Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Düsseldorf, Germany9th April 2018
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – “European Tour 2018” – Support: Blossoms
Dubbed “best song writer still alive”, NOEL GALLAGHER and his band THE HIGH FLYING BIRDS were scheduled to appear in the Mitsubishi Electric Hall, and around 4,000 people went to see this living legend.
Blossoms
The Greater Manchester formation BLOSSOMS took over the job as opener for this evening. The quintet from Stockport, UK has formed in 2013, and so far, they have released two albums. The self-titled debut album from 2016 contained a heavy dose of Psychedelic Rock, whereas the following release ‘Cool like you’ from this year contains far more electronic and pop influences. https://www.facebook.com/blossomsband / www.blossomsband.co.uk
Music & Performance
At 8pm, BLOSSOMS entered the stage of the large Mitsubishi Electric Hall, playing the opener ‘I just imagined you’ from their soon to be released album ‘Cool like you’. Front man Tom Ogden developed a great stage presence, with his voice reminiscent of the legendary RICHARD ASHCROFT. In terms of music styles, BLOSSOMS oscillated between 70ies-inspired rock and shameless pop songs, sugar-coated with electronic sounds, which gave their music a certain French feel similar to AIR.
Setlist
01. I Just Imagined You
02. Blow
03. Getaway
04. I Can't Stand It
05. At Most a Kiss
06. Between The Eyes
07. Charlemagne
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 7 / 10
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
The older brother of ex Oasis singer LIAM GALLAGHER is generally considered to be the more well-behaved one. Having turned 50 this year this does not deter NOEL from trading insults with his former band mate over Twitter, making the long wished for reunion of the kings of Brit Pop ever more unlikely. The last album ‘Who Built the Moon?’ clearly exhibited the desire for musical evolvement, incorporating electronic and world-music influences into the sound. However, it seems like fans are not buying it just yet. www.noelgallagher.com / https://www.facebook.com/noelgallaghermusic
Music & Performance
After a seemingly never-ending stage break, NOEL GALLAGHER AND THE HIGH FLYING BIRDS went on stage around 9pm, accompanied by half a dozen additional musicians, and performed the song ‘Fort Knox’, which is also the opening track of their new album ‘Who Built the Moon?’. What followed were three more songs from the same album in the same order as they appeared on the record. The songs were received by the audience with friendly applause. However, it is fair to say that the crowd’s reaction was not overly enthusiastic, especially as Noel did not seem to be interested in any interaction with his fans at all. It took him around 40 minutes into the set, before he bothered to lecture a girl waving a sign asking the band to play the OASIS song ‘Sunday Morning Call’, that this would essentially guarantee that the song would not be played. So this would be exactly the kind of behaviour you would expect from one of the Gallagher brothers.
Fortunately enough, Noel seemed to be in too good of a mood for the audience to fear that he would walk off stage for some random reason, as his brother sometimes tends to do. A first highlight of the evening occurred when Noel grabbed an acoustic guitar and performed the song ‘If I had a Gun’. This moment transcended pure magic. A few minutes later, a visibly upbeat Noel asked the crowd if there were any OASIS fans here today. This marked the starting point for the song ‘Little by Little’, which was greeted by enthusiastic cheering and full-hearted sing-a-longs from the audience. Fortunately, the rest of the set list contained quite a few gems from the legendary band’s back catalogue, including the all-time camp fire annoyance ‘Wonderwall’, which the band presented in a carefully altered version.
After more than 90 minutes of playing time, the band went off stage, only to return shortly afterwards to play a four-song encore, containing two more OASIS songs and the iconic Beatles cover ‘All You Need is Love’, which was presented in a full-blown big band fashion. Noel gave the crowd the final send-off with the words ‘See you on some shitty festival’, and the middle aged audience spilled into the streets of Düsseldorf.
Setlist
01. Fort Knox
02. Holy Mountain
03. Keep on Reaching
04. It's a Beautiful World
05. In the Heat of the Moment
06. Riverman
07. Ballad of the Mighty I
08. If I Had a Gun...
09. Dream On
10. Little by Little (Oasis cover)
11. The Importance of Being Idle (Oasis cover)
12. Dead in the Water
13. Be Careful What You Wish For
14. She Taught Me How to Fly
15. Half the World Away (Oasis cover)
16. Wonderwall (Oasis cover)
17. AKA... What a Life!
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18. The Right Stuff
19. Go Let It Out (Oasis cover)
20. Don't Look Back in Anger (Oasis cover)
21. All You Need Is Love (The Beatles cover)
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 8 / 10
File photo by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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