Live review: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds @ Margaret Court Arena, March 29th.
The Noel Gallagher who graced the stage of Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena on Tuesday night was a far-cry from the all-too-familiar, loutish, man-child of yesteryears.
You know, the one who openly wished Blur’s Damon Albarn would “catch AIDS and die”? This Noel Gallagher appeared more, dare I say, humbled by his circumstances, accepting that he no longer fronts the “best band in the world”. He now has complete control over his surroundings. He no longer has to stand in the shadow of his megalomaniacal younger brother, Liam, or make excuses as to why his band no longer wields the same influence it once did fifteen years earlier. And Noel’s composure on Tuesday night only emphasised this.
Rising out of Oasis’ scarily public breakup, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds seemed like a bit of a no-brainer. Playing sets scattered equally with originals and Oasis covers, one wouldn’t be far off from likening Noel’s latest venture to any given washed up rock band playing their umpteenth greatest hits tour.
That being said, anyone watching the show at Margaret Court Arena with a ticket in hand could point out the energy exuded with every Oasis cut paled in comparison to that of originals from the High Flying Birds.
To be sure, the only thing spurring on these scattered Britpop classics was the overt enthusiasm of the crowd. But strumming out tunes of love, loneliness and the odd possibilities of owning a firearm, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds still made a commendable statement for being a band in their own right.
Opener, ‘Everybody’s On The Run’ was a helplessly lumbering start to Tuesday night’s set. For a man that’s credited with writing some of rock’s most thundering earworms, kicking things off with a bona fide Nickelback-meets-Coldplay conception was about as unashamedly mild as you can get. The following ‘In The Heat of the Moment’ provided some solace from the collective feeling of monotony already seeping into the audience.
With its soaring hook and infectious “NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA!” backing vocals, the track showed Noel still had the chutzpah to write and perform anthemic numbers without sounding like he’s singing karaoke. By this time, the crowd had already had its taste of sing-along glory and was audibly barking for more. Oasis b-side, ‘Talk Tonight’ followed soon-after.
For a band with a plethora of number 1 hits and excessively over-covered songs, “Talk Tonight” remains Oasis’ unsung gem, allowing both the crowd and the band to become fully immersed in its gentle catchiness.
If only the same could be said for the succeeding cover of ‘Champagne Supernova’. Christ. It wasn’t a necessarily bad cover, really. If anything, the problem here was Noel. His vocals were far too grainy to compete with the raspy yaps of his younger brother, which made ‘Champagne Supernova’ such a stellar anthem in the first place.
Nevertheless, subsequent tracks ‘If I Had a Gun’ and ‘Listen Up’ did commendable jobs of covering the banality of this set, which was beginning to stick out like a sore thumb. The latter, unarguably being the High Flying Bird’s strongest number to date, coupled with ‘Listen Up’ and its infectious guitar riffs managed to spark some life into this Tuesday night recital.
But if a completely unnecessary and underdone cover of ‘Wonderwall’ was any indication, Noel truly could care less about any of his deepest cuts. It’s only fortunate that the crowd was stoked enough to give the chorus a vigorous belt-out.
Having the High Flying Bird’s foot-stomper, ‘AKA… What A Life’ follow was about the smartest move the band made all night. Noel, never being the taciturn type both in life and song, let this number’s impressive chorus soar over the crowd.
He also took a quick few minutes to shred his guitar, and reassure the crowd that this 40-something veteran still possessed the same chops as the Mancunian Britpopper of old.
Finishing the night with a rousing-as-always performance of the Britpop classic, ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, Noel’s resulting grin could’ve been seen from miles away. Whilst he often seems less-than-enthused by the idea of playing another Oasis cover, seeing a +5000 crowd roaring along to the track’s larger-than-life chorus is sure to give even the most calloused of ageing rock stars a sense of accomplishment.
It was a somewhat spotty set, with numbers that amounted to nothing but five dudes on stage going through the motions. But one has only to look at the energy projected during the High Flying Bird’s biggest hits to know that Noel finally has enough control over himself and his career to truly enjoy music again, without having the weight of the world, or his brother, weighing down on his shoulders.
Check out the full gallery from the show here.
