In celebration of the 30th anniversary of Oasis’ debut album, Definitely Maybe, hailing back to his city of Manchester, Liam Gallagher put on a legendary performance at the Co-Op Live arena.
Fans came out in full force to witness Gallagher sing some of the band’s iconic tracks and took everyone there who were fortunate enough to see him live on a trip down memory lane. He was able to bring this album back to life once again, as well as recreate the spirit and integrity that was first encapsulated in Oasis’ stardom back in the 90s.
From 1994 through to 2024, there was a countdown that ran on the screens in the arena. When it got to the present year, videos of Oasis and Liam started playing to form a montage of the band’s career over the years. As the lights went down, the crowd began to cheer and scream, as they finally realised the anticipation was finally over.
Liam kicked the set off with “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”, which had the crowd singing back every lyric. With his commanding presence and distinctive voice, Gallagher was able to exude the same swagger that he was known for throughout his career.
The setlist, of course consisted of the songs off Definitely Maybe in its entirety, as well as some B side tracks including “I Will Believe” and “Whatever”. Every song performed was like a massive singalong. As iconic as these songs are still to this very day, it was no surprise that there was this level of dedication from his fans to sing back every word to every song.
During the track, “Cigarettes & Alcohol”, very fitting to the name, from some of the fans on the balcony, there was alcohol being thrown into the crowd. It was all in good fun as it was specifically done for this track. Liam and his usual banter did not go unnoticed. It was sharp and cheeky, especially when he dedicated the song “Shakermaker” to the owner of Manchester City, Sheikh Mansour.
After the first half of the setlist ending with “Married With Children”, Liam and his band walked off stage, leaving the audience screaming for an encore. Without having performed one of the fan favourites and one of Oasis’ most popular tracks, “Live Forever”, everyone in the room knew it was not over just yet.
After a few minutes, the band walked back on stage and the cheers erupted once again. Liam Gallagher delivered an electrifying encore with “Supersonic”, “Slide Away” and an emotionally charged rendition of “Live Forever” where images of legends including Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye were projected onto the screens, followed by cheers.
The final track to close the evening was a rendition of The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus”, which gave the fans one last chance to take in the overall atmosphere of the evening. In celebration of an album that made an impact on the music industry and still stands the test of time years later, Liam Gallagher put on a performance at Manchester’s Co-Op Live to be proud of. Bringing the energy from the very start from his stage presence, to his delivery of songs, the audience’s reaction after every track spoke volumes to his status as a frontman and a true rock ‘n’ roll star.
Words + photography by Sarah Akomanyi
