Liam Gallagher at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, 2022 (Image: Simon Ridgway/Sky UK Ltd)
In a quaint Welsh town, there’s a pub that holds a slice of Britpop history. It was here where Liam Gallagher would while away the nights in the 1990s, as his brother Noel worked tirelessly at a nearby studio to perfect what would become one of Britain’s most iconic rock albums.
Back in the early summer of 1995, Oasis selected the serene Rockfield Studios, nestled in the picturesque Wye Valley in South Wales, to record their seminal album ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – which later that year soared to monumental critical and commercial acclaim.
The album not only cemented Oasis’ legacy but also became a cultural cornerstone of the Britpop era, catapulting Liam and Noel Gallagher, guitarist Bonehead, bassist Guigsy, and then-new drummer Alan White to international fame. This success followed hot on the heels of their debut album, ‘Definitely Maybe’, released just the year before.
The unassuming yet historic Royal Oak continues its service, branding itself “a family-run public house that is at the heart of the local community.”
The Royal Oak extends a year-round warm welcome to guests, boasting an expansive bar menu, restaurant facilities, function room, and a garden space that offers vistas across the scenic Wye Valley. Catering to more than just local patrons, the establishment now also welcomes touring caravans, hinting that perhaps tour buses might be a more appropriate mode of transport when the Gallagher brothers next pay a visit.
Liam would enjoy a pint or two in the Royal Oak (Image: WalesOnline)
Liam Gallagher has openly confessed that during those recording sessions at Rockfield, he “spent more time in the pub than I did here”. The pub in question is the Royal Oak in Monmouth, where he’d retreat after singing his parts, only to find upon his return that Noel was still obsessively refining the same riff.
“I’d do my singing and I’d come back and our kid (Noel Gallagher) would still be playing the same f****** riff over and over and over again,” he said.
Recalling a 1995 encounter with Oasis fans, Gallagher reminisced: “It was like ‘come back to our gaffe, we’re having a great time’. ‘What about Noel, the miserable c***? He won’t want us back there.’ I went ‘oh, he loves you, you pay for his big f****** house, he’d love to see you’. But it wasn’t like that. We’d bring them back and he’d be like ‘who the f*** are these d*** heads? ‘ and I’m saying ‘these are your fans’.”
Fast forward to a more recent visit to the Royal Oak, Gallagher filmed a documentary for Sky titled Liam Gallagher: 48 Hours at Rockfield. This time, instead of being surrounded by rock stars and enthusiastic fans, he was joined by his sons, Gene and Lennon.
Liam said he spent more time in the pub than recording ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?’ (Image: Getty)
While playing pool in the pub, the singer remarked: “If they step out of line they’ll get a telling off, for sure. And the thing is, even though I haven’t got a leg to stand on, I’ve got a f****** knee to bounce off.”
He also shed light on the motivation for penning his third solo album, titled ‘C’mon You Know’, which was released in 2022 following the massive success of his previous albums. “This started because when lockdown happened we were all panicking and thinking we’re all gonna die if we don’t wash our hands nine hundred f****** times a f****** minute,” he recounted.
“So you go to the pub, and you get on the piss, so I did that for six months, and then obviously you’re getting bored of getting w****** and washing your f****** hands, so I got a little studio in the house, done the vocals and before we knew it we had an album done.
“I’d say I’ve definitely got a bit more professional but you do when you get older,” Gallagher reflects.
“I didn’t give a f***. I loved going out, I loved doing the tunes, partying, that’s what I thought I had to do. My job is to just get in there, look cool, sing as good as I can and bring the rock and roll side to it. I’ve definitely chilled out a bit, for sure.”
Excitement around both Gallagher brothers has rocketed since Tuesday’s electrifying announcement that Oasis will hit the stage next summer for the first time in 16 years. They are slated to perform no fewer than 14 gigs at locations throughout the UK, with tickets up for grabs from Friday and Saturday morning.
Performing to massive stadium audiences won’t be an intimidating experience for the Oasis frontman, who played two sold-out nights at Knebworth in the summer of 2022 to a combined crowd of 160,000 people, and has recently completed an outdoor and arena tour to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of ‘Definitely Maybe’.
“I didn’t think it would go as well as it’s gone, this solo thing,” he admitted. Despite his remarkable solo success, nothing will be able to match the magnitude of next summer’s Oasis ’25 tour when both Gallagher brothers will reunite on stage, something that until this week seemed fans would never have the chance to witness again.
