Q Magazine March 2018 Back Issue

ON TOUR AND IN THE PUB WITH LIAM GALLAGHER
At the beginning of 2017, Liam Gallagher wanted one thing more than any other. He wanted his fans back. Since Oasis had split up in 2009, he felt like they had turned away from him. It would be great making a record, even better if it went to Number 1, he thought, but the most important thing to him was getting his people back. Get the fans onside, he told himself, “do good gigs, do ’em real.” He wanted to be able to look out from the stage and see his sort of crowd. No chin-strokers, just people out for a party, losing themselves in the songs, forgetting about everything else that’s going on in their lives for that moment. To him, that would be the mark of success. Inside Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena, you can hear the chant building. “Liam! Liam! Liam! Liam!” It sweeps from the front to the back as the 7500-strong crowd await their hero. It’s two months after As You Were, Liam’s debut solo album, went straight to Number 1 and the punters at another sold-out show on this victory lap UK tour sum up his cross-generational appeal. There are fans who could’ve been at Knebworth and fans whose mum and dads could’ve been at Knebworth.