Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds: Brotherly feud lives on as elder 'flies us to the moon' at Halifax's Piece Hall
The brotherly feud truly lives on as Noel Gallagher took us on a trip back in time at Yorkshire’s best outdoor venue.
It must be tricky to be one of the Gallagher brothers when you know that half the crowd at your live shows couldn’t care less about anything either Noel or Liam have released since the violent end of Oasis in 2009.
And so the elder brother and his High Flying Birds have come up with what might be the perfect way to get through a 30-year setlist, with a perfect balance of pre- and post-2009 songs.
Playing in front of a sold-out crowd at Halifax’s beautiful 5,500-capacity Piece Hall - perhaps the UK’s best outdoor venue - Gallagher ensured fans got what they wanted with the opener Pretty Boy - the first single off their latest outing Council Skies.
While not the most talkative on-stage, the first couple of words come just a few songs in as the Grade I listed, sun-drenched venue is treated to a “trip through time”.
It is perhaps not too surprising to see how well the High Flying Birds’ songs go home with the crowd, especially with songs like If I Had A Gun... (which controversially might be the best song any of the Gallagher brothers ever penned).
The positive response follows after all the band’s albums peaked at number 1 in the UK except for the latest - which reached number 2 thanks to Dave Grohl and co. releasing their first album since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins the same week.
Between-song banter includes praising a life-size version of Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, asking what the point of Yorkshire Day (which coincided with the show) was - and to make sure people in the crowd remember “who wrote those f***ing tunes” after a fan points out they had seen Liam’s recent tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of Oasis debut album Definitely Maybe.
Although an Oasis reunion remains far away, and after ten HFB songs, the first few chords of 1997 hit Going Nowhere rang out.
Singing 20 songs each night must take a toll on the vocal cords, so perhaps this is just intelligent play by Noel - because there’s not a single song where he actually needs to sing from this point on as the crowd screams the words back to the stage.
But what makes this Oasis half of the set great is that most of the songs played are songs that Noel actually sang on back in the days; Half the World Away, The Masterplan, Little by Little.
The main set is closed with a homage to one of Manchester’s all time greats as a cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart is accompanied with a backdrop displaying lines resembling those of the band’s legendary 1979 album Unknown Pleasures.
After a few minutes off-stage, the band returns for what could be seen an odd homage to Halifax - Stand By Me - before playing an acoustic rendition of Live Forever - a song both brothers have said is one of Oasis’ best.
No night would be complete without the ultimate singalong in the form of Oasis’ first single featuring Noel on lead vocals as a magical night at what might be the UK’s greatest outdoor venue ends - Don’t Look Back in Anger.
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds live at The Piece Hall in Halifax on August 1, 2024 setlist
- Pretty Boy
- Council Skies
- We’re Gonna Get There in the End
- Open the Door, See What You Find
- You Know We Can’t Go Back
- We’re on Our Way Now
- In the Heat of the Moment
- If I Had a Gun...
- AKA... What a Life!
- Dead in the Water
- Going Nowhere
- Talk Tonight
- Whatever
- Half the World Away
- The Masterplan
- Little By Little
- Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover)
- Stand by Me
- Live Forever
- Don’t Look Back in Anger