With high winds and rain the Brighten crowd brave the beach for an exhilarating sold out Noel Gallagher show!

★★★★★ (5/5)

NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING BIRDS PERFORMING AT BRIGHTON BEACH
PHOTOCREDIT: MICHAEL HUNDERTMARK

With high anticipation ‘Noel Gallagher’s high flying Bird’s’ come to town with a bumper set list on an all-day extravaganza event with some top drawer acts concluding with celebrating Gallagher’s long musical career pleasing the crowd with a second half of Oasis super hits!

Noel Gallagher with the High Flying Birds, has been on the road during the summer promoting their fourth Album, ‘Council Skies’!

For tonight’s show, support stems from a host of top bands, starting with the former BBC Introducing artist, ‘Lilly Knott’. Her perfect vibe and cutting edge vocals were perfect to watch in her striking Red Dress, as a starting act of the day and a perfect antidote to the weather! The fans were already queuing to get through the gates for the early afternoon opening to get to the front!

Next were Manchester / London four piece Indie Rock Band ‘Picture Parlour’ that are no strangers to Brighton too, as their performed back in the city for ‘The Great Escape Festival’ in May. With Rolling Guitars and Vocals that add depth, the band can hold their own on the large Festival stage! Their dramatic stage sounds, riffs and presence are defiantly made a summer festival anthem and the band have recently released a single called ‘Norwegian Wood’.

The crowds start to gather by the time ‘Supergrass’ frontman, ‘Gaz Coombes’ strolls onto the stage. With a more mature and extensive sound the band members all dressed in black a trio of backing singers are no strangers to a large festival stage over the years, with the melodic ‘Turn the Car round’ being a highlight of the set! The band could deftly manoeuvre across the different styles across his vast back catalogue of albums with the more psychedelic elements merging seamlessly with the quitter acoustic songs for an electrifying set.

‘The Coral’ who stem from Hoylake, the Wirral and formed in 1996, been around since the Britpop days and have ten albums under their belt and fans are treated to an accomplished set of classics. ‘In The Morning’ received the biggest audible cheer from the audience with the weather also staring to calm down a tad just in time for Noel to hit the stage later in the evening!

The Vaccines set the tone for their high octane slot with the opening track I Can’t Quit, with lead singer Justin Hayward-Young having a constant smile on his face. ‘Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’ had a fan base mosh pit formed with everyone dancing wildly to this timeless classic. Their infectious high tempo rock songs got the crowds wanting more by the time the riffs from ‘If You Wanna’ toned out!

As the sun started to set Noel Gallagher finally strolled on stage to the more sizable crowd and the one everyone was waiting for! Noel played with the High Flying Birds a considerable portion of their latest album. The opening song is ‘Pretty Boy’ taken from the latest ‘Council Skies’ album’ set against a backdrop of gritty city skies projected on the large screen behind and his five piece band lining the full length of the stage. Noel Gallagher took centre court next to Manchester City Logo and the occasional banter against Brighton Albion fans! More songs followed on from his 13 Year musical career the ‘AKA What a life’ that was dedicated to his football club! The mood shifted slightly with a more tender moment with the acoustics of ‘Dead in The Water’! By the time the Oasis material came to the forefront the crowd were ecstatic and swayed along to every word. ‘The Masterplan’ being a classic B-side classic all included. Noel’s wit was all too evident throughout the evening, with him even shouting out to the large crowds watching for free from the railings above Madeira Drive.

Noel Gallagher certainly has expanded his musical repertoire with more personal material to date but the older onlookers were electrified by the nostalgic Oasis songs with the highlight of the evening being the massive sing along to the encore ‘Don’t Look back in Anger’ which was song in its entirety by the dedicated fans! Despite the elements not being in tone, the fan base went away satisfied and crowds were still singing Oasis songs on their path back home and if Noel and Liam ever decide to get back together a stadium show would easily be an instant sell out!