opinion

How Liam Gallagher managed to make the Manchester benefit concert all about him.

Yesterday, Ariana Grande’s Manchester benefit concert, intended to honour the victims and families of the Manchester arena terror attack that took place less than two weeks ago, took place upon the world stage.

More than 50,000 people attended the concert at Emirates Old Trafford arena in Manchester, with all proceeds going to the ‘We Love Manchester Emergency Fund,’ in partnership with the British Red Cross and Manchester City Council.

Thousands of kilometres away, we watched the performances, shared videos like the one of the police officer dancing hand-in-hand with children, and read stories of the atmosphere at an event that was about defiance, solidarity and strength in the face of unimaginable hardship.

LISTEN: Mia Freedman, Monique Bowley, Holly Wainwright and I discuss the atrocity in Manchester on Mamamia Out Loud. Post continues below.

But for Liam Gallagher, yesterday was about his long standing feud with his older brother and former Oasis band member, Noel Gallagher.

And he was intent on telling the world all about it.

At 5pm he tweeted, “What an amazing night last night pure love vibrations nobody comes close to Manchester love forever LG x,” but it would seem the ‘love vibrations’ didn’t last long.

Three minutes later he added, “Oh and if anybody’s seen rkid [Noel] tell him he can come out now as you were LG x.”

Noel and Liam Gallagher. Image via Getty.
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He didn't leave it there.

At 5:20pm, he tweeted to his 1.8 million followers, "Manchester id [sic] like to apologise for my brothers absence last night very disappointed stay beautiful stay safe LG x"

Nine minutes later he added (even though, to my knowledge, no one was asking) "Noels [sic] out of the fucking country weren't we all love get on a fucking plane and play your tunes for the kids you sad fuck."

In a final tweet, in response to the question about a possible reunion, Gallagher said, "Fuck the reunion mate it ain't about oasis it's about people helping other people and he's once again shown his true fucking colours."

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But is it about 'helping other people'? Or is Gallagher using a horrendous terror attack as a pawn in his irrelevant family drama?

What an amazing night last night pure love vibrations nobody comes close to Manchester love forever LG x

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It wasn't just Noel's absence at the 'One Love Manchester' concert that spurred a torrent of hate from Gallagher. It was any mention of Manchester at all.

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Speaking to Johnny Vaughan on Radio X, Liam said, "I just woke up, you know with all the stuff that went on in Manchester, I woke up and I just thought: "You know what? You know, I'm going there. Happy Birthday"', regarding a happy birthday tweet he shared for Noel's 50th.

"And plus, I wanted to remind everyone he's an old fart now. You know, the old 1.6m followers. There were people going like that: 'What? he's 50?' I was like that: 'Indeed. Yes, he is.' Especially after his mad party and that. He gotta have a hangover now."

Again, a conversation that began with the subject of a terror attack in Manchester, ended with a childish jab at his brother.

Today, headlines across the world read "Liam Gallagher attacks brother Noel for absence at One Love Manchester concert," thus making the entire event about who wasn't there rather than who was.

noel gallagher manchester
Liam Gallagher. Image via Getty.
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The biggest stars in the world, including Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Pharrell Williams, Robbie Williams, Take That, Miley Cyrus, Little Mix, the Black Eyed Peas, Imogen Heap and Ariana Grande committed to a benefit concert, and raised an estimated 10 million British pounds, or 17. 5 million Australian dollars, for victims of the attack.

And Liam wants to have a very public go at Noel for being on holiday.

Today, no one cares about a long standing feud between siblings. We don't care about who didn't show up. We don't care if their band is reuniting, or if Liam wished his brother a happy birthday.

We care about the 22 victims of the Manchester terror attack. The boys and girls, men and women, who don't have a choice about whether or not they will speak to their siblings tomorrow.

You would think a tragedy of this magnitude would put things into perspective for Liam Gallagher.

But evidently, he struggles to see past his Twitter account.