On a freezing night in Manchester, Mancunian icons Liam Gallagher and John Squire roll into town in support of their new collaborative album; Liam Gallagher & John Squire. A sea of people clad in cagoules and Caesar Mod haircuts crammed into the Apollo, eagerly awaiting their heroes to grace the stage. Should this have been an excellent show? Definitely, Maybe. However it just proved to be one of diminishing returns.
Opening the night was Nottingham troubadour; Jake Bugg who did his best to entertain the audience with acoustic renditions of his impressive back catalogue, but even then the audience decided they’d rather just chat throughout his entire performance, only truly being won over at the very end with a great acoustic rendition of his hit; Lightning Bolt.
The show itself lacked that classic Gallagher bite that we’ve come to know over the years, he does his perfected simian stroll around the stage throughout the show, armed with maracas and a tambourine, but the show itself is a drab performance clocking in at only fifty minutes. There are a few sing alongs that get the crowd going, but they remain laucklustre throughout.
The track I’m So Bored is very reflective of the night as a whole and even a cover of Jumpin’ Jack Flash by The Rolling Stones can’t save the night either as it brings the bland night to a very middling end. It showed that these two icons are now way past their best, and with a plethora of new and upcoming bands within Manchester, now is the time to be out with the old and in with the new.
Words by Ed Walton
Photos by Philip Goddard
