With the recent release of Chasing Yesterday, Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds flew straight back onto the music scene and straight to number 1. He was quick to announce this as he explained “In case you didn’t know, that means that we, us, are the fucking best”. By the end of the night, no one inside the packed out 02 would dare to disagree.
Opening with ‘Do the Damage’, Noel set the pace for the evening by instantly getting the crowd popping, cheering and singing along. I must admit my attention was somewhat diverted during this song as my friend and I were trying to get out of the way of a fight between and drunk 20 year old and 50 year old woman. But, after getting a safe distance away, Noel stole back my attention with an especially impassioned last chorus. Noel followed with classic Gallagher-esque sing-along songs ‘(Stranded On) The Wrong Beach’ and ‘Everybody’s On the Run’ which sent the crowd into a frenzy. I turned around at this point to take a look at rest of the 02, which is when I was greeted with seeing every single person on their feet, singing their hearts out. This lead to the first Oasis track of the night ‘Fade Away’. The crowd roared after the first chord was struck and the noise of the chanting audience was so great that I struggled to hear the man himself.
Gallagher then announced that they were about to play some songs off of their “Number one fucking album”, at which point they smashed out “In The Heat Of The Moment’ (I rang my mum here, as this is her favourite song of his). Then, they performed my personal favourites off the new record, ‘Lock All The Doors’, ‘Riverman’ and ‘You Know We Can’t Go Back’. At this point the crowd’s excitement was almost non containable, which meant that this was perfect timing to slow the pace and play an acoustic ‘Champagne Supernova’ which was arguably the most emotional song of the night. Noel sat back during the majority of the song and just listened to myself and 20,000 others scream every lyric. He then thanked us for making that song so special.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zpbb-v5ezs&w=740&h=422]
Slowly building the speed, the band progressed to play great tune after great tune, ‘Dream On’ and ‘The Dying Of The Light’, followed by ‘The Mexican’, at which point and small Mexican man beside me went especially mental. This was followed with ‘The Ballad Of The Mighty I’, a song I wasn’t crazy about previously, but hearing live has definitely changed my opinion.
Good ol’ Noel would not miss any chance to interact or take the piss out of the buzzing crowd. “What are you fighting about, whose got the pinkest cardigan?!” was a personal favourite of mine. Also responding to the crowd, in particular, and angry woman in the front row the persistently demanded he play ‘Digsy’s Dinner’ to which he finally responded “If I play it, will you shut up?”. The crowd went notably mad at this track as I was involuntarily included in a massive moshpit that seemed to include everyone within a 2 metre radius. Noel finished his set with a slowed down ‘If I Had A Gun’, after which he swiftly left the stage to chants of “Noel! Noel!” for what seemed like forever.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8OipmKFDeM&w=740&h=422]
He reappeared to a huge ovation from the 02. He thanked us again and played the songs we were waiting all night to hear. I had been dreaming of hearing ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ live since I stumbled across What’s The Story Morning Glory? when I was 12, and it was as amazing as I could ever have hoped for. The vision of raised hands accompanied by the breathtaking sound of 20,000 people + Noel Gallagher sing ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ will stay with me forever. We clapped as if that was the finale, but Noely G had one more trick up his sleeve, ‘The Masterplan’. Another epic song which was performed and delivered to perfection.
Every element of this concert was special, excluding Noel himself, the 4 piece band was spot on, the choir were outstandingly subtle and yet hugely powerful. The light display and back screen. Everything was just amazing and I couldn’t of wished for a better performance and experience. A dream I’d had for years had not just been realised, but any expectation was blown clean out of the water. Anyone seeing him play at the summer festivals don’t realise how lucky they are… Thank you Noel!
Words by Alex L