“This is another new song,” says Liam Gallagher midway through his new band’s explosive debut gig.
Yet, as they burst into ‘The Beat Goes On’, which is Beady Eye’s answer to ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, the crowd’s reaction is more like a rapturous response to a classic single…and maybe one day, it might be. The song’s not old enough to be a classic yet.
Almost everyone sings along, despite the fact the band’s album ‘Different Gear, Still Speeding’, was only released four days earlier.
Any first-gig nerves from singer Liam, guitarist Gem Archer, bass Andy Bell, and drummer Chris Sharrock, where non existent as the fans…the people…took them in with open arms at Barrowlands, Glasgow.
From the moment they tear into the boisterous mod-rock of ‘Four Letter Word’, the 2,000 fans give it everything they’ve got…and so do the band.
Liam’s voice seems…well, better than ever. The electrifying ‘Three Ring Circus’ sounds like a cross between the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Talking of which, I don’t know if it’s on purpose of not, but if you still buy CD’s from a record shop, or whether you download off the net, Beady Eye is going to be filed next to the Beatles…or near them anyway. I don’t suppose it matters what you’re called or who you are filed next to, but it’s slightly interesting nevertheless.
This has the intensity of when Oasis first hit the scene. I’m not saying that Oasis aren’t important any more, and I’m not saying Beady Eye are the best band I’ve ever heard, but Oasis have gone stale…hate to say it, but it’s true. Beady Eye are fresh…and you can tell by the spring in step of, not only Liam, but the whole band.
Even though Beady Eye wear their influences on their sleeves, there are signs of originality bursting to get out in the colossal wall of sound that is called ‘The Morning Son’.
At the end Liam says, “We’ve only got a few tunes…but stick with us, next year we’ll have some more.”
I do hope so.
by Wallace McTavish
