Critic's evaluation
At 7:20 pm, with the thermometers reading 23ºC, the surroundings of the Espaço Unimed were taken by a kilometers long line, but not to give prestige to the Oasis frontman. Taking even the space that used to be used by paying customers at the previously named Espaço das Américas, such a crowd of people was there to watch Oficina G3 at the nearby Audio Club.
As for Liam Gallagher's audience, few were seen on the streets, since the gates had already opened a few minutes ago. Curiously, not even street vendors filled the landscape, with only two, positioned at a considerable distance from each other, selling products related to the Englishman's concert.
Inside the Espaço Unimed, however, another landscape was seen. Both sectors were already generously stocked at 8 pm. Of course, with 1h30 left until the beginning of the performance, big bottlenecks could still be seen among the paying customers of the event that night of 11/15. By 8:37 PM there were no more bottlenecks, suggesting great popularity for both Gallagher and the popular acceptance of his solo work.
At 8:43 pm, the technical crew was busy on stage positioning the setlists and beginning the sound check. This event caused no stir in the audience, resulting only in several necks in an attempt to have some kind of privileged view of what was happening on the stage.
However, as the guitar distortion sounded, screams and howls were mixed in a way that suddenly sounded the environment until the stage emptied completely at 9:19 pm, just a few minutes before the start of the show. Meanwhile, the stage's center lights came on, illuminating the front of the audience and causing a sudden euphoria.
At 9:25 pm, the lights went down. Euphoric screams filled the room and were shared with several cell phones that were positioned as high as possible to capture the best image of the video transmitted on the big screen, which showed a retrospective of the career of the baptized William John Paul Gallagher.
Shrill shouts, clapping and 'ls' made with hands were mixed between smiles and tears while the introduction of Morning Glory, sung in unison by the audience, was played. With his standard stance and outfit: army jacket with beanie, body stretched and hanging to the left, hands behind his back and head bowed, Liam Gallagher introduced himself in his classic way to the audience, prompt and direct.
Rock 'n' Roll Star, the next song, was equally well received by the audience, who sang both its melody and verses along with the singer. All this counting on the cell phones still positioned as high as possible in the challenge to register the moment with the best angle.
Wall Of Glass, the first to be performed from his solo career, surprised by the energetic participation of the audience, who sang it in a synchronized way. Harmonic, dense, precise, and slightly industrial, the song still had a swing that easily infected the entire audience.
"Thank you so much" was the succinct and necessary thanks that Gallagher used to start the recent, acid and reflexive-criticism Everything's Electric. Watched in silence, but with looks of adoration from the audience, the song kept the level of audience-band interaction high.
The melodic, melancholic and nostalgic Stand By Me was performed by a ball of cell phones and tears streaming down the faces of some people who, with evident emotion, sang the verses of the track. Even the frontman himself went to the back asking, even without words, that the audience sing the chorus.
It was then that, in the brief moments of the passage from one song to another, the audience chanted "olê olê olê, Liam, Liam", silenced by the introduction of the melancholic-dramatic Roll It Over. Slide Away, on the other hand, had great participation from the audience, who were clearly more stimulated and electric when singing the verses of the bridge.
In More Power, the nostalgic, melancholic and dramatic note to Noel and another important single from C'mon You Know, his most recent work, the audience followed her in silence, but with the presence of rhythmic clapping along with the groove of the drums during the verses of the bridge.
With the right to joke that he was going to sing Slipknot songs to wake up sleepy faces spotted in the audience, Gallagher still kept important headlines for the performance. And the nostalgic-motivational Once was an example of this. As the first ballad of the show, the song made people dance softly while the audience's chants were pronounced more delivered and visceral.
Moving away from the infectious melancholy, Some Might Say injected extra doses of adrenaline, making the audience scream and jump, especially during its introduction. With good audience participation during the verses as well, the audience put all the strength in their throats to pronounce every word Gallagher said.
Wonderwall was, if you can say, the highlight of the show. With an emotional chorus left by Liam to be sung in chorus by the audience, the song even had the right to vocal hums that represented the closing melody made by the keyboard. Still, the public was surprised with the performance of Supersonic, song included especially for the Brazilian set.
Leaving the stage without warning along with his backing musicians, Gallagher left the space that was soon suddenly darkened. Announcing the beginning of the encore, the attitude made the public break the awkward silence with shouts, whistles and olêolês until the group returned to the stage introducing Live Forever.
And it was Champagne Supernova's turn to close the São Paulo leg of the C'mon You Know World Tour in a touching way, with the public singing along with Gallagher.
At 50 years old, Liam Gallagher still behaves the same way he did 31 years ago. Succinct, bureaucratic and honourable as to the maximum 'British punctuality'. Besides showing that he is still in shape and has the same typical metallic-nasal sound that marked the 90s and early 2000s, Gallagher gave a concert that, more than softening the hearts of Oasis fans, was proving the popularity of his solo career.
Even though there were 10 Oasis songs, the setlist assembled for his tour evenly and politely covered great tracks composed during his solo work. Despite having only Soul Love from the Beady Eye repertoire, the setlist gave great visibility to his solo albums.
From his latest album, C'mon You Know, the singles Diamond In The Dark, Everything's Electric and More Power were honored and got a good response from the audience. The River, from Why Me? Why Not, her second album, had the same effect. But the stars of the evening, as far as Gallagher's individual work is concerned, were unquestionably Wall Of Glass and Once, which were received with evident clamor.
With the aid of a lineup that featured three guitarists, being Jay Mahler, Mike Moore, and Jeff Wotton, a bassist, later discovered to be Drew McConnel, drummer Dan McDougall, acting as Gallagher's backup musician since 2017, keyboardist Chris Madden, and two backing vocals, not featured by the frontman, the entire repertoire was executed with pressure, harmony, and well-constructed melodies. Balanced, the set even showed that both members were synchronized and that, between them, there was a chemistry that transcended the limits of the stage.
Even with little interaction on his part, Liam Gallagher did not hide his love for soccer, dedicating Wonderwall to Gabriel Jesus and Ederson, Live Forever to Maradona, and saying that Brazil will certainly win the World Cup. Bringing along his striking half-moon tambourine, which was later handed out to the audience along with his pair of rattles, he delivered a performance marked by the strong aroma of nostalgia.
As far as Oasis is concerned, whether they will be back is still unknown. This atmosphere of uncertainty and brutal rivalries between the Gallagher brothers has even overtaken Guns and Roses and given the English band the title of "the most dangerous band in the world" in the 21st century. After all, while in the former the fear was that at any moment it could break up, in the latter it occurs through the hypothesis that at any moment it could come back. And that means a lot of money circulating in the showbusiness camp.
Although it is not known when and if this will happen, what Liam Gallagher did on the night of 15/11, in São Paulo (SP), was to prove that he is at peace with his past and that he is even open to a possible reunion. Only time will tell if Noel and Liam will step on the same stage again to celebrate the career of an iconic 90's band and that, today, can be considered the most dangerous band in the world: Oasis.
