Nobody can deny that Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds weren’t the perfect addition to the Summer in the City line up this year, headlining the Castlefield Bowl in Manchester on Saturday July 11th for one sensational homecoming show. Noel and his band have been touring all over the place since the release of their second album ‘Chasing Yesterday’ in March, headlining festivals over the summer such as London’s Clapham Common and Scotland’s T in the Park.
The band came on stage to the cheers of 8,000 people, starting the set with the track ‘(Stranded On) The Wrong Beach’ from their first album ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’, and it was obvious that it was going to be a gig to remember, as not only did the crowd know every single word, but Noel’s voice sounded better than ever. A similar amount of tracks from both albums was played, all receiving great reactions from the crowd, including ‘Dream On’, ‘Everybody’s on The Run’ and the stunning ‘If I Had A Gun’. Noel dedicated ‘The Mexican’ to Johnny Marr, who watched the show from the side of stage after performing his own set earlier that evening. Though unfortunately the two didn’t get together to perform their popular collaboration, second single from ‘Chasing Yesterday’, ‘The Ballad of the Mighty I’.
Due to him notoriously being known for being grumpy and participating in lengthy rants, I assumed he’d adopt this persona on stage, but he was far from it. Noel was incredibly witty and his responses to hecklers could quite possibly go down in history. One of six Oasis songs in the set list was ‘Disgy’s Dinner’ which Noel described to have been written nearby; the crowd went absolutely wild, I’ve never heard the word ‘lasagne’ said so many times in my life. When the song ended the crowd continued singing and prolonged it, leaving Noel to continue playing guitar for an extra verse, before promptly stopping and saying “are you done now? I’ve got a holiday to get to”.
Noel announced earlier this week that his next single would be ‘Lock all the Doors’, posting a music video on his official social media for it; an upbeat track that sounded more than single worthy on Saturday night. All tracks from ‘Chasing Yesterday’ sounded fantastic, especially the singles ‘In the Heat of the Moment’ and ‘Riverman’, with Noel warning the crowd not to be alarmed during ‘Riverman’ as there was in fact a saxophone solo. ‘The Dying of the Light’ sounded phenomenal, and lines such as “I tried my best to get there but I can’t afford the bus fare” serve as a reminder as to why the High Flying Birds are such a success, because Noel Gallagher doesn’t half know how to write a decent track. Though Noel was shockingly modest during the Oasis songs that blew the crowd away, including ‘Champagne Supernova’ which had grown men crying, with Noel thanking the crowd for being the ones who make it special, explaining how the song would be nothing without the crowd.
Nothing quite compares to hearing Oasis songs being played by Noel Gallagher at an outdoor venue in his hometown of Manchester, and each one sounded exceptional; Noel’s encore included ‘The Masterplan’ and sing-along anthem ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ , with not one person wanting that night to end. Luckily it’s also emerged in the news this week that Noel is due to begin work on his next album in just five weeks time, as Noel said to a heckler earlier on in the night, “when I’ve got new music to sell you, that’s when I’ll be back” – well Noel, it doesn’t sound like it’ll be a long wait.
