A bold and brilliant gig of storming new tunes from two legends of our youth.

There’s something truly thrilling about being inside a gig crowd that is completely hyper with anticipation, enthralled by the spectacle on stage and singing along to every word. That such a crowd would gather for a gig by legends of the stature of Liam and John is no surprise. But the fact that the album being played in full on the night of this gig, and hollered back with gusto by the enraptured throng, was less than a month old at the time, is quite frankly astonishing.

Here in the Summer of Oasis 2025, Liam Gallagher is of course back in the arms of the biggest band on the planet and enthralling tens of thousands at each triumphant gig. So it’s a little hard to believe that just over a year ago I was mere metres away from him, in the front rows of the 2,300 capacity Forum, watching him sing the bluesy collection of tunes he’d collaborated on with John Squire.

Casting my mind back to the cold Monday night this gig happened – ‘where is spring already?‘ I mused in my diary – I felt curious as to what might lie ahead as I undertook the extra walk to the venue from Tufnell Park as Kentish Town station was closed. I got to the Forum about twenty to eight and strolled in the O2 priority entrance, finding myself a space to the far right and a couple of rows back, though crowd movement meant that I ended up edging on the barrier for much of the gig itself.

Scanning the crowd, I saw lots of middle aged blokes of course, many with teenaged kids in tow, which was nice to see. Things got a bit rowdy towards the end of Jake Bugg’s pleasantly unremarkable support set, with said middle aged blokes now a bit tipsy and crashing about with gusto. I worried that it would only get worse with Liam and John on the stage, but luckily, as the crowd got denser in anticipation of the two boys, it actually meant there was less space for the pissed blokes to wreak havoc in, and I ended up with a great second-ish row spot. People were definitely up for a party though, to quite impressive levels for a Monday night, with the diligent security team twice having to weave their way into the centre of the throng to retrieve someone who’d been having just a bit too much fun.

So how were the boys? Liam was fully Liam, as he always is: parka, maracas and bravado in full display, in great voice and a thrill to watch from such proximity, definitely the closest I’ve ever seen him. John may be less of a draw for me, as the Stone Roses never found their way into the centre of my musical world in the 90s, but his guitar playing was magnetically impeccable. It was joyous to be within a fully enthralled crowd, shouting and singing along to every word, with an album less than a month old being received like a collection of decades-old classics. As I noted in my diary:

‘How insanely brilliant that these two legends of our musical lives could come on stage, perform NONE of their beloved hits, and leave the crowd fully thrilled. This is truly exciting, the thought of a totally new and fresh and brilliant series of Liam albums and gigs to come, especially when he could just wallow in “Definitely Maybe” nostalgia if he wanted.’

Of the songs themselves, “Just Another Rainbow” was a bold and brilliant opener, allowing us to revel in Liam’s voice with minimal backing before crashing into its full 90s-style psychedelic glory. “I’m A Wheel” was a powerhouse, my favourite from the album, all dark and dirtily defiant, its bluesy sleaze lifted into a glorious anthem of resistance, the crowd hollering every word of the chorus punching the air. “Mars To Liverpool” and “Raise Your Hands” could be era-defining classics by the rapture they received, and the encore “Jumping Jack Flash” is surely a track Liam was born to sing, an electrifying thrill in a night packed with thrills.

I did find myself hoping that at some point the bluesome two might cover one of Bowie’s more bluesy tunes from the “Aladdin Sane” era, like “Cracked Actor” or “Watch That Man”. That would surely be an epic thrill indeed, but of course, another outing for the duo is going to have to wait some time now.

And I also found myself thinking about all the venues I’ve seen Liam in, and how they’ve gotten smaller each time, from Wembley Stadium to the O2 to the Royal Albert Hall to this night at the Forum, and then it hit me: the actual first venue I saw Liam in, in the flesh, was the Forum, at my third ever Manics gig in December 1996 when he tackled Nicky Wire to the ground. And somehow, coming full circle to seeing him perform so magnificently at the same venue nearly three decades later, felt completely perfect.

My hoped-for future of a series of albums and tours from Liam and John may be indefinitely on hold, but I can’t complain, when the Oasis reunion feels like the best thing that’s happened to music in many a long year. I don’t have a ticket myself – yet! – but am still holding out hope for a miracle from Twickets or Ticketmaster resale. But even if I don’t make it, the vicarious thrills have been provided in droves. Like all music fans of my vintage and disposition, I have watched in awe from afar at the almighty success of the tour, eagerly devouring videos of the Gallagher brothers performing together, and revelling in the joy and unity they have brought across generations in these fractured, alienating times. And I can only hope that it continues for as long as it possibly can.