An illuminated panel bears the name of Noel Gallagher’s favourite football team, Man City and an illuminated cutout of team manager Pep Guardiola stands on the touchline, as if giving his blessing to proceedings.
There are flowers everywhere and a big screen gradually revealing the High Flying Birds name as a disturbing drone is gradually ramped up. Not, arguably, the start one might normally imagine for a Noel Gallagher concert – though the end very much conforms to expectations.
The Man City collateral at least ties in with current album Council Skies, as its sleeve pictures the site of the club’s original ground. Understandably, Gallagher wsnts to show off his latest wares and the set begins with five songs from that album – all strongly melodic with tinges of retro psych pop feeling and the maximalist, colourful Beatlesque visuals to match.
The mood is mostly light and upbeat until the more thoughtful, expansive Easy Now.
Elsewhere from the HFB catalogue, You Know We Can’t Go Back barrels along, while We’re On Our Way Now was more a case of throwing sound and vision at the wall in the hope it would stick. Drummer Chris Sharrock gives it his best Keith Moon moves on the spunky If I Had a Gun, AKA… What a Life! is an ecstatic joy and the crowd exercise their vocal chords to Dead in the Water in preparation for the closing salvo of Oasis tunes, which ranges from b-side Going Nowhere via the quirky swagger of The Importance of Being Idle to the loveless plod of Little By Little, culminating in a version of Don’t Look Back In Anger during which Gallagher cedes all vocal duties to the fans.
