Walking in Coop Live is not like any other venue I’ve been in. It’s clean, feels very functional in that freshly built sort of way. Oh and it’s massive. Oddly though it also feels pretty compact. Efficient you might say. It is heaving tonight, as you might expect with ravenous mancs eager to see one of our own. Mr Liam Gallagher celebrating 30 years since the release of Definitely Maybe. I’m up on Level 3, Row 2 which I’ve got to say is quite a view. I think wherever you are in here the stage would feel close though. For a big arena space it feels oddly intimate. The floor space looks busy, but not dangerously so. In short it’s pretty perfect. Jacket zipped up. Hair cut cropped. Liam takes to the stage looking like an Indie prizefighter and rips into ‘Rock n Roll Star’. The place goes off. It might well be the best entrance I’ve seen. Ever. The atmosphere instantly charged. It’s like a festival but someone’s put a lid on it and trapped all the energy in. Pretty special. I’ve never had any interest in Oasis reforming. It’s the past. Move on. Noel doing his thing, Liam his own. They’ve both continued to release great music, so why look back. But I’ve got to admit, hearing Liam belt out ‘Columbia’ is something otherworldly. Liam sounds like Liam, that’s always going to help, but this isn’t trying to be a carbon copy. The band up there with him sound like themselves. It’s fresh. Authentic sure, but everything is given just a little more juice, a little more venom. ‘Shakermaker’ gets dedicated to Sheik Mansoor. That splits the crowd a little, Ciry fans out cheering the booing reds. I don’t usually sing at gigs but I can’t help myself. It probably helps that these songs are seared into my subconscious. Some I’ve not played in years, but the lyrics come back to me word perfect. The sound is superb. There was much hype about this during construction, but it really is decent. Some real effort has been put into the stage set too. Palm trees. Flamingoes and some gorgeous video content accompanying the live relay. It’s spectacular. ‘Digsy’s Dinner’ was never one of my favourites, but when heard with thousands of souls singing along it’s great. Not as great as ‘Bring It On Down’ though. What a fucking monster this is. It’s viseral snarl is pure punk filth. Liam acknowledges that some of the audience might be “old cunts like us” and switches things up with ‘Cloudbursting’. I’ll admit I’ve not heard this since, well, since b-sides were a thing. Alright the mass singalong ceases, but it still sounds massive. Three guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and backing singers on stage will help with that. Like I said, production wise they’ve gone all in. As ‘I Will Believe’ brings back memories of CDs skipping at house parties. It strikes me just what a shift Liam puts in. His vocal delivery on these songs was never tame was it, but 30 years on it’s remarkable how well he keeps pace. It’s proper powerful stuff and despite being trussed up in a trademark coat (and later a hat) he barely looks to break a sweat. He’s full of dedications tonight, ‘Half the World Away’ goes out to his dog, Buttons. He misses a trick not putting a photo up on the screens, but there’s a sea of phone lights and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many people up on shoulders. ‘D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?’ feels like a nice relaxing moment before ‘Fade Away’ goes out to “the Burnage massive”. It’s quite a depressing song when you think about it. Maybe you’re not meant to think too much about these songs though. They work best when you let yourself get swept up in them and that’s pretty easy to do. I have to laugh as the opening chords of ‘Lock All The Doors’ ring out, Liam saunters up to the mic and says “Longsight”. This is an odd one. An old song that Noel has since updated and released on his own album. Liam trying to reclaim it? Or just take the opportunity to have a dig. Either way it sounds great. There’s some deeper cuts than I expected, but I’m here for it and most of the crowd are too. Certainly the floor looks like it rarely calms down. There is a sense that some around me are itching for the big hitters, ‘(It’s Good) To Be Free’ perhaps isn’t quite there, but I’m in my element and vow to get in the loft tomorrow and dig out some of these old CDs. ‘Whatever’ is what Coop Live wants though and we get it with both supercharged barrels. The strings are live which is lovely to see and hear, although the crowd singing is going toe to toe with the sound from the stage. This was a real flex on release, and it’s aged magnificently. Even if it’s a bit of a Beatles rip off. Hammered home by Liam interjecting some lines from ‘Octopus’s Garden’ at the end. If ‘Whatever’ is Beatles ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ is Pistols. Pint pots fly and circle pits break out all over the show. It’s the clear high point. Even the perfection of ‘Married With Children’ can’t match it, although it comes close. He pretends to finish here as we go through the panto of waiting for the encore. They could squeeze an extra song in couldn’t they, but honestly so far I couldn’t ask for more. More there is though and if the start of the set was a masterclass. So is the encore. ‘Supersonic’! Fucking hell what a song. He knows he’s got the place in the palm of his hand and has no intention of disappointing us. Nothing is missed. Chants of “Liam Liam” ring out as he asks if there’s any love birds in the house. “This one’s for you it’s called Slide Away”. I mean it’s biblical to borrow his phrase. Never have the words ‘I don’t know, I don’t care, all I know is you can take me there” made so much sense. I’m getting a bit dizzy it’s that good. What’ve we missed? Surely he’s played everything? Then… ‘Live Forever’. What can I say that I’ve not already. If you’ve not seen this set. Get a ticket however you can, drive to the other end of the country if need be. It’s spectacular stuff. I could walk out now beaming, but after saying ‘Live Forever’ was the last song we get a stunning coda of ‘I Am the Walrus’. It’s pure magic. The strings are back. Dare I say it sounds better than the original. Sacrilege I know but seriously it’s close. The sound is huge. They’ve only just built this place and he’s getting close to reducing it to rubble. This was always going to be a big gig and therefore expectations were insanely high. Liam delivers though and then some. It’s my first time in Coop Live tonight. Quite a baptism.
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