How far would you go to see your favourite musician play a hometown show?
Unless the answer to that is 11,500 miles across 12 time zones – twice – you’re still going to come up short in comparison to Russell Chambers.
You see, Russell travelled from his home in New Zealand to Manchester in the United Kingdom just to watch Liam Gallagher’s recent homecoming gig.
Liam played a sold out show at Manchester Arena on Wednesday (20 November) and while the former Oasis frontman is, ironically headed to the Southern Hemisphere for some dates in Australia – and one in Auckland…New Zealand – pretty soon, Russell decided he just had to be there. Despite being half the world away.
So, he left his wife and kids and embarked on a whistle-stop journey that saw him spend more time in the air than he did on the ground for the two day stop in North West England.
He told LADbible: “I’m just a really big Liam Gallagher fan. I have been for years, since Oasis.
“I thought if I was coming all this way, I might as well go to Manchester as it’s his home crowd.
“I was gutted I missed him when he toured New Zealand after he released his first album, so this time I thought, ‘B****cks, I’ll just book it.'”
And so he did.
It wasn’t a cheap flight of fancy, either.
Russell continued: “It cost me around £750 for the flight and £200 for the hotel and gig ticket.
“However, I had already bought the tickets before they announced the Southern Hemisphere tour.
“I really wanted to go to the Manchester gig as it is his home town and the atmosphere would be 10 times better.”
Fair enough – it is a special night when one of the Gallagher brothers hits Manchester, that’s for sure.
Luckily, he wasn’t disappointed.
Russell assured us: “The gig was great, He was on top form. The crowd and the atmosphere were bang on as well.
“It was definitely worth the trip. I owe my wife a big favour because she has been looking after our two sons on her own while I’ve been here.”
His mission didn’t go unnoticed. Liam himself shared some love on Twitter after hearing the tale, calling him a ‘good lad‘.
All in all, he spent 67 hours in the air and 50 hours [just over two days] in Manchester. Presumably when he lands back home on Sunday afternoon, he won’t have a bloody clue what time it is.
So, was it worth it? And would he do it again?
“Yes…but hopefully next time it will be for an Oasis reunion.”
Well, we’ll have to wait and see on that front, Russell. And flying halfway round the world and back might be an awful lot easier.
Source: Ladbible