Noel Gallagher wowed crowds in Newcastle last night with his performance at Rock N Roll Circus.
And for one music fan in the crowd, being able to stand in front of her hero meant the entire world. Noel and his band gave the last concert that Janean Moulden saw with her husband Randall, a police officer in Perth, Australia, before he took his own life.
The couple celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in 2020, and loved going to see bands together before the Covid lockdown. Janean said it was Randall's dream to see Liam and Noel Gallagher play in Manchester, and though the couple had visited on several occasions with their children, they hadn't managed to see the brothers performing either solo or as Oasis in the UK.
Unfortunately, Randall was never able to make that dream happen, passing away on June 28 last year.
Janean said: "When Noel released we're on our way now, Randall would come home from work and he'd put it on the TV for me and I'd just zone out from everything, I always have done. When he took his own life, I couldn't listen to Noel or Oasis - it really, really hurt and it was brutal."
"The first time I listened, the lyrics really hit home. The one that really got me was you got the love, you got the love lady, you're worn out.
"Randall always said to me you've got more love to give than anyone I've ever met in my life and that really hit home and that's what's kept me going because he was right. He couldn't cope anymore, he'd had 31 years of trauma being a police officer and he couldn't cope. I found solace in that little sentence.
"The way I looked at it was he wouldn't have done what he did if he didn't want me to be happy. If he was standing right in front of me, he would have said go home to Manchester, it's what you've always wanted. Go see Liam, go see Noel, go and see all the bands you've wanted to see."
Janean returned to Manchester permanently six weeks ago after living in Australia for 40 years, and has already been to see Liam Gallagher perform in the city. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds performing at Rock N Roll Circus inspired her first visit to Newcastle, which she says she's loved so far.
Having explored the city on foot on Wednesday for almost 10 hours, she has planned to take an open-top bus tour of the city on Friday. But Thursday was all about the concert, and Janean had brought a letter to be passed onto Noel himself.
She continued: "I've sent a card with a letter inside to say thank you for the music, thank you for the melody, most of all thank you for the lyrics.
"I know he gets this stuff every night but he saved me. When I’m going downhill and I have a panic attack or whatever, I just put Noel on and he can bring me down.
"I tend to take the emotion out in the song, I’ll sit and scream and cry. It makes me sad because Randall should be here with me, but it brings me peace knowing I’ve got that to turn to when life gets me really down. I’ve got Noel. I’ve got music."
I spoke to Janean before the concert, and she was hoping to get right to the front of the 6,000+ crowd, just like she did at the gig with Randall in Perth in 2019.
She finished: "It's going to be hard, but I want to be at the front tonight. Randall put his arms around me when Noel was singing Don't Look Back in Anger, and I'm standing here in between two of my biggest heroes, thinking this is what life is all about.
"Knowing he's not here to stand in the middle, I’m just going to have to stand in front of my hero. I had two choices, I could either not come and regret not coming or I could go and do it in Randall’s honour."
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