The award to the sweatiest man at the Beady Eye concert goes to… Liam Gallagher.
Despite the impressive air conditioning in the huge Flash Forum tent on Yas Island on Friday night, the outspoken singer's outfit choice of a zipped up jacket was still rather daring. And just quarter of an hour after swaggering onto the stage, hands behind his back, in his own unmistakable fashion, the tell-tale damp patches were beginning to show around his shoulders.
An hour later, having blasted through almost the entire content of Beady Eye's debut (and only) album, Different Gear, Still Speeding, and come on for an encore, the battle between light and dark on Gallagher’s coat had been lost altogether.
"The heat was a bit of a shock when we first arrived on Thursday," said Andy Bell, Beady Eye's guitarist speaking before the gig, admitting that the band had spent their brief time in Abu Dhabi living in constant refrigeration. Thankfully, the temperature wasn't enough to ward off the crowd, who began arriving slowly to the 5,000 capacity venue but had nearly packed it out by the time Beady Eye arrived on stage, following support from local band Beat Antenna.
And although there weren’t any Gallagher-esque cagoules or parka jackets on display, among the masses there were a few Manchester City football shirts and least one T-shirt with a picture of John Lennon.
Having opened with the track Four Letter Word, Beady Eye blasted straight into Beatles and Stones, a song whose title almost defines the band’s sound, blending two of Gallagher’s strongest musical influences. And, as promised, throughout the entire set, absolutely no Oasis was played.
Usually somewhat verbose on the subject, Liam opted to keep quiet regarding his former band, which broke up in 2009 after his older brother Noel left. Liam went on to form Beady Eye with the remaining bandmates, while Noel has gone on to pursue his own solo career, something that Liam has also poured scorn upon.
"I don’t actually know Beady Eye that well," said one member of the crowd, Ian Dickenson, from inside the Flash Forum's fan pit. "I’m really just here because of Oasis."
Thankfully, there were enough people singing along to the words to indicate that not all were here to celebrate Gallagher's previous musical endeavours.
However, there were some there who had no idea what they were listening to. "Beady who?" asked the man next to me after I'd enquired whether he was a fan. "Beady Eye. The band on tonight. It’s fronted by Liam Gallagher. From Oasis." I fired back, hoping to jog his memory. "Never heard of him. I’m just here because someone gave me their ticket."
Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher entertained in his usual trademark style, complete with a mix of smiles and attitude, at Yas Island's Flash Forum on Friday night.
The lead single of new band Beady Eye hit the capital to a Brit-heavy crowd of more than 3,000. It took a few warm-up numbers but by the time the Manchester lad starting pumping out the vocals for The Roller, proceedings got underway. Dressed in army green, Gallagher made an effort with his grateful crowd, pointing, winking and shaking a few hands. tabloid! snatched a few minutes with guitarist Andy Bell who played with Gallagher and his brother Noel in Oasis.
"It's great to be here," he said backstage. "We only wish we could stay longer but we fly out in three hours."
Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher makes an effort with his grateful crowd in the UAE.
With arms behind his back, Liam Gallagher stumbled onto the stage in his own unmistakable fashion at Abu Dhabi's Flash Forum on Yas Island last night to an awaiting audience.
The crowd had gathered slowly, but by the time Gallagher and his band Beady Eye picked up their instruments, the 4,000 capacity tent - shaped like a dark zeppelin hangar - was nearly packed. And after the quick courtesy of a "good evening", they burst into Four Letter Word, one of the tracks from the band's debut album.
"It's the first time we've come here. It's great to visit somewhere new," said the guitarist Andy Bell shortly before the band took to the stage, after admitting that the heat had been something of a shock.
Bell claimed that they'd been kept free from sweat by living in "a refrigerator" since they'd arrived on Thursday evening. Liam - who had apparently spent his brief time backstage meditating with a cup of green tea - was taking on the heat with a somewhat daring zipped-up jacket.
Beady Eye were formed in 2009 by Liam and fellow members of Oasis after Noel Gallagher left the hugely successful band that his brother and he had formed in 1991.
The new band's first album, The Roller, was released this year, and peaked at number three on the UK charts.
"I don't actually know Beady Eye that well," said Ian Dickenson from the Flash Forum fan pit. "I'm really just here because of Oasis."
Judging by the crowd's reaction as Beady Eye ploughed through their album tracks, it didn't really matter who was there for Oasis or not.
British rocker Noel Gallagher has said the songs on his new album would never have featured on a record by his former band Oasis.
Noel says he was writing from a different place when compiling the tracks for his upcoming High Flying Birds.
The 44 year-old told Spin magazine: 'These songs never would have ended up on an Oasis record. I directed everything that went on in that band but Oasis were a stadium rock band so I wrote stadium rock music.'
Gallagher added: 'Now it's different. Doing the new solo album was great. It was serene. I could take it at my own pace.'
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' first ever show in Dublin sold out within minutes of going on sale but NoelGallagher.com and Noel's label Sour Mash Records have got together to make it possible for one lucky fan and a friend from anywhere in the UK or Europe to get to see the show!
To be in with a chance to win the tickets (which include flight and hotel) head on over to the Competitions section of the official website HERE!
Beady Eye will play at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi later today (September 16th).
If you are going to the show, and you are able to scan your ticket or send in pictures email them to us @ scyhodotcom@gmail.com and I will do my best to get them on the site.
Metronomy have admitted that they'd challenge Beady Eye to a fight.
Speaking to NME after their performance at Bestival frontman Joe Mount and bassist Gbenga Adelekan said they would challenge Liam Gallagher and his bandmates to a scuffle, to watch the video click above.
When asked what band they'd get in a fight with Adelekan said: "Beady Eye!" before Mount chastised him. He said: "Gbenga! You've got to think about it!"
Adelekan persisted saying: "Liam can say we look like a University Challenge team or something." Mount added: "What's happened to your media training?! This is going on the website! They're going to pick out that one line..."
Mount also admitted that he used to get compared to Jonathan Cree star Alan Davies by an ex-girlfriend and that his flatmates said he looked like Rocky Horror Picture Show star Tim Curry.
Metronomy made the shortlist for last week's Mercury Music Prize for their album 'The English Riviera'.
Fans who sign up to NoelGallagher.com get their very own 'Inbox' where they receive exclusive news, competitions and content. Already in there are some exclusive photos from Noel's webchat with Matt Morgan a few weeks back.
We've just added a couple more photos in the inbox from Noel and Matt's Radio 2 broadcast on Saturday. The photos, taken by Sour Mash Records who were also tweeting from the broadcast, show Noel and Matt in the studio during the show.
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