Just in Time For Christmas

Noel comes to town.

Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds played the second stop on their UK Arena Tour last night. Taking to the stage at Birminghams Utilita Arena.

It was my 5th time seeing Noel, and he never disappoints.

A 19 song setlist that saw him work backwards, songs from his newest album ‘Council Skies’ started proceedings, with the ‘Cure’ like ‘Pretty Boy’ the youthful joy of ‘Council Skies’ and the anthemic ‘Easy Now’ 

From there Noel delved deep into his solo back catalogue and played some of the best songs of the night. He knows his audience know him best for his work in Oasis but a lot of them love his solo work. ‘If I Had a Gun’ and ‘AKA What a Life’ attracted some of the biggest sing alongs and cheers of the whole evening. 

One of the shows most poignant and pivotal moments came 11 songs in where Noel and his keyboard player took to the stage as a duo and brought the arena to a standstill. With a rendition of ‘Dead in the Water’ one of the best songs Noel has ever written. It’s always a special moment at his solo gigs and showcases just what a brilliant song can do in such a a large room.

This also brought the solo career to an end and Noel took us back to the 90s and the 00s.
The first Oasis song he sung was a b-side originally released in 1997, which Noel and band have resurrected for this tour. 

Noel treated us to some brilliant Oasis tracks from massive singles, to hidden gems of b-sides. Bringing back ‘The Masterplan’

A brilliant rendition of ‘Half the World Away’ dedicated to the real ‘Royle Family’ a stomping take on 2005’s ‘The Importance of Being Idle’ 

As well as a live reworking of ‘Little By Little’ which was belted back to him by the thousands in attendance. 

An encore that contained three songs ending the gig. The first a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Quinn the Eskimo’ a rather strange choice but the band seemed to put on a good show. However I’m not sure that many of the audience knew the song. The second a beautiful rendition of arguably the greatest song Noel has ever written. ‘Live Forever’

The show ended with us in the audience giving those on stage a concert of their own. ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ was sung in its entirety by the crowd. From start to finish. Every single word sung by those in attendance. Something I’ve never seen done before.

A really beautiful end to an amazing gig, that celebrated one of Britain’s best songwriters.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds played

1. Pretty Boy
2. Council Skies
3. Open the Door See What You Find
4. We’re Gonna Get There in the End
5. Easy Now
6. You Know We Can’t Go Back
7. We’re On Our Way Now
8. In the Heat of the Moment
9. If I Had A Gun
10. AKA What A Life
11. Dead in the Water
12. Going Nowhere (Oasis Cover)
13. The Importance of Being Idle. (Oasis Cover)
14. The Masterplan (Oasis Cover)
15. Half the World Away (Oasis Cover)
16. Little By Little (Oasis Cover)

Encore:
17. Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) (Bob Dylan Cover)
18. Live Forever (Oasis Cover)
19. Don’t Look Back in Anger (Oasis Cover, sung by the crowd)

Thank you for reading x