LIAM GALLAGHER // HAMPDEN PARK STADIUM, GLASGOW
Liam Gallagher plays the classics at Glasgow’s Hampden Park, his biggest Scottish show to date
★★★★☆ (4/5)
LIAM GALLAGHER // HAMPDEN PARK STADIUM, GLASGOW - 26.06.2022
PHOTOCREDIT: CALUM BUCHAN PHOTOGRAPHY
Liam Gallagher’s much anticipated stadium show at Hampden Park marks a new milestone in the Oasis singer’s renaissance. Having worked his way through the Barrowlands, the Hydro and a headline spot at the TRNSMT festival, Liam is once again ready for stadium shows, having just revisited Knebworth (the site of his former band’s career apex performances) for two packed out nights.
As the comparison will inevitably arise, where sibling Noel has been more conservative in playing the old Oasis numbers, Liam is far more willing to delve into nostalgia and deliver a crowd-pleasing set of Oasis classics. The show opens with a triple shot of the band’s early favourites ‘Hello’, ‘Morning Glory’ and ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’, the latter of which has always served as a sort of non-ironic theme tune for the sneerier Gallagher brother, his voice straddling the line between his not-so-subtle influences Johnny Rotten and John Lennon. The iconic swagger is on full display, with the tambourine and sunglasses to accompany it. Liam may have his detractors, but any voice backed with 30,000 backing singers is a spectacle to be admired.
Things seem to calm down when Liam delves into solo cuts such as ‘Everything’s Electric’ and ‘Wall of Glass’, but the hardcore fans keep up the energy. It becomes apparent through some of these songs that Liam’s propensity to play the hits is what has put him back on top. The crowd consistently rejuvenated into mania when the Oasis numbers pick up. Classics such us ‘Stand by Me’ and ‘Slide Away’ hype the crowd for solo cuts such as ‘Diamond in the Dark’ and ‘The River’. One of the most surprising and arguably the best performances of the set was a rendition of ‘Soul Love’, a song that featured on ‘BE’; the second album from Liam’s former post-Oasis band. The psychedelic deep cut stood out as one of the more progressive songs that Liam has in the absence of his brother.
Of course, it wouldn’t have been a Liam Gallagher show without a few contractually agreed swipes at the elder sibling and some head-scratching soliloquys about rock ‘n’ roll, but it seems the responsive crowd had paid their ticket price to see the attitude as well as the songs. This all culminates in an eruptive encore of ‘Some Might Say’ and ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’. ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’ bring the show to a close on a forlorn note, sang by pretty much the entire capacity of a football stadium. Liam’s resurgence is a direct result of the Oasis frontman knowing his audience. The Britpop icon brings feelings of 90s nostalgia to those who are old enough to remember it and gives the opportunity to those who weren’t to experience it in some way. It’s also the closest that fans will likely get to an Oasis reunion and for most of them at Hampden Park, it seems like that’s okay.
REVIEW BY // STRUAN NELSON
PHOTOS BY // CALUM BUCHAN
SETLIST:
HAMPDEN PARK STADIUM, GLASGOW
HELLO
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR
MORNING GLORY
WALL OF GLASS
EVERYTHING’S ELECTRIC
BETTER DAYS
WORLD’S IN NEED
STAND BY ME
ROLL IT OVER
SLIDE AWAY
SOUL LOVE
MORE POWER
DIAMOND IN THE DARK
THE RIVER
ONCE
ENCORE:
SOME MIGHT SAY
CIGARETTES & ALCOHOL
WONDERWALL
CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA