He came, he saw, he conquered for the second time! Liam Gallagher returned to Knebworth last summer to play in front of 170,000 adoring fans over two nights – 26 years after headlining the country estate with Oasis in the 90’s. Liam is now immortalising this epic weekend by bringing us the Liam Gallagher Knebworth 22 live album.
As soon as ‘Fuckin’ in The Bushes’ began it was clear that we would be in for a treat – arriving on stage to the infamous lines of ‘I am he as you are he as you are me, and we are all together’ before launching straight into ‘Hello’ before dedicating ‘Rock N Roll Star to Bonehead, who was due to be touring with the band as per usual but had to pull out due to ill health but is subsequently now all good – big love to Bonehead!
The trio of ‘Wall of Glass’, ‘Shockwave’ and ‘Everything’s Electric’ showcases the strength of Liam’s solo work with a single from each of his three albums – the traditional snarl is still there, and every tune has depth. For me, every solo release has got better and better over these last six years. A complete curveball with the Oasis number ‘Roll It Over’ follows which is the first time this tune has been played in a live environment – not even Oasis played this during the ‘Standing On The Shoulders’ era of the early 2000’s but it is adored nonetheless by the passionate crowd.
‘Slide Away’ is dedicated to his fiancé Debbie and in his own words his Guru. ‘More Power’ shows us a softer side to Liam’s vocals and his delivery is impeccable. ‘C’Mon You Know’, the title track from latest album is one of my favourite solo tunes from Liam who is complemented by some cracking backing vocals. ‘The River’ is another great number with its driving bass line and drums, with Liam’s son Gene joining on his kit to play alongside Dan McDougall.
The last five numbers of the set see Liam and the band plough through the Oasis back catalogue beginning with ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’, ‘Some Might Say’, and ‘Supersonic’ taking the crowd back the 90’s heyday. The biggest singalong of the evening is reserved for none other than ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’ sees The Stone Roses guitarist John Squire come out to play guitar which send the 85,000 strong crowd into raptures.
This live album is a perfect way to relive that incredible weekend last year for those of us who were lucky enough to be there and will provide those who weren’t a snippet of what they missed. Listening back to the album made all those memories come flooding back of a what a special set of gigs these were and my immense gratitude to have been there.
Liam Gallagher Knebworth 2022 is released on Friday 11th August 2023 and is available to pre-order on multiple formats here. Liam will also be celebrating the release by playing an intimate gig at Koko in London on 9th August 2023. He will also be heading to play a few select international festivals including a UK exclusive at Boardmasters and Summersonic shows in Tokyo and Osaka.
