Liam Gallagher DM30 in Glasgow

30-years ago this month I caught Oasis for the second time in the old Cathouse in Glasgow when it was based on Brown Street. The band were beginning to break as they released second single Shaker Maker, working their way towards the release of debut album Definitely Maybe in August.

Even though Noel, Liam, Bonehead, Guigsy and Tony were aware that they had songs like Live Forever, Cigarettes & Alcohol and Slide Away ready to go, I doubt anyone on the Cathouse stage or in the crowd that night could have predicted how life changing the band, those songs and that album would become.

Or maybe Noel knew. In the legendary Wibbling Rivalry interview (recorded in a Glasgow hotel after their April show at The Tramway in April 94), Noel hammers home;

Rock n roll is about music. Music, music, music. It's not about you, it's not about me, it's not about Oasis. It's about the songs. Noel Gallagher

Noel was always confident his songs would live on. Before long, buskers were on Buchanan Street playing D'yer Wanna Be A Spaceman, Live Forever and Take Me Away. Gallagher seemed to generate a spike in both acoustic and electric guitar sales. Along with his brother, they no doubt pushed the sales of anoraks and cagoules as well!

Tonight I'm a rock n roll star

It's just rock n roll

It's just rock n roll

Liam Gallagher's mantra at the end of his blistering take on Oasis' Rock n Roll Star really hit home last night. His brothers words are almost casually tossed away in the outro. But .... as 13,000 fans will testify, it's not just rock n roll.

30-years on, it is about; the songs, the attitude, the swagger, the hair, the hope, the dreams and the sense of optimism that Oasis heralded in 1994 with the release of 5 singles and Definitely Maybe. It's more than all that, it's the sense of community Oasis created. It's jubilation, it's punching the sky, hugging and singing with strangers and having the time of your life.

5 lads from a Manchester council estate were mad for it, they were having it, and they blew absolutely everyone and everything away. The ripple effects are still there, they are still growing.

13,000 Oasis fans were in the Hydro last night, but the biggest fan of Noel Gallagher's songs was on stage singing them, with every fibre of his body, every bit of his heart and soul.

Liam was in his element. This is what he was born to do. Sing his brothers songs about dreaming, escapism and love. And of course, Liam Gallagher was born to be a total star.

Look at you now, you're all in my hands tonight

We were gladly in his hands. We were mad for it, like it was 1994 all over again. The stage set up was loosely based on the Definitely Maybe cover, but everyone's eyes were on Liam.

Rock n Roll Star set a high bar, the menacing groove of Columbia followed. Shaker Maker didn't reach those highs, the guitars seemed to go lower and Liam's voice was pushed even higher in the mix. But Up In The Sky sounded super fresh with everyone feeling it.

I can feel you

Can you feel me?

Bring It On Down was searing punk soul and old b-sides Cloudburst and I Will Believe were greeted like long lost friends on stage and in the crowd.

One of many highlights was Liam singing Half A World Away along with every single person inside the Hydro. A beautiful and moving moment, his voice was outstanding.

My favourite Oasis song is probably Fade Away and it was incredible last night, delivered with power, pace and passion. The band ripped through it and it felt electrifying. Another b-side!

But before long, Liam and his band were bringing out the real big guns. Whatever felt like a real anthem, the Hydro felt like a church and everyone was singing this huge Oasis hymn. The melodies of Whatever are really strong, the lyrics are universal - everyone was singing from the bottom of their hearts. 

Then it was Cigarettes & Alcohol and the place was absolutely bouncing, seeming to give Liam an extra shot of energy as he stretched out sssssuuuuunnnnnssssshhhiiiiiinnnnnneeee.

After Married With Children, the band regrouped quickly for a BOOM, BOOM, BOOM encore. Supersonic sounded very aptly named and threatened to take the roof off the Hydro. Slide Away was euphoric and Live Forever was spine tinglingly gorgeous. Liam was in fine voice.

I Am The Walrus sent the crowd home deliriously happy. What a show. What a night.

Morning Glory 30th anniversary shows next year please!

Shakermaker and Oasis at the Cathouse

Noel Gallagher had a clear vision for Oasis and once he had secured a deal with Creation Records he had a very simple plan to back that up - his band would release a single every few months, like his heroes The Jam had when he was younger. And the singles would have great b-sides.

Gallagher was as good, if not better than his word. Oasis would release 10 singles between the April 1994 release of Supersonic and the February 1996 release of Don't Look Back In Anger, a staggering run that took them from pubs to the verge of Maine Road, Loch Lomond and Knebworth.

Shaker Maker was the second single, arriving on 13th June, only 3-months after Supersonic. The band didn't just release regularly, they toured relentlessly, across the UK, Europe, America and beyond.

After catching them at the Tramway for Radio 1 Sound City and the Supersonic tour, I bagged a ticket to see them at the (original) Cathouse in Glasgow for this promo tour.

I arrived early and the sound of the band soundchecking blared out the venue and into the Glasgow sunshine. Along with others we sang along with many tunes known through Radio 1 live performances and tapes given away with the likes of the NME and Select Magazine. We sang the guitar riff to Supersonic - we were super keen!

The Real People supported and I remember the best of Sly and the Family Stone playing before Oasis came on. The place was bouncing although there was plenty of space, they did play two nights and I was there on the Sunday.

Oasis were exceptional. They opened with Shaker Maker and the guitars sounded massive as the band eased into the groove and Liam sang I'd like to buy the world a coke from the New Seekers song that Noel had pinched the melody from.  Noel teased the riff to Cigarettes and Alcohol a couple of times but then played something else, he would regularly ask the crowd 'reckon we're any good?' fully knowing the answer.

I pogo'd like mad down the front and was swept off my feet at times. I remember the chorus for Up In The Sky and the breakdown section sounding incredible. Noel and Liam walked off towards the end of I Am The Walrus leaving the rest of the band to play on. I remember buzzing off the show for the rest of the week, telling everyone I could about this incredible band.

Later on in June 1994 Oasis would play Glastonbury

Liam Gallagher looked and sounded incredible

Shakermaker came out the following day and I knew it off by heart already. I'd got someone to tape the Radio 1 broadcast show I had attended in April and I'm pretty sure I would have taped the video off the Chart Show on a Saturday morning. It had an energy, although it wasn't what I thought the next single would be, I was holding out for Fade Away that I had heard in demo form from a Select Magazine tape.

Shakermaker was a bit of a holding single, keeping the momentum going for the proper breakthrough that would come when Oasis released Live Forever. It worked a treat. The press were falling for the Gallagher brothers and an interview with John Harris for the NME, later to be released as the 7-inch single Wibbling Rivalry, sent them into overdrive. They looked great, swore, took drugs, played great shows, wrote great songs and wanted to be stars.

Shakermaker has it's strengths, but the b-sides were more interesting for me.

Noel's D'Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman is a beauty, balancing dreams with reality and potential regret, talking of having bills to pay and forgetting the simplicity of climbing trees and dreaming.

The town where we're living has made you a man

And all of your dreams are washed away in the sand

Alive is another Noel song where his doubts about being left behind come out, but he also seems to be egging himself on. It's a song I would have loved Oasis to have recorded properly, but the 8-track demo version captures a moment in time with Noel's frustrations and fears coming out in the lyrics, Liam's voice developing and the guitar sound beginning to come through.

The live version of Bring It On Down begins with Liam shouting Good evening Great Britain and is believed to come from a 1993 radio session, although I've never read of this being confirmed anywhere. The power of this song is evident and the band tear through it. Alan McGee wanted this to be Oasis' debut single and you can hear why, with the guitars, lyrics and delivery it's the Sex Pistols updated for 1994.

You're the outcast, you're the underclass

But you don't care, because you're living fast 

Scroll down for the Shakermaker video, the bands Top of the Pops debut playing the song, rare footage of the band performing on Naked City and Noel being interviewed, Glastonbury footage and also rare footage from earlier in 1994 when they played a Sony event at Gleneagles hotel.

Oasis at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut

February 2015 sees King Tut's Wah Wah Hut celebrate its 25th anniversary. The legendary Glasgow venue has witnessed some incredible bands, artists and shows gracing the hallowed stage over those years. You only need to climb the steps to the gig area to look at some of the names.

However, there is one gig that is associated with the venue more than any other - the night Oasis crashed a bill and were signed to Creation by Alan McGee.

As luck would have it, thanks to a mutual love of Teenage Fanclub, I have got to know the drummer of a band that were on the bill that night - so here is Derek McKee's story of what happened on that famous night.

Derek - I used to play drums in a band called Boyfriend, we were signed to Creation Records offshoot August Records towards the end of 1992. One of the first things that Creation did was buy us all new music equipment then they put us out on the road on a UK tour with Sub Pop rockers The Afghan Whigs at the end of September 1992.

We met up with Debbie Turner and her band Sister Lovers at the Boardwalk, Manchester and promised them a support slot on the next Glasgow gig. We also met up with Mark Coyle who used to be Teenage Fanclub/Inspiral Carpets sound guy. TFC’s guitar tech was our bassist Mark McAvoy, Inspiral Carpets guitar tech was Noel Gallagher. Mark was an old friend and early supporter of our band, he very kindly put us up for the night at his flat after the gig.

Fast forward to May 1993, we were booked to play the last night of Mayfest at King Tuts with fellow label-mates 18 Wheeler. Sister Lovers were booked as the third band on the bill. When Mark Coyle got wind of this, he contacted us to ask if the new group he was working with, his friend Noel’s band could be added to the bill. They were called Oasis. “The more the merrier!” we said but unfortunately we forgot to tell the promoter about the late addition to the night, we didn’t think it would be a big deal!

My memories of the night are that initially the Tuts staff were being a bit arsey about a fourth band on the bill and refused to let them play. Discussions/veiled threats of potential violence and compromise saved the day.

Both Boyfriend and Sister Lovers threatened to cancel the gig but after agreeing to cut short their respective sets, this freed up just enough time for Oasis who went on to play their 4 song set (Rock n Roll Star, Bring It On Down, Up In The Sky, I Am The Walrus). Apart from the Manchester posse, the only others who watched Oasis that night numbered no more than about 12 people. I remember they were very loud and was impressed with their guitarist. The tune that stuck in my mind was their cover of I Am The Walrus, it was fantastic!

Oasis in 1993

Liam looked like a football casual with Adidas gear on, younger than most of us. Like all the young dudes, we thought he was a loveable rogue, cheeky and cocky. His singing was good, he used to have a sweet melodic voice and could certainly hit the notes.

Noel was the big brother, he was the one pulling the strings and he'd been around the block with the Inspiral Carpets, so he knew the score. 

The rest as they say is history! I was given a cassette of their demos, the same one that was given to Alan McGee. I’ve still got it! The Oasis boys were very friendly and appreciative, plans were hatched for Boyfriend to go down to Manchester to play together again. 

After that night, things happened to Oasis very fast but whenever they were in town, we were contacted to go and meet up for drinks/laughs and watch the gig. 

Noel was definitely the chief; very chatty and easy going. I spent a lot of time in his company when they played the Cathouse in 94. Me, Noel and Stephen Jollie from Boyfriend drank a case of Becks and a bottle of Gin between us. I remember saying 'What the f**k you drinking Gin for Noel, it's an old lady's drink?' He took quite a bit of ribbing for it!

This went on throughout their career, right up until they played 2 nights at Loch Lomond. The day before the Loch Lomond gigs, I met up with Liam and his minder in town for some drinks and he sorted me out for tickets for the Sunday gig! One time I remember telling him I thought Patsy had a cracking pair of tits as I'd seen them in Lethal Weapon!

My impression of them was that they were a fine bunch of lads, being in their company was like one long party. We were all in our early twenties, unlimited supply of drink/drugs/women, who wouldn’t “have it””?