Liam Gallagher, Primal Scream and More: TRNSMT 2021 Saturday
Photo by John Price on Unsplash
Long gone are the days of being stuck in the house, watching artists and bands perform awkward livestreams. Livestreams don’t reflect the true atmosphere of live gigs: the buzzing crowd, pints being thrown about and the gleaming stage lights- TRSNMT 2021 was all of this and more.
The day was off to a murky start in weather, but the dulcet, harmonious tones of the Spyres on the River Stage set the vibe right. The crowd sang along as the young Glasgow band belted out their rocking setlist. Further on in the night was the Manchester based band The Hara, whose singer’s vocal chops and stage presence were vivacious. If the crowd hadn’t heard of these lads yet, they were surely sold.
Moving along to the King Tut's Stage, which displays some the UK and Ireland’s most promising young artists, was the effortlessly cool Murder Capital from Dublin. The crowd were pleased as lead singer James McGovern jumped into the crowd, finishing off the set on a high note.
Glasgow based Declan Welsh and The Decadent West had the Tut’s crowd surfing, moshing and screaming lyrics word for word. It was a brilliant welcome home to the Glasgow stage for the band after the hardship of lockdown.
The Main Stage saw Primal Scream blast out legendary hits like ‘Movin on Up’, ‘Country Girl’ and ‘Loaded’. Front man Bobby Gillespie commanded the audience whilst donning a sparkly suit and a grin to match. The crowd danced away, and matched the energy of the colourful tunes played out by the band.
After the devastation of the pandemic, nothing could have prepared the crowd of TRSNMT for the pure rock ‘n’ roll performance of Liam Gallagher. The moment Gallagher sauntered out onto the stage with his signature walk and trade-mark parka, the crowd went ballistic. Gallagher opened with Oasis classics ‘Hello’ and ‘Rock n’ Roll Star’ and the crowd were “mad fer it” in true Glaswegian style. With people balancing on their mates’ shoulders, beers in hand, this was the moment Scottish fans of Liam Gallagher had been waiting on for the last two years.
Some parts were bittersweet. The knowledge of so many lives lost due to the pandemic with the reassuring tones of Liam’s solo hit ‘Once’ such as: “you only get to do it once”, served as a reminder of the moment being precious. He went on to make sure Glasgow knew it was “biblical”, and went on to belt out ‘Live Forever’, dedicating it to the victims of 9/11 on its 20th anniversary. Original Oasis guitarist Bonehead also joined Liam in performing old hits like ‘Roll With It’ and ‘Acquiesce’.
The night ended with Gallagher returning for an encore, calling those of the crowd who appeared to believe the show was over as ‘silly billies’. Sounding the best he’s sounded in years, Liam finished with iconic Oasis tune ‘Wonderwall’ before sauntering off the side of the stage to give a fan his maracas.
TRSNMT Saturday and all the acts involved provided something very valuable to the people of Scotland: joy.