When your mate's 14-year-old son says Liam Gallagher's Cardiff Bay gig was the 'best night of his life' it's not hard to understand why after a stunning set that mixed Liam-led Oasis classics and more recent solo outings.
Crowds at Liam's gigs are, these days, populated with.... well, the same as they always were in the Oasis heyday, tanked up, bucket-hatted, chanting young people - as well as a large portion of OG Gallagher fans like myself and others who remember the 1990s as if they were about 10 years ago. It's Liam's generation-bridging appeal that's fascinating and ultimately endearing, whipping up the mixed crowd into a ball of energy and singing so loud, you can hardly hear the bloke on the stage in a cool mac.
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And after a Hammond organ-infused, indie funk support set from The Charlatans giving us North Country Boy and Sproston Green vibes, Liam comes on, as sweary and irritable as ever, but nowadays it comes with a healthy sprinkling of a cheeky glint in his eye and the self-professed rock 'n' roll star could do no wrong at the Alexandra Head gig on a chilly September night. "Don't tell me you've got no money," he told the crowd when saying they should buy his new album, going on to say: "If you had an album out, I'd buy it.." Later he said how much he 'loved the Welsh' and gave away around half a dozen tambourines to the crowd after giving them gip about being magpies - I think he's a massive softie in an anorak at heart, who swears a lot and sings banging songs, what's not to like?
Tracks from said album, C'Mon You Know, which is definitely his best solo offering so far, included Diamond in the Dark, More Power and it was those, and the likes of Wall of Glass and Once, which elicited a huge reaction from the younger portion of the audience. Top-tier Oasis tracks like Wonderwall, Supersonic, Rock 'n' Roll Star lifted the volume up another level as the crowd got behind each note in unison. The likes of Roll It Over, Hello seemed a little unfamiliar to the younger half of the crown, but it also allowed us to hear the inimitable Liam voice, the former was lovely quiet(ish) point in the set and the latter, well that's just the brilliant opening track to (What's the Story) Morning Glory an album and I love it.
There are so many classics to plunder for a set at a Liam Gallagher gig and I don't envy the job of thinning out a set list, but I think this tour's choice of songs has the perfect balance of old and new, although I was a bit gutted not to hear Everything's Electric, from C'Mon You Know, live. The encore gave us Champagne Supernova and Live Forever and if Liam keeps doing what he's doing, his unique charm and iconic song catalogue will keep his popularity alive for a long time yet.
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