{"id":40588,"date":"2025-08-02T13:45:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T13:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/40588\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T13:45:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T13:45:07","slug":"what-its-like-to-spend-a-day-in-the-pub-with-oasis-frontman-liam-gallagher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/40588\/","title":{"rendered":"What it’s like to spend a day in the pub with Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked, \u201cDo you have any positive stories of your interactions with the Gallagher brothers<\/a>?\u201d. Now, sensing that this might be an ambush because I never need to be asked twice to name-drop, I played it tentatively. \u201cYeah,\u201d I said. \u201cBoth were really good.\u201d My friend might as well have got out a fishing rod for her next response: \u201cI\u2019ve never heard anyone say anything positive about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take much but that was it, all reluctance dissipated. I\u2019ve always been one to stick up for the underdog, so how dare she say that about two people who probably don\u2019t remember meeting me who are currently in the midst of a global sold-out stadium tour bringing in millions and millions of pounds in revenue?<\/p>\n

My interactions with Noel, I explained, were with someone who was always friendly, funny, happy to talk football, if even to avoid the lashing rain \u2013 the reason I got a much longer interview than expected backstage at Heaton Park once. I also once hung out with him in New York when I was doing a Coldplay feature, inexplicably finding myself locked into the centre of a seating arrangement around a round table in a dressing room surrounded by him, his then-wife, Coldplay, Gwyneth Paltrow, weirdo magician David Blaine and Leonardo DiCaprio. Like I said, the name-dropping gloves are off!<\/p>\n

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But I was just getting warmed up. The real answer to the question, \u201cDo you have any positive stories of your interactions with the Gallagher brothers?\u201d is \u201cYes, I bloody well do, because I once spent a day in the pub with Liam Gallagher. In Christmas week.\u201d Look away now, wife and children: it was one of the most glorious days of my life, up there with spending the day with Eddie Vedder at Pearl Jam HQ and Spurs winning the Europa League (I actually really do hope my family aren\u2019t reading this).<\/p>\n

It was December, 2017, and a triumphant comeback year for Liam, after his post-Beady Eye period out in the cold, was coming to a close. He was now a bona fide solo success and I was trailing him for a few dates on his first arena tour as a solo act for a Q Magazine cover feature.<\/p>\n

The shows themselves were brilliant \u2013 Liam was playing Oasis classics again and a new generation of fans he\u2019d dubbed the \u201cparka monkeys\u201d were lapping it up \u2013 but in terms of any extra-curricular action, it had been a bit dry. Liam was behaving himself on tour, protecting his voice and not drinking \u2013 much as I imagine he is right now for the Oasis reunion shows.<\/p>\n

At gigs in Cardiff and then Manchester, I\u2019d hardly seen Liam beyond watching him onstage. We had scheduled a sit-down chat in London, a few days after the final date of the tour in Manchester, but I was getting low-key vibes from it. It was scheduled for 11am, hardly a sign that your subject is up for taking you on a big one, and it was taking place in a north London branch of brasserie chain C\u00f4te. Or it was meant to, until Liam was spooked by the amount of Christmas parties booked for lunch in there and marched us round to the equally anaemic Caf\u00e9 Rouge. Liam ordered a pineapple juice (no ice).<\/p>\n

The latest news, features and interviews direct to your inbox, from the global home of alternative music.<\/p>\n

The interview was good, with some classic Liam gold \u2013 a few digs at his brother (the two were in the midst of a to-me-to-you back and forth that would continue for a good few years yet), revelling in being back in the limelight and hitting out at anyone he thought had had a dig for the fact he was working with a songwriting team. \u201cI\u2019ve always had people write the songs for me, so it doesn\u2019t feel that different,\u201d he declared. \u201cI\u2019ve been singing other people\u2019s lyrics my whole life and I own them. Once I get hold of them, I make them something else. Like Elvis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interview done, though, something switched. Maybe because he\u2019d just completed his last professional engagement before Christmas, Liam started rubbing his hands together. \u201cShall we go for one drink?\u201d he said to his manager, then-girlfriend and now-fianc\u00e9 Debbie Gwyther. Before Debbie had a chance to answer, he added, \u201cThree is the magic number!\u201d. \u201cOK,\u201d she said, but with a warning. \u201cLiam, we have to be done by 7pm.\u201d I looked at the time on my phone. It was 11.35am. Let the festivities begin!<\/p>\n

With a spring in his step, Liam led us down a cobbled street and into one of his favourite Highgate locals, The Flask, Liam ordering a pint of Guinness with a shot of port in it. \u201cChristmas week, I love it,\u201d he beamed, taking a big sip.<\/p>\n

He makes for fantastic pub company. Sometimes he\u2019d ask a question and answer himself, then answer himself again, and then eventually it seems like he\u2019s on the cusp of starting a row with himself, or he\u2019d imagine what his detractors might say about him, putting on a voice to imitate them, and then unfurl a ready-made reply. I\u2019m assuming he\u2019d seen someone say on Twitter, \u2018You should grow up\u2019, because that was on his mind. \u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d he wondered aloud. \u201cTurn into a c*** like you? Nah, I\u2019ll think I\u2019ll stay down here mate.\u201d<\/p>\n

More pints, more chat, more anecdotes. After asking what else I\u2019d been working on recently, I told him I\u2019d just done a big Depeche Mode cover story and he recalled the time he was in a cab in LA when it came on the radio that frontman Dave Gahan had suffered a cardiac arrest at the infamous Viper Club. The problem was, Gahan was slumped next to him in the taxi at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI nudged him with my elbow, \u2018Oi, you alright?!\u2019,\u201d Liam laughed. \u201cHe\u2019s fine! I said to the driver, \u2018That\u2019s bollocks that is, mate\u2019. We went to my hotel room and carried on for another four hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

As we kept drinking and the hours started to roll by, his psychedelic train of thought became ever more entertaining. He spent a good 10 minutes explaining how he was perturbed by an Australian interviewer who had said to him this morning, \u201cSee you next week\u201d \u2013 Liam was heading there on tour 10 days later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going there til next Friday, which is 10 days away, so how can that be next week?\u201d he said. Because, I replied, the week goes from Sunday to Sunday. They were right, they will see you next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cNah man,\u201d he said, shaking his head. \u201cHow many days in a week?\u201d.<\/p>\n

Seven, I answered.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo how can next Friday, ten days away, be next week? I\u2019ll see them the week after next. They won\u2019t be seeing me next week, man. No way.\u201d<\/p>\n

This went on, until we changed the subject and started talking about what our death row dinners would be. Liam said his was a Sunday roast, but then added that he loves sprouts so much he could just have them on his own. Which is quite mad really.<\/p>\n

Switching to spirits, Liam opting for a rum and coke, we all decide he should go for next year\u2019s Christmas number one. We head outside to get some air and Liam decides we should get a photo, planting a kiss on my cheek. Before we know it, 7pm \u2013 which felt so long ago earlier \u2013 is now upon us. He finishes his last rum and coke and darts a look at Debbie and says, \u201cShall we do one?\u201d. <\/p>\n

We head outside into the crisp cold, Liam, Debbie and their gang piling into a cab. Earlier that day, we\u2019d spoken about if he\u2019d ever consider an Oasis reunion and, at that moment, he\u2019d said, no, why would he need to? But he couldn\u2019t resist a wind-up. Just 20 minutes later I open Twitter to see a new post from him. \u201cI wanna say Happy Xmas to team NG,\u201d he writes, addressing his brother. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great year, thanks for everything, looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.\u201d As it happens, that meet-up would take another seven or so years to transpire, but it was worth the wait. Oasis are out there making new memories for legions of diehards around the world – I saw them last week and it\u2019s one of the best gigs I\u2019ve ever seen. So, positive stories about the Gallagher brothers? Yeah, here\u2019s one. I don\u2019t mind dining out on it for a while yet\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked, \u201cDo you have any positive stories of your interactions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-40588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}