Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

The Hydro, Glasgow.

In 1993, when Oasis played King Tut’s in front of a handful of people, nobody could have predicted what was lying ahead. Yet, that night, it only took a hint of intuition and a couple of Jack Daniels for Alan McGee to sign one of the biggest bands of the last 30 years.

More than twenty years after, the special connection between Glasgow and the Manchester legend is still intact and it is fair to say that the expectations were high for the fourth concert (sold out in a couple of minutes) of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ “Chasing Yesterday Tour.”

In celebration, a signing was even organized at HMV prior to the concert, as a special treat for Scottish fans.

It takes time for the impressive SSE Hydro to fill, and the audience is still quite sparsed when supporting band Black Rivers gets on stage. The performance is quite messy, blame it on a barely audible voice and bad sound settings marked by frequent cuts. If the audience gives a polite welcome to the English band, it is not difficult to see it is far from enough to fill the wait.

At 9pm sharp, Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds finally take on stage to the sound of “Shoot A Hole Into The Sun” – a B-side from their debut album – while the back screen displays a wall of bricks soberly announcing the band. Hysteria takes over excitement, and as the wall cracks, the real deal begins.

In a recent interview given to the NME, Noel Gallagher promised his setlists would be a perfect mix of his new tracks and Oasis’ classics (rearranged to his new sound) to please an audience that often comes out of a certain nostalgia (as proved by the number of Oasis t-shirts in the venue.) And the promise is kept, with five songs from the Definitely Maybe/(What’s The Story?) Morning Glory era.

The set starts with “Do The Damage”, B-side from “Chasing Yesterday’s” first single “In The Heat of the Moment”, a perfect choice to energetically answer to the explosive atmosphere. The band carries on with two tracks from their first album (‘Stranding On The Wrong Beach’ and ‘Everybody’s On The Run’) accompanied by a choir. First Oasis’ song played is an acoustic rendition of‘ Fade Away’, and we must wait for the fifth song of the set to actually hear tracks from the new album (‘In The Heat of the Moment’, ‘Lock All the Doors’), with a special mention to the brass section that gives an epic dimension to the excellent ‘Riverman’ and ‘The Mexican’.

We could say Noel was rather surprised and quite delighted with the audience singing along songs that were only released five days before. After admitting he “did feel a bit like Father Christmas” during the signing, the Chief moved on with some of the public favourites: ‘If I Had A Gun’, ‘Aka… Broken Arrow’ and ‘The Death of You and Me’.

But it’s definitely with ‘Champagne Supernova’, ‘Digsy’s Dinner’ (dedicated to Kevin Bridges), ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ and ‘The Masterplan’ that the night reaches its apex. There truly is no word to describe the feeling coming from more than 10 000 people singing those classics altogether.

An amazing atmosphere that Noel described in his tour diary ‘Tales From the Middle of Nowhere’: “TRULY world class…is that fucking crowd. Holy shit-balls… I’ve seen and done some shit in my time but I’m damned if I can remember anything to match that Saturday night!?! One of THE BEST nights I’ve ever done, ANYWHERE.”

The feeling is mutual. Next Scottish round: T In The Park.

"Merry fucking Christmas" spat Noel as he flew in to Half The World Away, closing out his Royal Albert Hall gig with his High Flying Birds. A great moment in an excellent double set from the famously grumpy Mancunian.

Despite his best efforts to appear otherwise, he clearly enjoys playing the Albert Hall - and who else would have the cajones to be their own support act? The Oasis semi-acoustic "Support-Act Noel" was beautifully delivered with stand out tracks Slide Away and Wonderwall particularly well rendered unplugged, as Noel plucked away alongside, amongst others, former Oasis band-mate Gem Archer.

The main Birds set delivered all the biggies, opening with Everybody's On The Run, show casing new crowd favourite The Riverman and even a bit of Oasis-related banter, with the intro "this one's for all the Oasis fans" before launching into You Know We Can't Go Back. The playlist was also heavily peppered with more Oasis classics such as Fade Away, Champagne Supernova, Talk Tonight and Whatever, closing out with the song that used to be more associated with a fat scruffy scouser and his TV-loving family than an old duffer stuck on the moon.

The encore was standard Gallagher affair - he knows what the people want and he dishes it out in spades - The Masterplan, AKA and finally, obviously, what else, Don't Look Back In Anger. Cue crowd singing (or shouting where singing was not an option) and generally going absolutely nuts.

Great show, great venue, great times.

After the break-up of Oasis, Noel Gallagher could’ve gone off and made a latin jazz album or tried his hand at some other kind of self-indulgent project, as he had nothing to prove; nothing could have tarnished his status as one of the UK’s best songwriters. Instead, he released a solo album under the moniker of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, which featured some of his catchiest, most affective compositions since the early Oasis days.
Gallagher and his High Flying Birds toured that self-titled album extensively upon its release, initially in smaller theatre type venues and later at the arenas and festival main stages he was more accustomed to. I had the pleasure of seeing him at FIB Benicassim, Spain, in 2012, where he performed just before The Stone Roses. Songs like ‘AKA…What A Life’ and ‘If I Had A Gun…’ featured hooks that are up there with his Oasis gems, and he even granted the baying audience a few classic Oasis songs, including a celebratory rendition of ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, which brought the crowd together in the biggest sing-a-along of the festival. Noel was in good spirits, jovial as ever, and he truly seemed to be enjoying himself. Who needs Oasis, ey?

One of the most impactful breakups of the past decade is without a doubt the brotherly riff that caused the demise of Oasis. A band that soundtracked a generation, the pair went in separate ways and whereas Liam's Beady Eye crashed and burned, Noel's High Flying Birds soared from out of the wreckage.

The frontman has not changed demeanour, he is as gruff and short tempered with the crowds as ever yet they scream in adoration anyway for new classics such as 'AKA What A Life' which they sing back in force to the bemusement of the frontman. The set is primarily composed of the new solo material yet there are a number of Oasis tracks dropped in for the benefit of the fans, 'Half The World Away' evokes the biggest singalong so far and Noel thanks them yet rules out any plans of getting the old band back together.

After playing the first 'High Flying Birds' album in its entirety, the audience knows the encore will be fully devoted to Oasis numbers. They were not wrong with 'Shout It Out Loud' followed by an anthemic 'Don't Look Back in Anger' supported by the thousand strong backing choir.

Noel Gallagher is a consummate professional and hilarious. He interacts with the crowd and puts on a solid show. The venue, however, I would not go back to. The House of Blues in Cleveland is small and cramped and if you want to be anywhere close, you have to spend at least $20 in their merch store or restaurant. I'm not knocking the business aspect of it, it's a good idea that works for them. The problem is they put those people in the dingy tunnel/corridor thing in between the kitchens. It smells and looks like an enclosed back alley. They don't number any one so its a free for all back there. It would've been better if it were more organized. But Noel was fantastic as per usual. Definitely seeing him again. Just not at the House of Blues.

I absolutely LOVED the performance. Perfect combination of his solo material with what were some really thought-out Oasis songs.
The finale was spectacular! The entire theater was on its feet singing along leaving you as a fan completely immersed in the moment, the song, the lights and the realization that you're witnessing a TRUE musician and his artistry!! I can't wait for him to be back in Los Angeles!! Love him! Loved that the venue was intimate and nostalgic--the perfect backdrop for Noel's melodic sounds when he wants to play something acoustic or when his also melodic riffs cut across the entire venue. Amazing!

Pretty good show:

The opener was Augustines. They had energy, but all they really did was make a lot of noise.

Noel on the other hand absolutely rocked. He performed a surprisingly high number of Oasis songs, so a lot of the Oasis fans in the crowd were pleased with that. But of course he also played High Flying Birds songs, which are also great. The show was a bit too loud though, but I guess that's nothing out of the ordinary.

He also interacted with the crowd quite a bit, in a friendly and sassy way.

I'd give him an 8/10.

I attended Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds last night at bellahouston park in Glasgow and I have to say it was the best night of my life! The atmosphere was outstanding and it was great to see people of all ages come together and communicate through music. The best part of the gig was when Don't Look Back In Anger was played and I was on my friends shoulders loving it, I would recommend going to see NGHFB as I will be going to see them again in September. What a life and what a night!!!

A fantastic performance from Noel and the band. The acoustic set was superb with the highlight being Slide Away and the evening just got better when the HFB came on for the main show a great mix of old and new songs made a fantastic evening with Noel being in great voice and it was great to see Gem for the acoustic set. A brilliant evening and to hear Champagne Supernova live again was fantastic. I had a great time and can't wait to see Noel and the boys again.

Awesome show! The chief was on fine form. The Live mix on stage was incredible aswell. Vocally Noel was on fine form. The additional musicians on stage really contemplated the songs. The only slight criticism for me was when he played “Go Let it Out” the songs seems to sound better in its original arrangement, as it appeared to be alerted. Other then that, great show and I would happily go see him play again.