LIAM GALLAGHER & JOHN SQUIRE // BARROWLAND BALLROOM, GLASGOW
Liam Gallagher & JOHN SQUIRE kick off their chart topping album tour in Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom.
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5)
LIAM GALLAGHER & JOHN SQUIRE LIVE AT GLASGOW’S BARROWLANDS
PHOTOCREDIT: CHARLIE LIGHTENING
There is something about a duo that has a charm; as though a needed yin and yang that creates something that is unachievable without the perfect pairing. The announcement of an album and subsequent tour from two of indie rock’s biggest stars created a rumble for a genre that has been sitting stale for two decades.
The news of the collaboration of John Squire of The Stone Roses and The Seahorses, and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Beady Eye and The Rain, sent musical media nuts. With the former inspiring the latter and both with strong parallels in their stories; it was a duo that was set stir up. Both coming from notoriously troublesome musical partnership, with Squire and Ian Brown’s damning divide and the very public Gallagher brother’s feud, it could be said that they had something to prove from working together.
The Stones Roses played Ballowlands in December of 1995, a few months post Alan ‘Reni’ Wren’s departure from the band and few months prior to John Squire’s exit. The turmoil within the band was all too clear and the band was dissolved by October of 1996. Oasis played the Barrowlands in 2001, catching the last of the high of their late 90s peak. They went on to a slow burnout, with the Gallagher brother’s pent up frustration getting the better of them in 2009 leading to a backstage altercation and the band’s dispersal.
The album, Liam Gallagher John Squire, was released in March and quickly topped the UK album charts. With an already sold out tour that same month, there was no doubt that there was a lot on expectations of the performance. As fans chanted ‘’Lee…uhm’’ the pair took to the stage for their Glasgow set and quickly lunched into opening number Just Another Rainbow complete with multicolour lighting. There is virtually nothing in the way of a greeting although the crowd are happy to see the icons and to hear the cheery song from the new album.
Gallagher’s voice is strong and loud, but classically harsh and nasally. It is hard not to compare him Ian Brown, particularly in these circumstances. He swaggers around the stage with his maracas and attempts to rile the crowd up with occasional glances and jerked steps but keeps up his ‘all too cool’ persona constantly. The hype is still high for the early played number One Day at a Time and the psychedelic soulful number The Wheel, however, fans appeared to be tuning out quicker than the songs were being rattled through.
The stage appears split with Gallagher’s ego pounding out as Squire plays away, drawing little attention. As a guitarist, Squire is brilliant, but as a showman he gives nothing and comes across with an unappealing coldness. The twosome does not interact on stage and appear equally unapproachable for different reasons.
‘Are you bored?’ asks Gallagher before the track I’m So Bored and unfortunately everyone was. The room slightly lifted with the night’s closing tracks including the singles Mars to Liverpool and Raise Your Hands but was quickly disappointed by a rushed cover of Jumpin’ Jack Flash before the lights were thrown up. The set was a brief 50 minutes and ended far earlier than anyone was expecting.
The night felt like a rehearsal session and there was some audible disappointment from the crowd as they shuffled out feeling a underwhelmed. It may be that people simply expected too much or that there’s a little more work to do for the new pair together. Another idea is that the album is actually more symbolic of closure of the past of these public feuds and message to move towards the future. There was no Stone Roses or Oasis tracks played as they wanted to show growth from those days. Maybe Squire is talking to Brown, Liam to Noel, and, though the pair might not be the most dynamic onstage, there may still be something magical in being present to celebrate the work it’s creators.