Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds concert review: Los Angeles #1

photo by Sharon Latham/courtesy noelgallagher.com, Sour Mash Records

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds played to quite an enthusiastic crowd at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on Monday (the first of two nights). Judging from all the hollers and chants, many people in attendance were British ex-pats.

The penultimate show on the U.S. tour for Gallagher’s excellent latest album Who Built the Moon - among my top 20 of ’17 - was sold out and clocked in at around 100 minutes. It featured dazzling imagery projections amid a thoroughly satisfying 21-song set that encompassed a good chunk of the new songs, a smattering from the previous two releases, a half dozen Oasis nuggets and even a Beatles cover.

Performing on a stage with gear draped in a banned from Gallagher’s hometown football club, Manchester United, the top-notch 10-piece band included a three-man horn section and three women (variously on backing vocals, keyboards or flute).

They gave the adventurous tunes that the former Oasis guitarist/singer made with producer David Holmes (not to mention guests Johnny Marr and Paul Weller) a full-bodied sound. Longtime fans surely recognized guitarist Gem Archer, drummer Chris Sharrock and keyboardist Mike Rowe, all of whom previously accompanied Oasis on tour or in the studio at some point. 

First Who Built the Moon single "Holy Mountain," a glam rock-styled rave up, proved an early highlight. Archer impressed mightily with a tasty guitar solo during “Riverman” and elsewhere, while group harmonies elevated “Dream On.”

photo by Sharon Latham/courtesy noelgallagher.com, Sour Mash Records

Gallagher was definitely in strong form here: the robust “Little by Little,” a No. 2 UK single in 2002 for Oasis, sweetened by Rowe's sumptuous organ work, being a prime example.

At one point, the acerbic front man playfully berated a tall latecomer near the stage. He dedicated the spacey, insanely catchy rocker “She Taught Me How to Fly” to daughter Anais, apparently watching from the side of the stage (kudos to bassist/backing singer Russell Pritchard for the melodic New Order-styled basslines).

“Be Careful What You Wish For” boasted an entrancing groove; the charming “Half the World Away,” “Wonderwall” and soaring Gallagher vocals on “AKA…What a Life” all went down a storm to close the main set.

Come encore time, one of the female singers took the lead on a trippy "The Right Stuff." Gallagher ably handled the lead vocal duties originally handled by brother Liam on “Go Let it Out” with a low-key “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” He stepped away from the microphone stand to let fans do the first few choruses.

That recalled the musician’s emotional performance last September during the We Are Manchester benefit concert for victims of the May 2017 terrorist attack in England. Finally, the horn section definitely came in handy on a perfectly appropriate cover of “All You Need is Love."