Do you remember what happened at the MTV Unplugged session that OASIS did back in 1996? Liam bailed at the last moment (owing to illness…..ahem) leaving Noel to pick up vocal duties as well as lead guitar whilst Liam stood on the balcony, slugging back beers and taking every opportunity to heckle the band. Noel and the band did well, some might say (see what I did there?) he even saved the day and widened the already noticeable cracks in the relationship between him and his younger sibling. Fast forward 24 years and Liam gets a second bite of the apple, but this time, he went solo (with the assistance of his band of course), read on to see how the show went down….

Liam Gallagher has always had a very ‘marmite’ appeal about him, you either love him or you hate him. I used to think he was a very strong frontman but wished he’d drop the act, yes Liam, we know you’re from Manchester, we know you’re in a band called OASIS, just calm down and grow up a bit.

Luckily, the years have mellowed Liam, gone are the endless parties, the inane tabloid appearances and the smear campaigns from various dolly birds from wherever he was performing the night before about their torrid night of ecstasy fuelled passion…. It appears that Liam has finally grown up and with his new found maturity, he has gone on to produce a couple of very competent solo albums, 2017’s ‘As You Were’ and recently, 2019’s ‘Why Me? Why Not’ were received really well by the music press (both reaching the #1 spots) and landed Liam a number of very high profile headline slots including The Rolling Stones in 2018.

Before his solo work, he fronted a five-piece band called Beady Eye, a band that formed after the demise of OASIS which saw them tasting the high life of superstardom. Seeing as Noel was the songwriter for OASIS, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that ‘Different Gear, Still Speeding’ wasn’t a complete sonic abortion, by all accounts, it should have been but there was something about the music that intrigued me, maybe Liam did have a knack of writing songs after all but his evil monobrowed brother prevented him from doing so in OASIS. The album featured some great songs such as 'The Roller', 'Bring the Light' and 'Four Letter Word' which were very strong and helped to put the band on the map.

So, enough of the back story, let’s head to Hull City Hall where Liam has just taken to the stage to a wall of noise…..

Kicking off proceedings with ‘Wall of Glass’ which just happens to be the opening track from his debut solo album ‘As You Were’, the ‘Unplugged’ trademarks can be heard in their droves, backing singers, acoustic musicians and a massive 24 piece string section courtesy of the Urban Soul Orchestra filled Hull’s City Hall with technicolored music. Other solo hits included ‘Now That I’ve Found You’, ‘One of Us’, ‘Once’ and Gone’, all of which appear on his second long player ‘Why Me? Why Not’.

A Liam Gallagher live show is never complete without a few classic OASIS numbers thrown into the mix and I am pleased to say that he didn’t disappoint. Liam was joined onstage by original OASIS rhythm guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs for ‘Sad Song’, Liam adding later before ‘Once’ that this was the second time that ‘Bonehead’ had performed an MTV Unplugged session. The track, which was always sung by Noel, sounded immense with Liam at the helm, accompanied by the string section which really adds another dimension to the proceedings. ‘Cast No Shadow’ took us on a roller coaster ride back to the mid 90’s with all the joy that ‘What’s The Story’ bought us, again, the strings playing a big part in the sublime delivery. If the OASIS classics were the cake, then the final track was surely the cherry on top, ‘Champagne Supernova’ once again dragged me back to the mid 90’s with the addition of a tremendous orchestra which took the track into a different league altogether.

As the chants of ‘Liam’ started to die out and as the record faded, I couldn’t help thinking that another couple of tracks wouldn’t have gone amiss, maybe there are extra bonus tracks on some rare import doing the rounds somewhere, I’ll just have to seek it out!

Will OASIS ever reform? Who knows, I for one am grateful that I got to see OASIS many times ‘back in the day’ and for me, I think that they should be left in the 90’s where they made a tremendous impact on the world and kick started the passion for guitar led indie rock n’ roll bands. As Noel said in a very early interview, “We are OASIS, the best fuckin’ band in the world” and for a few years, he wasn’t wrong.

Liam Gallagher - MTV Unplugged is available to buy NOW.

Review by Steve Muscutt