Liam Gallagher and John Squire have a history that dates back to 1988, when a 16-year-old Gallagher saw the Stone Roses play Manchester’s International 2 Club in the company of his older brother Noel, an experience the former described as “life-changing”, and ultimately inspired him to join a local band, the Rain, who ultimately became Oasis. Six years later, the members of the Stone Roses broke off from the troubled recording sessions for their second album to gather around the studio’s TV and watch Oasis’s debut appearance on Top of the Pops: a music fan of a certain bent, given to romanticising, might view that as a symbolic moment, a passing of the gobby Mancunian alt-rock baton, although Squire apparently “didn’t think the tune” – Shakermaker – “was that great”. Two years later, Squire appeared onstage with Oasis at Knebworth: the latter were now the biggest band in Britain – 2.6m people applied for tickets – but, given the extent of the Stone Roses’ influence on them, Squire’s guest slot still carried a hint of benediction.
