LIVE: Noel Gallagher, The O2 Arena, 26/02/12

It’s a Sunday. Normally a day of rest for most people but not for us at Bring the Noise. In our quest to bring you the best live reviews on the World Wide Web, we have adorned our best Mancunian swagger and headed down to the O2 arena to see Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds. Good old Noel.

The one and only support act for the evening were ‘Reverend & the Makers’. A mismatch of Geezers and one Bird. The only highlight of a rather dull set was their one and only well known song ‘Champion of the world.’ The front man had clearly watched too many ’How to perform in a boy band’ videos, whilst the female synth player definately would rather have been clubbing. When you have to spit into the crowd to liven your set up, you might aswell crawl back to the pub. Disappointing.

The expensive backdrop and lights began to whizz and the crowd exploded into a rapturous applause, Noel + Band + a Choir had finally graced the stage.This guy could win a popularity contest in his sleep. The band plowed through a 20 strong song set-list with a mixture of both new and old. Popular new tunes would have to be ‘Dream on’ and ‘If I had a gun’ which had the whole room shaking from people gloriously singing along. An acoustic version of ‘Supersonic’ was the ultimate bliss for any super fan. His voice can move your soul and he is clearly skilled in his craft. But probably what we loved about him the most is that he is quintessentially British. He talks about football - ’Mario Balotelli is better than all of you put together’, his family & daughter – ‘When she said this was her favourite all time song I was surprised she hadn’t turned into a goth’, and taking the mickey out of his American bassist – ‘Now I know we have to hate him cos he’s American’. He is a little moody but extremely witty – he’s a proper bit of prime British Beef. The encore saw a number of old Oasis songs – heaven. Finale, ‘Don’t look back in anger’ had the crowd embracing one another, swaying to and fro, heads tilted back, belting the lyrics back in kind. We’re still excited about the atmosphere we experienced.

So whilst he still has to rely on his dead and buried former glory to really win the crowd over, there’s no doubting that Noel Gallagher is an important part of the British music scene. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying he’s got a certain presence, and whilst his latest venture may not be anything ground breaking, his notoriety will see him drawing in crowds for years to come.

Set List:
(It’s Good) to be free
Mucky Fingers
Everybody’s on the run
Dream on
If I had a gun
The good rebel
The death of you and me
Freaky teeth
Supersonic
Record Machine
What a life
Talk tonight
Soldier boys and Jesus freaks
Broken arrow
Half the world away
Stranded on the wrong beach
Whatever
Little by Little
The importance of being idle
Don’t look back in anger