Liam Gallagher review, Pyramid Stage, Glastonbury: Singer pulls no punches with series of Oasis hits

When the Glastonbury line-up was announced in March, Liam Gallagher tweeted that he was looking forward to “resuming my Glastonbury residence”, having played on the Other Stage as a solo artist in 2017 and with his post-Oasis band Beady Eye in 2013. “Be there or be nowhere,” he added.

It seemed that half of the festival’s attendees took note. The field in front of the Pyramid Stage was packed. The last time Liam graced Glastonbury’s main stage was when Oasis headlined in 2004, and while he may be 15 years older his distinctive rasp was very much in place.

And despite Liam’s spat with his brother Noel showing no sign of abating (Liam said recently that Noel’s new single sounded like “the biggest pile of sh*t ever”, while Noel dubbed Liam a “fat man in an anorak”), he treated the crowd to a raft of Oasis numbers.

He opened with a football chant for his beloved Manchester City followed by Oasis’s old entrance theme F----in’ In The Bushes before breaking into a snarly Rock n Roll Star. The crowd, nicely cooled down after a stifling day and ready to party, lapped it up. (Poor Liam, however, was a bit too cold. One of his entourage told him it was too hot to bring his trademark jacket to the site so he “left a Parker in my hotel and now I’m freezing my tits off.”)

New single Shockwave, from second album Why Me? Why Not, out in September, was a bit flat. But What’s The Story (Morning Glory) and Columbia - from Oasis’s first album - were fantastic and had everyone singing along.

Gallagher was hugely chatty, which he isn’t always. The set was peppered with the vaguely surreal comments that Gallagher is prone to make. At one point he mentioned the brilliance of Diddy Man comedian Ken Dodd.

There was a lovely touching moment when he dedicated Slide Away to a poorly festival-goer he met recently called Lauren Mahon (who took to Twitter to tell him that she was indeed there).

Roll With It was great. Afterwards, Gallagher had another pop at his brother who is not too enamoured of the song. “There’s no way that sounds s---. Next time you see the little fart, tell him,” he said.

He dedicated Cigarettes and Alcohol to organisers Michael and Emily Eavis. Given that this is his second Glastonbury in a row, he said that next year will “be the hat trick”, which will no doubt spark fevered speculation online that he or Oasis might headline next year.

I doubt they will. But it raised an interesting question. Could Liam eventually headline the festival as a solo artist? He could. But I truly believe that Liam is better with Noel, as I’m sure everyone does. His older brother’s presence, his backing vocals and his charisma would just make things... better.

Wonderwall was sublime and was of course sung heartily by up to 100,000 people. Supersonic too. He ended with Champagne Supernova, which he dedicated to The Prodigy’s Keith Flint, who died earlier this year and was a Glastonbury regular. It was a piano version but was both moving and joyful.

It was Gallagher’s biggest show in years.

Be there or be nowhere? We were there.