The Birth of Goldenarm

Edigbe Ubido - The Birth of Goldenarm

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I used to love crea�ng characters and stories in my head but typically just kept it to myself for my own entertainment. I began wri�ng a mythology about my universe in novel form, however being a visual tale I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a be�er way to communicate it.

At first I came up with the idea of wri�ng a series of film scripts, however a�er some thought, I thought back to the things I used to love as a kid. One day I had the idea of drawing my comic en�rely on PowerPoint as the free-form tool allowed me to cra� lines this improved my drawings tenfold and I was finally able to produce something. 36

Thanks to encouragement from a friend I have released chapter 1 and am part of an amazing and thriving indie comics community! I’m almost at 1000 followers on Instagram and the response I’ve received from my work is absolutely incredible and humbling!

As many of us well know 2020 was not the best year for live gigs. To many people's disappointment, hundreds of gigs and festivals from March onward were unfortunately cancelled and are yet to be rescheduled as we enter the third national lockdown in the UK. Numerous musicians took to the internet to provide their fans with live performances over Facebook, Instagram and YouTube live streams to compensate for the loss of concerts and boost the morale of music fans nationwide. Most of these streams took place in the living rooms and home studios of the artists themselves however Liam Gallagher, the former lead singer of the 90s Britpop band Oasis, took it one step further by hiring himself a boat and live streaming a whole concert-standard performance whilst sailing down the River Thames.

For a reasonable £16.50 fans from around the world could tune into MelodyVR on December 5th to watch Gallagher perform songs from his two Number One solo albums – 2017’s As You Were and 2019’s Why Me? Why Not. – plus nostalgic Oasis classics from the 90s, some of which Liam has not performed live since the band split in 2009, all while sailing down the River Thames against the picturesque backdrop of the iconic London skyline at night. Being an online live stream meant that the performance was not limited on numbers and so all fans of Liam Gallagher who wanted to experience this event could. This allowed many fans who had previously been unable to get tickets to Gallagher's gigs, see the 90s icon perform live.

Onboard his amped-up and professionally lit barge boat alongside his band (which included original Oasis guitarist and close friend Bonehead), Gallagher could be seen wearing his statement parka with a black hat and cool shades accompanied by his iconic stance – knees bent, head tilted up, hands crossed behind his back. This was a true Gallagher performance and he gave it his all as with any other gig he has performed. Of course, any Liam Gallagher gig would not be complete without him spouting offensive slurs to anything that gets in his way. This was no different, and Gallagher’s songs were separated by his foulmouthed remarks which even included an insult towards the London Eye for stealing the limelight in the background!

LIAM GALLAGHERDOWN BY THE RIVER

BY MIA RIDEHALGH

Gallagher opened with his first-ever solo performance of Oasis classic 'Hello’ and followed with a setlist that included other Oasis hits like ‘Supersonic’, ‘Champagne Supernova’ and the generation defining ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’, alongside some of his newest songs such as the emotional ballad ‘Once’, the raw rock anthem ‘Wall of Glass’ and the classic Gallagher-style ‘The River’, after which the performance was named.

Considering Liam Gallagher’s unfavourable track record of travelling on boats (having been deported from the Netherlands during an Oasis tour back in 1994 after a drunken brawl with a group of Chelsea F.C. supporters on board the passenger ferry), the performance was sterling. It was an exceptional way of dealing with the lack of live gigs as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic and gave Oasis fans around the world the chance to experience as close to a live gig as possible in a year when concerts were almost extinct.

After the performance, on December 17th, Gallagher released a charity Christmas single titled ‘All You’re Dreaming Of’. The Lennon-esque single has been described as ‘Imagine meets It’s A Wonderful Life’ and encapsulates the spirit of Christmas along with the hope of a better new year. ‘All You’re Dreaming Of’ clearly shows the influence that Gallagher’s icon John Lennon has had on him and his music and is a beautiful song with a meaningful message. The lyrics go; Oh what, are you dreaming of?/ Is it the kind of love/ That’ll be there when the world is at its worst?/ That’ll cover you in kisses unrehearsed/ When you’re losing ground, still tell you that you’re worth/ All you’re dreaming of. These words resonate greatly with most people after a year of hardships and struggle. We are all dreaming of a better world filled with unconditional love. What makes Gallagher’s single even more beautiful is that all of the proceeds go to Action for Children UK who aim to make a truly better world for young and future generations. The single can be purchased on CD, Vinyl and digitally from LiamGallagher.com.

Down by the River Thames Set List – December 5th 2020

1. Hello 2. Wall Of Glass 3. Halo 4. Shockwave 5. Columbia 6. Fade Away

7. Why Me? Why Not. 8. Greedy Soul 9. The River 10. Once

11. Morning Glory 12. Cigarettes & Alcohol 13. Headshrinker

Mia found Abby Moyle on Instagram. Abby was on work placement at the Hazelhurst ar�st studios in Runcorn. Meet Abby’s crea�on Dexter Dragon! Dexter Dragon has been on my mind for many years a�er my nan woke up and told me she had a dream about a small dragon who walked down a mountain and made some friends along the way. Since then I've had the urge to create my own cartoon character based off that story. fast forward six years later and here he is! I had many different designs at first but I only just recently se�led with this look. In the future I would like to create a children's bed�me story based on Dexter and some of his friends, my nan is also going to be involved with parts of this too. I am proud of my character because I've spent so so long crea�ng him, he's a part of my life and he will be, forever. @abby_m0yle

GET INVOLVED!

Are you age 11-25 and living in Halton? Serial Culture would love to hear from you! We are looking for budding writers, artists, poets, photographers (the list is endless!), who would like to be featured in our new zine. Perhaps you have a local story you would love to share, want to write a piece on something you are passionate about or show us another talent of yours. We are looking for submissions for upcoming issues, so if you fancy sharing, email us at serialculturezine@gmail.com It doesn't have to be a finished piece; it could even just be an idea! We will work with you to make it print-ready. We only ask that articles are 500-700 words.