Don't you wanna go where the rainbow ends? ✭

Cliffs Pavilion, 17 April 1995

This is a rare live performance before the release of What's The Story Morning Glory, and might be the earliest recorded performance (at least from what i can find on YouTube). 1995 is really the transition from Liam's early Oasis voice into what many consider his "peak" sound in 1996-97. His throat is constricted and his larynx is high like it is in most of 1993/1994, but his sound is starting to fill out more and he's developed a more noticeable nasal quality to his voice, placing his resonance mostly in his nose and cheekbones. The effect is that the high As on the chorus sound strained and almost gravelly, particularly in the first chorus, but have slightly more of a core sound in the subsequent ones once he relaxes into the song. He's still exactly on pitch though, and the effect sounds really good and powerful, but it's definitely not the way I would want to be singing every night for six to nine months at a time!

Knebworth, 11 August 1996

This is actually a really great vocal performance from Liam and part of me wonders if it's because he was noticeably drunk at this concert lmaooo the alchohol might have actually helped him relax and not tense up as much on those high notes- I definitely wouldn't recommend it as a regular thing but half of singing IS mental and alcohol does remove mental inhibitions. So. Anyways! You can really hear how Liam has developed into his fuller, more mature voice here. His larynx is lower (whether from alcohol or more stable vocalis muscle we can only guess lol) and the effect is a richer, more resonant sound that still has his trademark nasal whine. He also elongates his vowels and drops his jaw more in the verses during this performance (which is something he's been doing in general since the beginning of Oasis) but it has the added effect here of giving us more of that core sound. His high As on the choruses sound amazing- easy, free, and mostly clear, and there's really only one instance in the second chorus where it seems like he's straining uncomfortably just a bit. Also- right on pitch, again! Sidenote, but there's a moment where you can see his tongue moving a lot with "it's all elementary my friend" and you have to remember that not only is he singing these really high choruses, he's spitting out tons of rapid fire tongue twister text that is clearly intelligible at the same time! Really difficult to do and an underrated skill tbh.

G Mex Arena, 14 December 1997

This concert in general is insane because he shouts the ENTIRE time but still manages to sound great and doesn't go flat for 99% of it. And not at all during this song! The only indication that he's starting to feel a bit fatigued is that he starts clipping some of the end of phrases (similar to how he does now) and leaves out the three-note runs on "rain" and "brain" in the choruses. Just an insane and completely unsustainable approach though- I'm not sure how he was even able to speak at the end of this concert lol.

Later with Jools Holland 11 February 2000

This is one of the first gigs the band did after over a year off from performing in 1999. I imagine that this was probably around the same time that his health issues really started to manifest, and he's also probably a bit out of practice with this particular song. If you don't regularly practice and maintain your high range, you lose it! He starts out with kind of a raspy voice, still full and resonant but with a high larynx. His throat collapses on the first high A on "standing at the station" and his voice cracks noticeably. As a result, he cuts off the phrase, barely gets through the rest of the chorus and fakes off one of the high As. You also can tell that he's freaked out because he makes up a lower harmony part on the spot for the second chorus similar to how he sings "Slide Away" now as compared to the album. He recovers well and has a strong finish with the outro, but it is really sad to witness what was probably the start of a lot of major issues with this song. :(

Finsbury Park 7 July 2002

From the last year they perform this song live. Starts strong, with a deep and powerful full voice, but is noticeably struggling to hit the higher notes even in the pre-chorus. He goes pretty majorly flat in the chorus and it almost sounds like his voice is actively giving up on him. You can tell he's frustrated because he says something like "fuckin' shit" right before Noel's guitar solo. He sounds a bit better in the second pre-chorus but it's almost like he knows he can't do the second chorus again because he says "you're gonna have to sing it" and then lets the crowd (and Noel) take over. It's actually inadvertently a good illustration of how the song doesn't work as well with Noel's voice, even though it's much easier for him to sing those higher notes, because the effort and the raw pathos isn't there. Liam gamely comes back to sing the outro, but clips the end of phrases and he still sounds tired, though he does a good job of trying to hide it. I completely understand why they took the song out of the setlist after this year but it's really heartbreaking that Liam had to go through all of that before they did so :(

Belfast 30 October 2017

This is the first year Liam performed the song publicly since 2002. He has better tone, clearer and less raspy, with nice open vowels and a dropped jaw too. He does goes a bit flat in some places but not noticeably so, and backs off a bit on his approach in order to hit those high As, which are right on pitch about 70% of the time. Plus, he's able to do the melisma (three note run) right after! The only time where he has to clip the end of the phrase is when he tries to force a more powerful sound on one of the high As and it doesn't quite work. He's not quite there yet, but it's a pretty good attempt and still sounds very powerful and effective.

MTV Unplugged (Recorded 2 August 2019)

Really good performance, although tbf I can't tell how much soundboard manipulation there is since this is an official recording. The main reason why I chose this as an example is to highlight how he backs off his belted approach on the high As in the chorus. He doesn't quite go into falsetto, but he also isn't pushing through those high notes either and it really works because he still sounds open and powerful and on pitch, but it's much easier on him stamina-wise. I think having an acoustic arrangement is useful here too because there's less temptation to push and sing from his throat and he's able to relax and listen to himself more.

Metlife 31 August 2025