“It’s been a while,” pointed out Noel Gallagher during one of his typically dry asides from the stage.
“The last time I was here (in Dundee) was 1994. It’s still as f***ing cold.”
He was right, it was freezing on Saturday night, although none of the heaving audience down the front of the first Summer Sessions show of the weekend at Slessor Gardens will have noticed.
Their parents might not even have met in 1994 – yet here their children are, partying like that crowd at Lucifer’s Mill must have 28 years ago.
Unlike his estranged brother Liam’s eager, hedonistic rockers, Noel’s music is probably closer to how Oasis would sound if they still existed.
His set was unofficially divided into two halves, the first showcased the best of his current band High Flying Birds.
After the sludgy rock jam of an opener Fort Knox, the joyful glam-pop of Holy Mountain bounced over the crowd, aided by his horn section.
Making the music he likes
High Flying Birds’ sound is a songwriter trying not to coast on past glories, but to make the music he finds enjoyable at his age.
“I’m 55 now, my head’s up my arse,” he pointed out, after missing the intro cue to one of his own songs.
HFB’s songs balance the smooth dream-pop of It’s a Beautiful World and She Taught Me How to Fly, the MOR balladry of Wandering Star and We’re On Our Way Now, and the moody Black Star Dancing.
It’s dad-rock. Great dad-rock
It’s dad-rock, but by a dad with a great record collection.
Alongside former Oasis guitarist Gem Archer, it was also great to see how many women are in his band, singing and playing.
Dead in the Water is a throwback to his solo acoustic moments in Oasis, and it heralded the main event – a second half filled with all those Oasis songs Noel was most associated with, from the winsome anthems Little By Little and Stop Crying Your Heart Out, to the classic ballads Whatever and Wonderwall.
Half the World Away was dedicated to “the real Royle Family”, and the encore saw the promise of a new album next year and some of his best material to close, including HFB’s AKA… What a Life! and Oasis’ Don’t Look Back in Anger.
There was much more than just nostalgia going on during this party of a show.
