Fremantle Arts Centre played host to former Oasis front man Liam Gallagher for the second of two WA shows, as his Australian Tour drew to a conclusion before jetting off to New Zealand for his one & only show in Auckland. With the first show a sell-out, those that missed out were glad of an additional night and they responded by filling the venue to near capacity for the second night.
The night kicked off with Sydney four-piece Planet warming the growing crowd up nicely with their brand of ‘Gaze-Pop’ which has taken the band further afield in recent times, with tours of Europe & the UK increasing their following. Their dreamy guitar-driven indie tunes set the tone for the evening, as they pushed through their seven-song set with confidence & ease and it was good to see plenty of people there early enough to generously support Matty, Tom, Harry & Jimmy.
Set List: Save.Sold, Disaster Caster, Undermine, Never New, Reason Why, Aching Dream, Northern Skyline
Alex Lahey has had a busy year once more, playing a whole host of shows that have taken her to the US & UK. Lahey has been no stranger to WA in recent years, with appearances at Rock Rover, as well as her sell-out show at The Rosemount back in April 2018. The Melbourne alternative indie rocker ripped into the Fremantle crowd with her punchy & energy filled set, as she chatted & connected with the audience throughout, all the while proving her flexibility as a multi-instrumentalist with great guitar & saxophone work. Her versatility would have been even more evident for those who caught her play a DJ set at The Norfolk Hotel later the same evening.
As the evening skies over Fremantle darkened & the road crew finally vacated the stage, the sounds of the ‘Manchester City Champions Chant’ filled the air at exactly 8.30pm, before the guitar-driven intro of ‘Fuckin’ in the Bushes’ allowed Gallagher’s band to fill the stage, to be shortly joined by the man himself as he sauntered out of the wings with his unmistakable confident swagger & sway. Wearing a raincoat zipped right up to the neck, Liam Gallagher wasted no time in kicking of proceedings with ‘Rock n Roll Star’ and it was soon evident that all was not well with Liam, as he quickly pulled his hood over his head, something that was to remain in place for the entire evening. From the off, Gallagher sounded ‘throaty’ but this didn’t stop him being the consummate performer he has become, as he ground through his set with grit & determination, knowing that for the second time in as many nights Perth had turned out in good numbers to support one of the iconic lead singers in the last twenty-five years.
The set didn’t disappoint either with a nice collection of his own work as well as the Oasis hits that everyone hoped for. ”I’ve got to keep me hood up tonight to protect me ears,” Gallagher explained. “Don’t worry, I’m not going all fuckin’ Sinead O’Connor on ya all and becomin’ a nun”, he continued before firing off three of his solo tracks in the shape of ‘Halo’ and the impressive ‘Shockwave’ from his latest album, before pointing to someone in the crowd during ‘Wall of Glass’. “What the fuck are you yawning for, man? Go to the fuckin’ toilets if ya wanna yawn”, bellowed the frustrated Mancunian between songs – Lesson learnt… Don’t show signs of fatigue at a Liam Gallagher gig! Frustrations started to build as Gallagher began aiming glances at the sound desk and after hearing of issues he had expressed to the crowd from the previous night; it was becoming apparent that the P.A was not up to the usual quality or power that Gallagher is used to.
Beer cups & contents were launched skyward as the crowd responded in unison to the opening riff of ‘Morning Glory’ (can that album really be twenty four years old?) before they took over the vocals to help the struggling Gallagher. The Oasis back catalogue continued with ‘Columbia’ and fantastic ‘Stand By Me’ which both received rapturous responses. “You live in a beautiful place you lot”, exclaimed Liam before showcasing more of his solo work with three more tracks from his latest offering ‘Why Me? Why Not.’ and I liked the way he broke the Oasis material up with batches of his solo material throughout the evening, as the wonderful ‘Once’ was followed by the title song ‘Why Me? Why Not’ & ‘The River’. There was only going to be one song to finish the set as the familiar acoustic strumming of ‘Wonderwall’ caused another eruption of beer cups & alcohol into the air and as the song drew to a close Gallagher gave a quick “Cheers Australia” before departing the stage.
You could have expected Liam to have an excuse not to return for an encore but return he did exclaiming, “I’ve come a long way for this tour and it’s fuckin’ Christmas”, before launching into four Oasis classics in quick succession taken from ‘Morning Glory’ & ‘Definitely Maybe’ as ‘Acquiesce’, ‘Roll with It’ and ‘Supersonic’ had the crowd in choral ecstasy & with the majority of the band leaving the stage, Liam performed a stunning rendition of ‘Champagne Supernova’ which ended the night. But as Gallagher had said, it’s Christmas and the final gift of the night was a second encore and quite possibly the best was saved for the last as Gallagher blasted out every last drop of his voice with ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’.
The beautiful setting of Fremantle Arts Centre was well suited for this kind of show and when you think of the stadiums & arenas Oasis once performed in, it’s always great to be able to see artists like this in a more intimate setting. The set list was well thought out and had all the songs expected & more (apart from Don’t Look Back in Anger but that’s sung by the other fella) plus the new material worked well, as did Gallagher’s now infamous rapport with the audience – he likes to say what he thinks at every opportunity & comments on what he sees in front of him very openly. The P.A was the only blip (“I’ve done louder farts than tthis P.A.”) on an otherwise great night of Britpop nostalgia and it was unfortunate Gallagher wasn’t feeling 100% but he ploughed through the set with vigour, swagger & wonderful banter and as always didn’t disappoint, as he gave us his all. A thoroughly enjoyable evening!
Set List: Rock n Roll Star, Halo, Shockwave, Wall of Glass, Morning Glory, Columbia, Stand By Me, Once, Why Me? Why Not, The River, Wonderwall
First Encore: Acquiesce, Roll With It, Supersonic, Champagne Supernova Second Encore: Cigarettes & Alcohol
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Linda Dunjey Photography
