Live Review: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at Leeds First Direct Arena

It’s a distraction. The thought which occurs, as 13,000 pairs of arms rise to greet ‘Champagne Supernova’, that this is the first time the city of Leeds has been serenaded with this particular modern British rock classic.

You see long before the First Direct Arena (destination #4 on Noel Gallagher‘s latest UK tour last night), and putting festivals to one side, Oasis quickly outgrew what Leeds had to offer. A quick Google suggests after a gig at the Irish Centre just weeks before the release of ‘Definitely Maybe‘ in August 1994, as far as Yorkshire was concerned anyway the story of the band of a generation went on to be largely played out a few miles south in Sheffield, leaving this city behind as only a small footnote, a half-remembered gig played to barely three people and a barman long before they all sodded off down the road, around the world, and got rich and famous.

It seems right to start with ‘Champagne Supernova‘ regardless, as it’s the highlight of the evening. Not just because the near-twenty years of rock credentials make it the safest of live bets, but also because, perhaps for the first time, a well trodden Oasis classic here feels refreshed and nurtured in the hands of the High Flying Birds. This alternate, gentler Dr. Jekyll to the electric, solo-laden Hyde of years gone by only serves to emphasise the loves, the heartbreaks, the births, the deaths and the who knows how many other life changing moments it has soundtracked for those thousands here who are each recalling their own individual memories with each strum of Gallagher’s acoustic guitar.

Noel’s declared himself happy to give the people what they want, so there’s much more Oasis on offer. ‘Wonderwall‘ doesn’t tug as hard on the heartstrings however; surely the world can these days do without it, particularly in this Ryan Adams reworking form which, not surprisingly, is best left in the hands of Ryan Adams. Much more welcome are the deeper cuts, in particular ‘Listen Up‘ – a classic b-side from the annals of a band which half built its career on them.

Turning to the much more recent past, this UK arena tour also provides a perfect chance to reflect on ‘Chasing Yesterday‘. Twelve months on the road has seemingly done it a lot of good, and flipped some tracks right on their heads. ‘In The Heat Of The Moment‘, for example, has since found itself some Saturn V rocket boosters and now has a stadium-sized power, while ‘You Know We Can’t Go Back‘, on record a brand of fairly unremarkable three minute pop which you feel Gallagher could, and probably has, written a thousand times, bounces along in a care-free, unpretentious manner up on stage, a set highlight recalling the ghosts of glories past even if its lyrics, and the singer who dedicates it to “Oasis fans everywhere”, warn us not to.

This curious theme continues on ‘The Mexican‘ – our frontman on the look out for an eponymous native in the audience, shaking his hips and in turn shaking off the studio sludge – yet works the other way on ‘Riverman‘, that delightful, understated nod to seventies prog in concert not quite recapturing the atmosphere of the album, instead hurrying on to an uneventful, almost apologetic conclusion.

The one consistent note is ‘Ballad Of The Mighty I‘: even if on record it didn’t quite keep to the on-point production, and live it misses the inimitable jangle of Johnny Marr, on both its abridged chorus still holds a genuine fist-in-the-air quality and like everything else is delivered with remarkably strong vocals which only seem to be getting better with age.

There’s room too for 2011 solo debut ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds‘, for ‘Everybody’s On The Run‘ which after five years has finally been granted its natural home at the top of the show and is even more grandiose for it. ‘AKA…What a Life‘ strains at the leash for an eight-minute acid jam but, like the band and setlist as a whole, avoids any ad-libs, sticks carefully to script. It really is all about the joy of the songs in their organic form. Elsewhere, ‘If I Had a Gun‘s own momentous singalong dispels any cynics who might suggest we’d be back in the Irish Centre tonight without the era-defining anthems which are, as ever, rounded off by the biggest and most bankable of them all, ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger‘.

The part of the story which finally brought Noel Gallagher back to Leeds on Wednesday night is of course well told by now. How the relationship with brother Liam ultimately was to Oasis what hydrogen was to the Hindenburg; how the fuel which once launched it to the skies in the end brought it all crashing back down to earth in a spectacular ball of flames.

Escaping from that furnace has brought two more UK number one albums, festival headline appearances, world tours and yes, sold out arenas. This enchanting gig has taken us through all those twists and turns, the anthems we all grew up with (and plenty down front are still growing up with), the solo debut which immediately put him back in the big time, the follow-up which at least began a search for some fresh points of reference. It’s the second round of UK arenas since that album was released – a master of his craft, Gallagher could probably keep going round like this forever.

Much more satisfying though is another distracting thought: that with all this in the bag, his solo career should now be primed for its true vindication. A real line in the sand, something more than a tranquil life on the road and continued commercial success. Something to show exactly what this freedom and independence can musically really deliver.

Gallagher acknowledges the passage of time before ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’. “It’s been years Leeds. You’ve been great. I’ll see you back here again when I’ve written my next masterpiece.” As it is, he’s been recording a third album on and off this year with producer David Holmes, writing from scratch in the studio and talking of a ‘brand new way of working’. Talk is cheap, and he talks a lot, but it all sounds just right.

While Leeds may have been forced to look on from a distance for most of the past two decades, keep that new way of working going and this time it just might be an eyewitness to the start of the most intriguing act of this long story.

(Dave Smith)