Liam Gallagher brings rock ‘n’ roll to the mountains
Clutching his tambourine – and later a pair of maracas – Liam Gallagher swaggered at ease around Snowbombing’s Forest Stage last night, as he brought rock ‘n’ roll to the Austrian mountains. According to sources, the singer choose to combine his festival visit with a family holiday in the Mayrhofen resort, something which may well have played a part in Gallagher’s relaxed demeanour. The star has clearly been enjoying himself, too, posting on Twitter about “shitting it” in a cable car.
Opening his hour-long set with ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’, this year’s Godlike Genius played a mixture of Oasis classics and material from his debut solo album ‘As You Were’ in his standard Gallagher way – with a gritty voice, hands behind his back, and head tilted upwards to the microphone. At times, Gallagher would pause to look over the crowd, like Mufasa proudly observing his kingdom, and walk to the back of the stage to swig from his water bottle.
The former Oasis frontman performed his new tracks with vigour, with ‘Wall of Glass’ proving popular as a sing-along track. Still, it was his Oasis hits that impressed the most, as Gallagher immersed the crowd in Britpop nostalgia. Gallagher’s solo album is a triumph, but even this man, with his enigmatic persona, can’t escape the shadow of his Oasis days. His performance of ‘Wonderwall’, in particular, during which he left the audience to sing the chorus on multiple occasions, melting the crowd into a state of wistfulness.
Gallagher was in a good mood, jesting with the crowd – someone had brought along a lifesize Liam Gallagher placard, which he took an interest in – and throwing his maracas into the audience, before gesticulating to the lucky recipient to wave them around. The singer made jokes about the lack of snow in Mayrhofen (“there’s not much snow, is there?”), and sarcastically dedicated ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ to “all you healthy people”.
Closing the show with ‘Live Forever’, which he has twice played in tribute to the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing last year, Gallagher brought the audience to an emotional climax. The rockstar has a big year awaiting him, with festivals and his own colossal sold-out show at Finsbury Park in June. He looks ready. And, of course, he’s still got it.
Rudimental
The London band drew in a large crowd as they blasted out their drum and bass in The Racket Club with a powerful 1am set. There were plenty of lasers, fist pumping – and a man playing a trumpet live on stage. Rudimental performed the DJ set with their usual energy to a crowd ready to party on the final night of Snowbombing.
Idris Elba looked chilled out at his sunny Snow Park Terrace DJ set
Idris Elba looked pretty chilled out as he DJ-ed in the sun at the Snow Park Terrace, playing his own material and remixes alongside other artists. The venue is only accessible by skiing or snowboarding, meaning that the DJ played to a dedicated and small crowd, which had made the surprisingly long journey to see him. The actor seemed happy to play the afternooon gig, too, smoking cigarettes and pumping his arms along to the heavy basslines and thumping beats.
Honey Dijon DJs at the Brück’n Stadl
Honey Dijon DJ-ed at the Brück’n Stadl, bringing funk, soul and disco with her. Dijon looked like she was enjoying herself, too, smiling and nodding to the crowd as she played remixes of dance floor classics like ‘Superstition’ and ‘I’m Every Woman’. With few women on this year’s line-up, it was heartwarming to see a female artist – especially one outspoken on gender issues and trans visibility – playing to the content crowd.