After seeing Jessie J's average performance it was a huge relief to see a real musician step onto the stage. The Scottish cheered "Noely, Noely, Noely fucking G!" as he pounded it into 'The Good Rebel'. This is the second time I've been to see Mr Gallagher, the second time this year in fact, I was a little worried in case he wouldn't pull off as good as a performance as he did at Newcastle but Gallagher never left me disappointed in the slightest.
It has to be said that 'Half the world away' was my favourite performance, mainly because it's my favourite Oasis song but there was a beautiful charm to it that wasn't captured during the Newcastle performance, maybe it was the Scottish air, maybe it was because our surroundings didn't smell to pretty, I don't know but once again I found myself crying at a Noel Gallagher gig.
Dedicating 'If I had a gun' to his wife I think every girl, in the audience, swooned in Gallagher's direction. What a beautiful performance it was, thought nothing could beat 'Don't Look Back In Anger' - nothing in this world can beat singing along with that to a crowd. It was breath taking, and by the look on Noel's face he rather enjoyed it too.
This is one of my favourite Oasis songs, and this is my favourite performance of the song. This is the first version of the song I ever heard, and I thought that this was the original - there is no reason for it not to be, apart from the lack of real production and engineering quality.
I've said a good few times before that I love an acoustic version of a song, to hear it stripped down to just one or two instruments and a very raw vocal, it's easy to tell the real musicians from the amateurs - and this just shows that Oasis were REAL musicians. It's nice to just see just Noel and Liam performing together (well, ignoring the fact that Alan White is there playing on a tambourine), it's nice to hear them singing "Stand by me, nobody knows the way it's going to be" - as if they're asking for each other to stand by the other.
Personally I think it's Liam Gallagher's greatest live vocal performance. In my opinion, when I've heard Oasis live I've always felt as though he could have done a lot better with his vocals, compared to how he sounds on record his vocals are very poor during live performances. I can't believe how much his voice his suited to an acoustic guitar, it sounds so naive and beautiful - and his youthfulness is captured in these few minutes of song. It's beautiful.
I can guarantee that this could turn anyone into an Oasis fan.
I was two when I got into Oasis. My mam was at home looking after me, a big fan of Take That she was and had the radio on so she could hear their new single. 'Don't look back in anger' was number one that week and was regularly getting played, my mam often tells me that as soon as the piano entered the speakers and sounded around the living room I would drop whatever toys I was playing with and just listen.
The first album I ever bought, out of my own money, was 'Stop the clocks' - the best of Oasis, soon after that my parents split up. I was twelve. I began drifting into a pit of depression and I would shut myself in my room, all day and all night I would lay on my bed and listen to Oasis because the words that were being sang to me were the only words that ever made sense. I had grown ups, family, friends, councilors, and strangers telling me that everything was going to be fine but it was only Noel Gallagher who made me believe that I will find a brighter day.
Recently I found out I have bipolar, for a couple of days I was distraught thinking that nothing will ever be the same again - that I would just be classes as a freak and an outcast in society. But I went to see Noel Gallagher in Newcastle, it was the first time I had seen my hero in the flesh and as I sang 'Don't Look Back In Anger' with him and the crowd I got back my hope.
I know that if I didn't have the power of music and Oasis behind me I would have never been able to cope so long. Thank you Oasis.
An argument I have been involved in many times, and I'm biased - I choose Noel every time. But Noel would never be the same with Liam, would he? Liam is so untouchable, sometimes it's hard to believe that he's a human being, it's a questions that often comes to my mind; is Liam Gallagher a monkey or a God? Because he's nothing in between the two. The way he can control a crowd is magic, all he has to do is stand there arrogantly with his tambourine and they are all in awe of him, it never comes to a surprise to me when he's voted the greatest front man in these polls because there is no front man like him, I even get intimidated by his presence when he's just on my TV screen. But there are a lot of things he does that really piss me off, like throwing an award that Oasis had, so rightly, earned into the crowd, mind you it was funny to see his tweet, regarding Peter Kay, the next day - even if I did agree with Kay's comments "What a knob head". I also don't particularly like the way he undermines people, like television presenters who are pretty much just trying to do their job - as Liam is doing - and he acts like a complete idiot, when he was a kid it was hilarious, in the early Oasis days it was fun to watch but now that he's on the wrong side of thirty it just isn't that funny now.
But we forgive Liam for it, because he's not only Noel's younger brother, he's like the country's younger brother and really, we just want to look after him - cherish him because he is one of the most important figures of British music.
Noel Gallagher, the Chief - if you may. I have loved the guy since I was in nappies, he is probably the most influential figure in my life - as well as one of the most influential figures in music. He gave Oasis a soul, Liam was their voice but Noel was the soul of this beautiful band, the words and music he wrote have connected to so many people around the world and gave them hope - I accept in the past few months, when asked about Liam, he's been a little immature, regarding his comments on why Liam couldn't attend one of their gigs at V festival. But we love the Gallagher's for their fueds, that's why Britain loves them so much and have let them into their hearts, whenever we hear that Liam has called Noel this and Noel has called Liam that, it gives us a few days of entertainment - doesn't it?
It's hard to choose a favourite Gallagher brother, even though I have mine. They're both as important as each other, they both need each other as much as what England needs them, so come on lads - sort yourselves out.
Coming to you from Newcastle again, but this time from another venue - the Metro Arena of all places, spectacular place to have a gig, one of my favourite venues because it doesn't matter where you're sat, you still get a clear, crisp sound and don't miss one note of what's going on.
I travelled with my friend Jade, with her Dad (Richard) giving us a lift, and also joining us. We walked down to the Metro Arena, going underneath that little tunnel and seeing some people camping outside the parent and children meeting point (maybe as some sort of holiday? Times are tough, my friends). Jade eats pizza whilst we wait to go in, it was £3! £3 for one slice! What a liberty. One other thing that makes me look back in anger, in the Metro Arena, is that they have to take the bottle caps off of bottles, what's the point?! I bought a bottle of Sprite because later when I kicked it over I didn't want all of my pop to drip out like it did!
Anyway. We're in, a young band of Geordie's called the Smokin' Barrels get on stage, introduce themselves and I cannot understand a word that lead singer, Chris Dawson, is saying. Now, these lads are an ok band - I was expecting a little more of a support act for Noel Gallagher but they were pretty average, if I'd have heard one song by them I'd have probably like them a lot more but every song they sang sounded exactly the same, it was like having constant deja vu's. And the drummer Craig Redpath - sort yourself out lad, learn some more drum patterns at least.
Ah and then it was time for our man to come on. Three lads behind us had introduced themselves to us, one was called Tom - the name's of the others have slipped me but they were canny enough, having us dance and sing with them most of the night. This years Godlike genius walks on, in my eyes he's not just this years Godlike genius - he is the Godlike genius of every year, our very own Avatar and I'm in the same room as him as he straps on his famous cherry red Gibson 355.
We are treated to a couple of little known Oasis songs to welcome us in, to let us know that that's where his heart really belongs but then comes one of the best performances of a song I have ever seen (or heard!). 'Everybody's on the run' just wow, I couldn't even describe to you how astounding it was, but it's not often you can say that a live version is better than the studio version. The choir! What a treat for us, I never expected Mr Gallagher to have a choir back him up and man did it do him good, it was ghostly to say the least. More Oasis classics he sang include 'Supersonic' - an acoustic version that just left you feeling like you had been punched in the gut. I teared up, it was the first time everyone in the crowd were up and singing - it was beautiful to see everyone unite and scream out that chorus, I could see a little smile approach on Noel's face as we all belted it out, he knew he was doing well.
In between songs there was great banter between Noel and the audience, one lad was giving him a bit of lip so he just replied 'I'm literally sweating champagne here', he also went on to dedicate a song to Man City fans (which I was a part of!), then after a sea of boo's he went on to take the piss out of the Sports direct arena. He introduced us to his band too, what a great group of lads - weren't the best line up in the world but I'm bound to say that after years of watching Noel play alongside Gem Archer and Zak Starkey, but they were good. Our band were made up of Russ Pritchard (Bass), Tim Smith (Guitar), Mikey Rowe (Keyboards), Jeremy Stacey (Drums), Trombone Trev, Trumpet Jack, Saxophone Andy and our Geordie choir conductor David Temple with his choir Crouch End Festival Chorus. I was most impressed with Tim Smith, what a great lad he was and he played so well, filling in Gem shoes well during the Oasis songs and making a name for himself during our High Flying Birds favourites.
The encore, I'm speechless. Little By Little, Whatever (first of all fooling the audience with playing the intro to Wonderwall, but I knew what was coming - I'd read up on the set list before going), The Importance of Being Idle and Don't Look Back In Anger. For a long time it's been a dream of mine to sing 'Don't look back in anger' with a crowd of people as Noel guided us through it, this song means an awful amount to me - I've loved it ever since I was in nappies and to hear it sung live by Noel Gallagher just took my breath away. I had my arms flung in the air, getting one of them held up by my friend, who wore a Who t shirt, singing with Tom and his friend, in a Pretty Green shirt, and Jade put her arms around me at one point, what a great few minutes. It'll never be forgotten, I'm crossing it off the bucket list as we speak.
If you're lucky enough to go and see Noel do it, it doesn't matter what price the tickets are because I assure you it's worth it. I've never been in a room with so much energy, as everyone clapped and cheered for one person who gave us as much as he had. What a night, what a legend!
Here's a short film I made of last nights gig, it was mega. You'll be getting the full review later on when I have a nice little photo to put above it.
What a sham of a night. Really, really not great - not compared to how it used to be but I could put that down to the state of British music these days. James Corden, I have to say, did a great job of presenting the ceremony, as he did last year, and I'm hoping that maybe next year he will be back to present it (that's if I even bother watching it).
Best male artist, Ed Sheeran? Are you having a giraffe? I only know one of his songs, that one about prostitutes and pastry and I'm sorry but that does not qualify for a Brit award - I could write a song about a whore going into Greggs. And who were presenting these awards? Plan B didn't even know where hell he was, Kylie Minogue looked like a bruise in that dress, and George Michael - well, what a boring bugger. What happened to people like Roger Daltrey presenting awards?! People who actually made British music to be proud of. Those days are long gone.
Adele's performance was nothing on her performance last year, she sounded a lot different this year - her voice was a lot deeper and kind of ruined the song. Still, one of the top performances of the night along with Noel Gallagher's fabulous performance of 'Aka what a life!' - I can safely say Mr Gallagher was the only one who gave a great live performance. And Blur? Well I must say, I was looking forward to their performance all night, but they were pretty poor and disappointing too. Damon Albarn sounded so strained, like he was forcing the words out of himself and Dave Rowntree's drumming was nothing to be proud of, he kept it tight but it just wasn't Blur sounding - it sounded half arsed. Phil Daniels though, what a fella, honest to God legend who is the only person who can be described to have 'swagger', I have to say I squealed little when he came out. But I have to say I was half expecting Liam Gallagher to jump on stage and start to singing 'Shitelife' - I'd have probably sang along with it too.
The thing I'm mainly pissed off about is the fact that their better performances of songs were cut short and made to be shown on ITV2, did anyone manage to catch them? What a turn around, that performance of 'Tender' was just beautiful, the choir made it what it was. And that's it, Albarn is just getting too old for 'Parklife' and 'Song 2', so is Graham Coxon - though I've always thought that his voice never went particularly well with Albarn's. The top performance was of 'This is low', it was just astounding to think that you were watching the same band who were five minutes ago doing nothing but disappointing me.
Apparently there's been some controversy with Adele getting cut short? My God British public, 16 years ago controversy at the Brits was Jarvis Cocker mooning Michael Jackson!
What an album! What an album! Noel Gallagher is back with vengeance to steal the limelight from Liam's little Beady Eye, and so far he's done a grand old job of it too. From the start of the album we get such a promise that this is going to be one of those albums, one of the greats up in history. 'Everybody's on the run' brings us in with a gothic church introduction which seems like a metaphor for the return of the God, our very own Avatar. Then this bloody strong vocal line comes in, in my opinion, the strongest Noel's voice has ever been and it carries on through the whole song, we even get to have delay on the vocal to have a second listen to the previous line just so that we can enjoy it even more! And that chorus! - Did anyone else feel like they had been shot in the gut?
'Dream on' is our second delight, though it's probably the weakest song on the album alongside 'Soldier boys and Jesus freaks' - now I only really say that because of how similar they are when the album differs so much in and out of genre's. I could feel myself saying "Noel, don't go back to where Oasis went wrong." Mind you it's the same with 'The Death of You and Me' which definitely echoes our old favourite 'The Importance of being Idle' - even my mam noticed that and she's the most unmusical person in the world. But I love 'Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks', if the Kinks were a modern band I know they'd definitely have a track exactly the same as this on one of their albums, with, maybe, less metaphors.
Now for the biggie, for me, 'If I had a gun', how could I even describe it to you? The first time I heard any part of it, which I'm sure is the same for a lot of people, was the crappy recording of Noel in sound check of only a section - I never thought anything like this would come of it. The music, oh the music - it just uplifts you into such a good mood when really it's quite a melancholy tune - but I can tell it's going to be a crowd pleaser, one of those songs that no one could not belt out the chorus to. It's my favourite track from the album, mainly just because of the line 'My eyes have always followed you around the room' - what a beautiful sentiment. Everything else on the song is just a bonus for me, I love it.
We drift off into a 50's New Orleans feel of song when 'The Death of You and Me' makes an appearance, the instrumentation is so jazzy and effective that it does take you back in time. The horn/brass section has to be the highlight for me, it's the part I look most forward to hearing when I give it a listen and it's one of my most favourite sections of the whole album. I do love a bit of genre switching on an album.
We have two Oasis b-sides on here too, '(I wanna live in a dream in my) Record Machine' and 'Stop the Clocks' - most of us will have heard them before but, what Noel has done here is given them a new lease of life, almost like a second chance at being alive and breathing - and man can they breathe.
Aka... What a song! (how cheesy?). Yes 'Aka... What a life' - the heavy drums, the reversed intro, the piano riff - it's what makes it a classic upon classics, I'm still not understanding what Noel's obsessions with 'Aka' is - maybe he was just going through a stage, but, never the less, it's such a strong song, a musical explosion. There's one thing though, and I really hate bringing up Liam Gallagher in a post about Noel Gallagher but I do think the song would benefit from Liam's vocal, I really do.
I love the album, as you can probably tell by anything I've said on this post. It's one of the best albums to come out for a good few years, I've been waiting for a solo album from Noel for at least three/four years when rumours were swarming around - even though he was still in Oasis – and he has not disappointed me in anyway. The album is a lot freer than usual Oasis albums, you can tell that Noel enjoyed making this album just by the songs - he's definitely benefited from going solo.
... Does anyone know where the electric kettle appears yet?
Now, this week will be a week of underrated songs for you all to listen to and enjoy, maybe even get you listening to new music, though I know the majority of my readers are Oasis fans so you're probably all aware of 'Idler's Dream'.
I wanted to talk about it because it's one of my favourite songs of all time, it's so different from any other Oasis song which is a great thing for the band seen as though they are usually accused of being a bit 'same-y'. I love it because of how powerful it is, it shows that one man and his piano can create immense beauty by just creating a sweet sounding piano riff and with just a little help from reverb we get a subtle echo that is almost ghostly. It's one of those songs that really hits the pit of your stomach, you know the ones where you have to take in a deep breath halfway through and you get that warm feeling in your stomach? One of those songs.
Noel Gallagher talks to his soul mate through the song, asking her not to 'break his heart of stone' and to never leave him alone. He tells her how much she means to him, that she makes his heart skip a beat and I think, lyrically, it's the most beautiful of the Oasis collection. Whoever this girl is, she’s special.
So the Chief has made a mighty return, everyone in the country is celebrating his musical genius again and all is well, he shown radio 2 listeners that he was back with vengeance but it was only the listeners he seemed to show that to because the audience he was playing to were about as lively (or ‘mad fer it’) as a sea of confused llamas. Competition winners, didn’t seem like they had any idea what he was singing apart from when ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ came on, they could have at least gave the new album a listen to on the way there. Noel seemed to be annoyed with them too, he tried making banter with them and it sent a ripple of laughter through the crowd but it looked like hard work. Overall I thought the performance was brilliant but there was no atmosphere, Noel was on top of his game, especially in his performances of ‘Supersonic’ and ‘If I Had a Gun’ – I’d have loved to have been at the gig myself, I would have sang every word to every song. Maybe next time they should choose their competition winners more carefully.
Such a great tune. It shows a real turning point in the chief's musical journey, it also gives the impression that he's back - and better than ever. There's a wonderful New Orleans feel about the song, the use of the powerful horn section really takes you back to those old jazz numbers from the wonderful place that is New Orleans, it's almost as if he is paying homage to the greats from the people who, technically, gave us free music. Noel's vocals are very bluesy as he seems to be having a one way conversation with a girl who he wants to run away with, before the people who would be the death of her and him can get him - just wonderful.
With all the excitement of the new album that will be released on the 17th of October I have made Mr. Gallagher my musician of the week. I can safely say he is my favourite musician, alongside Keith Moon, and I know he is a music stealing troll but we all love him, and he pulls it off well. But what I'd like to focus on is his lyrics, now I study English at A level and the poems we read in class are nothing compared to his songs, as I've said to my teacher many times "We should be reading Oasis songs, not this Seamus Heaney crap." He has spoke about subjects/emotions in songs that I have never been able to describe, sometimes I feel like he has been living inside of my head because of how much I connect with the songs he writes. Songs like 'Where did it all go wrong?' and 'If I had a gun' are the reasons why I get out of bed on a morning instead of wallowing in self pity because no one knows how I feel, well I know someone does and his name is Noel Gallagher.
I'm seventeen and Noel Gallagher has been a prominant figure throughout my life, since the age of two.
It all started way back in 1996, ‘Don’t look back in anger’ was just huge, so I hear, and my mam always had the radio on because she liked that Take That song that was out at the time. And for a week whilst Oasis were on top spot they played the song a lot, my mam informs me that everytime it was on I’d put down my toys and just either listen or stand up and bop a bit. So when the song was kind of not played as much anymore I’d keep on saying to my mam “Where Noel?” in my baby voice, I wasn’t as grammatically correct in those days. And because she felt sorry for me she went out and bought ‘(What’s the story?) Morning Glory) and she’d play it to me as I slept most nights.
So I became completely obssessed with Noel G, even crying when I was told, by my mam, that he had gotten married. I was four! And I’d tell people I was his wife, so on in my life I did go only thinking Oasis released one album then for my tenth birthday (Yes, I know, I had been into Oasis for 8 years and I lived off that one album!) I got ‘Definitely Maybe’ and I over played that album too, but there was no Noel so I was a bit upset but I still liked Liam’s voice. When I was 12 (and a bit) and started getting pocket money I went and bought my first ever CD, ‘Stop the clocks’ at HMV - £7 on sale. I also over-played that, I fell in love with ‘half the world away’ too and then my parents got divorced the next April, I just didn’t know what to do but there was my four (I had gotten ‘Don’t Believe the truth’ for my birthday) Oasis CD’s waiting for me there, I’d go to my room everyday after school and close myself off from the world and listen to them, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Liam sing ‘Shheeeeiiinnnnneeeee’ or heard that drum beat in the begining of ‘Live Forever’, but I felt so connected to the songs, it was as if Noel had written them for me, like he knew I was out there somewhere and really needed some guidance and he’d sit down and write me a song to make me feel better, even before any of these things happened. I was into other music at the time, I had gotten into The Who, Beatles etc… but even though I love Keith Moon a hell of a lot, and I feel we basically have the same personality, I can never even turn my back on the fact that songs like ‘Half the world away’,’Little by little’,’Who put the weight of the world on my shoulders?’ etc… have helped me get by in life. I remember having to go see a psycologist and she said asked me what I did in my spare time, I told her I listened to Oasis, she pulled a face and joked “They aren’t a very good band” and I replied “They might not be to you, but Noel Gallagher is going to help me through this more than you”. And that fact has stayed true to this day.
