The story of how Liam Gallagher got on the wrong side of Jack White
If you want your rockstars balanced and ego-less, stay clear of Liam Gallagher. The Oasis frontman’s confrontational attitude and habit of pissing off his contemporaries (not to mention his own bandmates) made him a legend in the 1990s. Proof that old habits do indeed die hard, Gallagher continues to upset his fellow musicians to this day, as Faris Badawan of The Horrors reminded us some years ago while recounting a story about a chaotic night out with Miles Kane, footballer Leighton Banes, Liam and Liam’s lesser-known brother, Paul Gallagher.
As The Horrors man told 22 Grand Pod in 2021, Faris joined Liam and the others in London for a night on the town. After sinking a few drinks in a bar, they decided to head over to Alexandra Palace to watch Jack White’s solo show. As the Horrors frontman recalled, Liam was already in a very “excitable” mood: “I like Liam a lot,” he added, clearly not wanting to get on the wrong side of the Britpop icon. “Because he provokes people, which I find funny, but also he is quite a genuine guy. I mean, he’s quite sweet. Sure, he’ll say stupid things sometimes, but underneath it all, beneath all the ego and grand statements, he’s actually pretty funny and sweet; and he’s himself.”
That particular night, however, Liam was not in an especially sweet mood. “He’s a difficult person to have in a crowd,” Faris conceded. “Or difficult when lots of other people are around, because, I suppose, he wants people to know he’s there. He was drinking espresso martinis and he got right up in my face and he said: ‘these espresso martinis are better than crack,” and he was really adamant that I have one. That was an indication that he was intent on making the evening a memorable one.”
With a pint of espresso martini fuelling their march, the group travelled to Alexandra Palace to watch the opening act. No sooner had Liam arrived than he disappeared into the crowd Paul in tow. “We couldn’t find them,” Faris remembered. “We thought: ‘OK that’s weird; he was here one minute and now he’s gone.’ Maybe something happened. Maybe he just got bored – whatever.” After watching the whole gig without Liam, Faris and the others headed to the after-party, where, out of the corner of his eye, they saw Liam peering through the glass panel of a fire escape. “He was gesturing for me to let him in through this fire door,” Faris continued, “And it turned out that the reason he’d disappeared was that the moment we’d got in there [Alexandra Palace), he’d decided that he wanted to go and meet Jack White.”
Liam had trotted off to the backstage area and somehow managed to get into Jack White’s personal dressing room. “Just to get in everyone’s face,” according to Faris. In classic Liam style, the first thing he said to White on entry was, “you look like one of those Amish in that hat”. This was the period when Jack White and his entire band were stitched into broad-rimmed hats, of course. “Within five seconds, Jack White had had his entire security team escort Liam and his brother off the premises, and they were not to be allowed back in for the whole thing.” Seeing Liam’s face there, so desperate to be let back in, Faris simply turned around and walked in the other direction, leaving one of the 1990s great frontmen to think on his sins.
