Liam Gallagher - MTV Unplugged - A Review

If you’ve had the misfortune to have found yourself living under a rock for the past 25 years then you will probably not have heard of Liam Gallagher. But otherwise, pretty much everyone else has! It’s hard to have missed him, having been at the forefront of British culture over the last three decades.

Having had a small period, post Oasis, where he stayed relatively out of the public eye, it is a delight to say that the poster boy for Britpop, the nineties and Cool Britannia has made a resounding resurgence with his solo music career. 

He recently recorded an MTV Unplugged session at Hull City Hall and this recording further confirms the singers’ resurgence, whilst reminding his fans of just why we adored him in the first place.

The set itself is a mix of new solo stuff and the classics from the Oasis days, along with a few surprises that you never realised were originally meant for the younger brother. As is the nature of the show the set has been recorded for, all the songs are performed acoustically. For those fans who may have been queasy at the outset, knowing Gallagher’s track record with live performances, going back to his later Oasis days, there is no reason for such fear, as within four bars of Wall of Glass, Gallagher sounds fresh. If he was nervous about the performance, which I doubt he was, he shouldn’t have been. He had the crowd behind him from the off. His voice isn’t the same as it was but we knew this already. His lifestyle has caught up with him. It is obvious that he has taken care of his voice though, he has to his credit, fully committed to a solo career and he responds by hitting notes that we haven’t heard for a while in his live performances.

Despite what we may read on social media, it seems middle age has mellowed Gallagher and in no better way can this be seen than with Now That I’ve Found You, his latest release. Gallagher delivers an emotion of tenderness and reflectiveness that fans have generally associated more with his brother’s solo work. It is an intensely pleasing feature. Furthermore, the man dedicates the song to his somewhat long lost daughter Molly Moorish, who despite being born in 1998 to singer Lisa Moorish; Gallagher met for the first time in 2018. Reflection on fatherhood suprisingly brings out his best. For a man who was once quoted as saying “I find words really hard”, he certainly doesn’t in Now That I’ve Found You, the tune flows gracefully and you feel the strain of 20 years pour out in the words he sings. It is by far the best of his solo attempts in my opinion.

Having set the crowd up, Gallagher reminds us of his legendary status with Stand By Me and Cast No Shadow. All the years of misuse have come and gone but Gallagher can still find the key to unlocking an audience. Yes, the songs were written by Noel Gallagher but it is Liam that makes them stick in your memory.

Then out of almost nowhere, Gallagher hits us with Sad Song. I wasn’t expecting this and I don’t suppose many of the crowd were either. You feel that in his Oasis days Liam would have brushed it aside with a yawning glance and a two fingered salute to his brother. Yet out he comes, with his gravelly voice and the aid of a few violins, and gives us a new angle on the classic. He gives the song a meaning not associated with the calmer and seemingly more controlled vocals and style of Noel. The lyrics “don’t throw it all away” resonate with those who understand the Gallagher’s background, it seems a plea and a promise. It’s an electric performance.

Two further solo pieces come our way, Once again seems to draw on Gallagher’s younger days, the days of being almost uncontrollable, which occasionally saw him on the wrong side of the law and constantly on the wrong side of the press. Gallagher, as the fans know, is building up to the showpiece of the set Champagne Supernova. I don’t need to tell you how it went down. You can imagine. It is and will always remain a classic.

So will Gallagher.