Far from the cigarettes and alcohol lifestyle he was enjoying at the time of his last trip to Slane (way back in 1995), the Liam Gallagher of the noughties mostly likes jogging, tucking his kids into bed and perhaps reading the Old Testament. At least that would explain why tonight’s show ends with Liam telling us we’ve all been ‘fucking bibical’! (Who are we to question the remarkable turn of phrase of a man who, on the most recent record, told us to shake our reptile, baby?)
Swaggering on stage, the Gallaghers look good tonight (like a less well-off and more weatherbeaten Take That) and with only a few pieces of banter (incitements to recklessness and humble offerings of thanks equally) it seems that after 18 years of sex, drugs and much sibling rivalry, the brothers grim have finally got the front-man balance about right.
When Liam growls ‘Is it my imagina-shee-yenn?’ (his fantastic manipulation of the word being the very reason I’ve come here), the crowd are his. When he fucks off and leaves Noel to it for a few songs – the sweet and friendly ‘Half The World Away’ and the cracking ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ – we are equally at his mercy. In fact, it makes for a welcome change of tempo.
Our browbeating prodigals blast into action tonight with ‘Rock’n’Roll Star’. From the get-go, Liam makes for a supreme and intimidating presence. Britpop hymns ‘Live Forever’, ‘Supersonic’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’ taste distinctly vintage, with ‘Wonderwall’ getting the most album-faithful treatment we’ve seen in years.
Only a few months ago, speaking about the superhit, Liam confessed “I can’t fucking stand that fucking song! Every time I have to sing it I want to gag.” But if he did, there wasn’t a smattering of it in the Slane Castle delivery. Did it feel like 1996 again? Yeah, actually, for a few brief moments.
To the surprise of everyone, the Dig Out Your Soul tunes are bloody rollicking, too. The beautifully psychedelic ‘To Be Where There’s Life’, an album lowpoint, has somehow found its feet, roughed up with some of the most superb guitar work we’ll see all night.
It’s also only just come to light that, while the rest of the world was busy grumbling about how shit Oasis’s new stuff is, the loudmouth Mancunian twosome were off writing sneaky cracker after sneaky cracker, and the likes of ‘The Importance Of Being Idle’ and ‘Songbird’ have now become worthy staples in Oasis’ walk-in closet of anthems. Tonight they deliver them with dollops of panache.
Candidates for Choon of the Gig are far too many to name here. The set list differs little from what they’ve been doing throughout the Dig Out Your Soul tour, except maybe with the inclusion of newbie ‘I’m Outta Time’ and a seriously banging version of ‘Roll With It’. ‘The Masterplan’ elicits the biggest singalong of the evening but an uncharacteristically bitter and forceful ‘Slide Away’ (which Noel powers through in a glorious old school Oasis temper) gets my vote.
Wrapping it all up with an almighty instrumental finish to ‘I Am The Walrus’, our oh-so-very 21st century Oasis have gone and done it again – and with every bit of their ‘90s charm intact. They’ve just pulled out a two-hour blinder of a show which, as a better man than I might put it, was nothing short of fucking biblical.
Earlier in the day, thousands of early birds had been treated to some stellar warming-up by local boys The Blizzards and the ever-potent Glasvegas, before Kasabian arrive ready to lay down a predictably thrilling rock foundation. Despite West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum riding high in the charts, it’s choice tunes from their self-titled 2004 debut (‘Club Foot’, ‘Processed Beats’ and finale ‘LSF’) that strain our throats the hardest. I’m not sure if it’s the Primal Scream ferocity, the lure of the super-riffs or the fact that Tom Meighan looks a bit like Moses in denim, but the massive heaving crowd thing works for the Leicester six and the Kasabian engine is showing no sign of recession.
The Prodigy are in cracking form too. Last week Keith Flint told a reporter that when playing festivals “you’ve got a slice of everyone’s pie and you want the lot” and knocking out mutinous renditions of ‘Smack My Bitch Up’, ‘Breathe’ and ‘Firestarter’ as effortlessly as you’d bang out ‘Chopsticks’ on the school piano, they have Slane eating out of their hands. Fans and non-fans alike take note: performed live, Invaders Must Die newbie ‘Omen’ is a song to be reckoned with.
Unfortunately, a string of unforgettable performances was matched by as many undeniable organisational hitches (see news). Here’s hoping that years from now (when the mobility in our legs has returned), we’ll remember Slane 2009 for it’s cracking line-up and colossal energy, and forget the queues for the bar.