Noel Gallagher headlining South Facing Festival 2023 (Adam Hampton-Matthews)
Noel Gallagher headlined South Facing Festival last night.
South Facing is one of the festivals at which Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr are sharing the bill this summer, after the pair resumed their occasional in-studio collaborations on Gallagher’s recent High Flying Birds album Council Skies.
“Luscious strings dominate, supplied by orchestral arranger and long-time High Flying Birds collaborator Rosie Danvers, working wonderfully in tandem with the classically uplifting (Noel Gallagher’s trademark) I’m Not Giving Up Tonight, which dustily looks forward (‘the good lady said it’s time to free my soul,’) with head held high,” our review reads.
Then a stylistic volte-face occurs as motoring Krautrock monster Pretty Boy rolls into view. With typically frenetic guitar from Johnny Marr, it’s perhaps the closest to Noel Gallagher’s work with David Holmes and uneasily builds as layer lands upon layer wonkily. Perhaps not appreciated at the time of release, it’s sure to be a staple of his live shows.