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Mar 19, 2024 By Lee Campbell Photography by Lee Campbell Web Exclusive

I only counted two empty pint glasses hurtling through the air at this hugely anticipated gig with Liam Gallagher & John Squire. It seemed to be a relatively well-behaved crowd on this Saturday night over St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Surprising and a little disappointed at such restrained enjoyment.

Jake Bugg’s middle-England folk tunes were the perfect tonic in Ireland’s capital to kick things off. Just himself, his trusty guitar and some very quick finger work. Typically quite a reserved chap, he seemed genuinely delighted to feel the love from the Dublin audience.

9.15pm and on struts Mr Gallagher waving his maracas with glee, followed closely behind by the unassuming guitar maestro John Squire. After lapping up the crowd’s enthusiasm, Liam howled, “We’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a fuckin’ good time”, launching into “Just Another Rainbow”. Yes, ok, it has that questionable color check-list in the lyrics, but it’s still a banging track.

“One Day at a Time” keeps up the tempo before making way for the bluesy “I’m a Wheel” and psychedelic “Love You Forever” with Squire doing his best Clapton and Hendrix dedications in quick succession. The swampy keys intro to “You’re Not the Only One” is quintessential southern American rock that The Black Crowes would be proud of.

Liam asks, “Anyone here from Mars? - you must be fuckin’ jet lagged!” The most Oasis-esque song on the record, “Mars to Liverpool” gets one of the biggest crowd reactions of the night. The end of the anthem descends into soccer chants of “United” and “Liverpool”, much to the disgust of the Manchester City fanatic Gallagher. Although Squire was probably quietly pleased being a big Manchester United FC fan himself. “Mother Nature’s Song” is one of the best tracks on the record and the live version takes it up another soaring notch.

Yes, the duo were done and dusted within sixty minutes, however it was still a thrill to see them perform together on stage with their own material. You know what you are gonna get with Gallagher, however the beautiful chord work of Squire is a delight to witness. I don’t think he spoke to the crowd once during the set but it didn’t matter. Head down, mop of hair hanging freely, just like it did in 1989 with The Stone Roses, simply playing his ass off.

The Stones “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” seems like a random enough encore, but it sounded good enough. Perhaps making up for the brevity of the set, Gallagher took some time to autograph a considerable amount of fan memorabilia, including a Manchester City FC jersey as the lights went up. His appreciation of the Irish crowd was equalled by his love of a pint of Guinness the following day, posting himself sipping the black stuff on social media to celebrate all things green. Well played Liam…