In a totally random but undeniably lovely bit of news, Liam Gallagher caught a dog rescuer by surprise when he turned up to adopt a stray pup in Thailand. As you were/do.
With the Manc music legend celebrating his 51st birthday this week, we’ve seen plenty of very ‘Liam-esque’ moments floating back onto our timelines but when we came across this recent and completely out-of-the-blue story, we were taken aback — though clearly not as much as this bloke was.
Dog sanctuary owner and social media content creator Niall Harbison has been cultivating a huge audience online for a while now, amassing nearly 650,000 followers on Instagram alone, and has been warming the hearts of people all around the world as he rehomes and nurses stray dogs back to health.
However, although he has a pretty big following of his own, you can imagine his shock when an adoption paper came through for one of his dogs with the name Liam Gallagher on it.
For those who didn’t follow at the time. This was Buttons when she first arrived and “checked herself in”. She was so brave 🥰🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/KD4WPcGqc2
Liam Gallagher just gave this stray dog a whole new lease on life.
Trying to save and home as many as 10,000 dogs a month and feeding around 800 animals a day, the County Tyrone, Ireland-born activist has dedicated his life to rescuing as many of man’s best friends as possible and even wrote a book called Hope explaining his journey up to this point.
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Having previously struggled with addiction, Harbison ended up flying out to Thailand and setting up his dog sanctuary and earlier this week was paid a visit by none other than the former Oasis frontman and his partner, Debbie Gwyther.
According to Harbison, 43, Gallagher and his missus filled out their paperwork online through a simple Google form like everyone else does and despite hundreds of applications coming his way on a regular basis, he admits he did a bit of a double take when he read this one.
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Speaking to Sky News, the full-time dog rescuer said, “The name on the form was Liam Gallagher, but I thought that’s obviously not him. Then the next line was ‘occupation’, and it was ‘singer’. I thought my mates were taking the p***, but I checked it out a bit more and his details all stacked up.”
Sharing an Instagram story of the two going for what will now be the first of a lifetime of walks for five-month-old female pup, Buttons, Niall said, “[she] is doing so well it’s insane”.
He couldn’t resist the urge to set ‘Wonderwall’ as the soundtrack either. The new album isn’t out yet, in fairness, so he just had to go for a classic.
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Insisting that he “did interviews with him and his lovely [partner]”, who have cats and “just really wanted a dog”, it didn’t take long for Niall to give the couple the thumbs up.
Having now been flown nearly 6,000 miles back to her new home in the UK, Harbison summed it up by saying Buttons has “hit the jackpot”.
One of the best and most distinctive walks in the business.
Featured Image — Liam Gallagher/Niall Harbison (via Instagram)
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Keo play Projekts: garage and grunge revivalists crush Manchester skatepark for new music video
Danny Jones
This past Thursday evening, fast-rising rock band Keo took over Projekts MCR skatepark for a special pop-up gig and to film a brand-new music video for their latest single, ‘Pistol’, starring some of their biggest fans here in Manchester.
In fact, it didn’t take long for us to suss out that plenty of them had flocked from far and wide to be there, and let’s say we’re sure they’ll say it was worth the journey.
We caught Keo’s well-attended festival set inside the Woodlands at Kendal Calling 2025, not to mention their completely sold-out show at the O2 Ritz back in March – their biggest headline date up to that point – and we’re more certain than ever that they’re going to be absolutely massive.
And if they keep up doing more memorable stuff like this, it’s just a matter of how soon…
Packing out Projekts to the point that people were literally hanging off fences and standing on electrical boxes at the side of the street to try and get a peek at the post-punk, grunge and garage rockers, some of their most enthusiastic young fans had been waiting outside the location as early as noon.
For context, doors opened six hours later, and the boys didn’t come on until 7:30pm.
Those who signed up to Keo‘s mailing list were sent information regarding securing a spot at the one-off performance earlier this month.
While you would have seen the place fill up even if they were just standard concert tickets, the fact that the band were taping the whole thing to use as the visuals for their newest single, as mentioned, meant that Keo’s avid followers were literally clamouring AND clambering to get the best view position possible.
Turning the popular skaters’ hub’s central bowl into a makeshift stage, with lights, camera, booms and various crew surrounding the entire venue, it was a surreal experience to say the least.
And, of course, they were absolutely brilliant – just as they were at the Ritz at the start of the year and Kendal before that, playing a short but sweet set that left everyone wanting more and choruses of punters chanting Keo long after the final song.
We can’t wait to see how the video itself turns out, especially seeing how much the people who wrapped around them and the skatepark were lost in the moment, and we’re also looking forward to them headlining Neighbourhood Fest in Manchester city centre this October.
You can grab a ticket to see them and the rest of the NBHD lineup right HERE, but until then, give the full studio version of ‘Pistol’ a play and get ready for their debut album.
Oasis’ (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? named biggest UK studio album EVER by Official Charts
Danny Jones
You’re damn right: Oasis continue to be MASSIVE as new figures from the Official Charts Company have confirmed that (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? has clocked in as the biggest UK studio album of all time.
The Britpop icons and history go hand in hand.
Yes, according to the latest numbers by our domestic chart-crunchers, only two other albums surpassed Oasis‘ second LP – and they’re both greatest hits collections.
The announcement was made on Wednesday, 22 July, just over a whole year on from those reunion world tour shows at Heaton Park. How fitting.
Starting off by channelling Liam Gallagher energy and quipping that “Oasis vibes are in the area”, they go on to explain the colossal cumulative record.
“Oasis claim one of the biggest honours in British music history, they write, “as (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? is named the UK’s Official biggest studio album of all time, according to new Official Charts Company data.”
Combining UK sales of the record – both physical and digital over the years – along with modern streaming statistics, the sophomore outing from the Britpop giants has amassed approximately 6.2 million UK chart units. Staggering stuff.
Last year’s Live ’25 shows have no doubt helped give an added boost to their metrics, but it’s still gargantuan stuff from the local band.
Yet another incredible stat not just for the Burnage boys but the Manchester music scene as a whole.
2026 looks to be just as big a comeback, by the looks of things.
In case you were wondering who beat them out in the race for the top spot, they were pipped to the post by Queen’s Greatest Hits and the same again from ABBA, two worthy opponents to take third place after.
You can see the rest of the list in full right HERE.
Oh, and Definitely Maybe also made the list, too, coming in at number 39 – making that two in the top 50 even amongst all the compilations.
It feels like last July all over again, doesn’t it? And if now isn’t the perfect time to stick on the title track, we don’t know what is.
Actually, sod it – we’re sticking the full thing on…
Danny Jones -
21st September 2023 
