Noel Gallagher played to a packed out crowd in an idyllic forest in Cheshire last night who were hanging on his every word. There are few artists out there that could pull off decades-old music as confidently as he can.
Noel has crafted a great career post-Oasis and his new style was on full display, as songs from his newest albums and EPs were greeted gleefully. We’re on our Way Now could slide into any Oasis album and Black Star Dancing is a great David Bowie influenced tune that shows his evolution since his split with Liam nearly 13 years ago, and I’m a big fan of this.
But Noel isn’t daft and he knows legions of fans have come to hear the hits. “We’re playing some stuff from the new album then it’ll be hit after hit after hit,” he says. And this it was. His Manc humour on great display throughout.
READ MORE: Harry Styles' school teacher describes moment 'adorable' star halted gig
The Importance of Being Idle , Little by Little , and Stop Crying Your Heart Out were a good nod to Noel’s moments of brilliance in Oasis’s post-90s days. I can admit at this point that I’m not a huge Oasis man, barring Definitely Maybe, so I didn’t think Wonderwall would bring out that much in me, but it's impossible to deny how big a song it is. Whatever and Half the World Away ("from the Royle Family," he says), B-sides from the early Oasis days were also very welcome here.
This was followed by an encore of arguably Noel’s biggest solo tunes, AKA...What a Life and If I Had a Gun , which were incredibly powerful live. Ending with Don’t Look Back in Anger felt like an out of body experience.
It’s a song that is so ingrained into Britishness and the 90s that it almost didn’t feel real actually hearing it live. But it was real and it was beautiful.
Noel is one of the most important and best loved British song writers ever, and if he didn’t know it already, he surely does now as he was overpowered by the noise of the singing crowd on nearly every song. I didn't actually hear his voice that much and I wasn’t far from the front.
Many will pine for him to be back at stage left and his brother to be the man in the middle with the swathe of Oasis merch, and even Liam’s merch, being worn by so many making that clear. But I’m sorry to say a performance like last nights confirms to me that Noel doesn’t need that, him and his High Flying Birds are a force of their own.
Noel ended the set by promising fans a new album was on the way and a tour would come with this next year. It’s incredible how much power and control one man can have over all these people, we were given more than we could of dreamed of with Noel and Oasis classics, but still we wanted more. “It’s not on the list. Sorry,” he had to say a few times to those requesting obscure Oasis.
All that could dampen people’s spirits was the brutally long wait out of the car parks, with the hum of Oasis coming from car stereos. However, it was lovely to see old and young embracing throughout the music and leaving with a smile on their faces, the kind that only come after seeing a master at work perform so effortlessly.
This concert was part of Forestry England's 'Forest Live' series which also includes venues such as Cannock Chase Forest, Staffordshire, High Lodge, Thetford Forest, Suffolk, and Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, Gloucestershire. Other artists playing in this series include Rag'n'Bone Man, Keane, and Texas.
For more of today's top stories click here.
READ NEXT:
Huge new city centre 'neighbourhood' featuring food halls, gardens and a brewery gets green light
Harry Styles wows fans with emotional homecoming at Emirates Old Trafford gig
Manchester Day 2022 - route, map, parade times and everything you need to know
Castlefield Viaduct transformed into 'sky park' and set to open next month
