Liam Gallagher And John Squire: From Mars To Leeds

The Stone Roses were, without doubt, one of the major influences on Oasis; it is probably fair to say that if the Roses had not existed, then neither would have Oasis.

John Squire, the former Stone Roses guitarist, and ex-Oasis frontman now turned solo star Liam Gallagher, were riding high on the success of their recent debut Number One album as they arrived on stage for a sold-out concert at the o2 Academy in Leeds.

The concert was never going to be about nostalgia; Gallagher and Squire have a new set of songs to perform. If an old Oasis song or Roses track had been played, it would have distracted from the present.

As the chants of “Liam! Liam, Liam!" rang out around the auditorium, the atmosphere was more akin to a football match as opposed to a rock gig. Introducing I’m A Wheel, Gallagher requested that the fans put their arms in the air “if you like the blues,” though he could have been referring to his beloved football team, Manchester City, as opposed to the blues-infested song.

Gallagher hardly moved during the short set; apart from shaking his tambourine or maracas, Squire was always on hand to provide a complex guitar solo, swapping his Les Paul guitar for a Fender Stratocaster. Squire has often been credited as the greatest guitarist of his generation, an accolade that has been rightly given.

In a brief fifty-minute set, Just Another Rainbow sounded fresh, invigorating, and psychedelic; Make It Up As You Go Along could not have been further than the truth; Mars to Liverpool hurtled along with a huge debt to The Beatles in their mid-sixties period.

Raise Your Hands, still the most Oasis-sounding track from the new album, was a point not lost on the mainly middle-aged audience as they sang back the chorus in unison.

The finale, a cover of The Rolling Stones Jumpin’ Jack Flash, rounded off an intense yet entertaining set that flashed by far too quickly.

With the songs primed for the festival circuit and beyond, this will not be the last time we witness this powerful partnership.