Gallagher on top form as he marks 30 years of ‘Definitely Maybe’
Let’s party like it’s 1994. Time’s inexorable march may make it difficult for some to believe that it’s 30 years since Oasis released one of the great British debut albums, Definitely Maybe, but for just over an hour and a half, Liam Gallagher rolls back the clock in spectacular fashion.
Definitely Maybe’s songs may have been written by his brother Noel, but it was Liam who sang them all. And in this first of two Dublin shows, the younger Gallagher sibling seems to be in the form of his life. Frankly, Liam never sounded this good back in the day – blame the hard living of a born rock’n’roll star. Here, though, he’s on fire.
His band, featuring original Oasis member Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs and a small string section, is more than up for the task too.
Bonehead probably didn’t get the credit he deserved when Definitely Maybe was released, but his guitar playing is nothing short of immense now. “This,” as opening song Rock ’N’ Roll Star puts it repeatedly, “is rock’n’roll”.
It’s also an immensely crowd-pleasing show. Everything centres on that debut album and a host of superb B-sides from 1994. There are a couple of formative songs, including an Oasis demo, Lock All the Doors, that was eventually recorded and released by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
There’s no room for any of Liam’s solo output or for his recent work with the Stone Roses’ John Squire. He also eschews the temptation to play anything from Oasis’s bestselling album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?.
Champagne Supernova would have fitted in seamlessly, but the night is all about the celebration of a debut that is part of Britpop’s bedrock.
And what songs they are. Columbia
– the beating heart of Definitely Maybe,
for my money – is stunningly rendered, while Up in the Sky is one of several to remind us of Gallagher’s Beatles fixation.
Whatever – a string-soaked non-album single from 1994 – is especially epic and allows the full band to flex their muscles. As with virtually all 20 songs aired here, it’s sung back word-perfect by the crowd in the sold-out 3Arena.
Gallagher seems to be enjoying himself, but there’s comparatively little between-song banter. There’s a shoutout to Charlestown, Co Mayo, where his mother Peggy is from, but the focus is very much on the material.
A consummate frontman, he can still command a stage like few others, even when standing stock still.
Back in the day, Oasis shows rarely outstayed their welcome and neither does this one. He departs after Married with Children before returning with as rousing an encore as you could hope for.
Supersonic, Slide Away and Live Forever
(the latter featuring big-screen images of legends such as John Lennon, Bob Marley and Elvis Presley) are simply phenomenal.
The Beatles’ I Am the Walrus, a popular set-closer from 30 years ago, sends the crowd out into a muggy night. It’s hard to imagine anyone feeling shortchanged.
Gallagher will be back in Ireland when he brings his Definitely Maybe 30th Anniversary Tour to Limerick’s Thomond Park on July 14 and to Belfast’s Boucher Playing Fields on August 16.