolling Stones’ Jumpin’ Jack Flash also plays to Gallagher’s strengths, so much so that so you’d like to hear the pair tackle more classic rock covers as the tour progresses. Indeed, at only eleven songs, the set could do with fleshing out as their performance tonight in front of a crowd a fraction of the size either have played to in recent years feels like a confident dress rehearsal.
Despite Squire’s other life as a painter, the only concession to visual stimuli outside of five figures on stage are some back-projected black and white revolving circles during I’m A Wheel, and – at a push - the album’s cover art emblazoned upon the upright keyboard stack.
If the pair’s collaboration is all about the music though, then this is pretty good music. It might not reach the heights of Oasis or The Stone Roses at their very best, but that’s okay. No one expected it to. Not only have Gallagher and Squire honoured their respective legacies this evening, but in the strength of these new songs, their insouciant charm and the audible fun they had, they’ve pointed the way towards a remarkably fruitful future together.
SETLIST:
Just Another Rainbow
Mars to Liverpool
One Day at a Time
I’m a Wheel
Love You Forever
Make It Up As You Go Along
You’re Not the Only One
I’m So Bored
Mother Nature’s Song
Raise Your Hands
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Pictures: James Edmond/Alamy Stock Photo/Bazza Mills