Noel Gallagher, former songwriter and guitar player of Oasis and leader of The High Flying Birds, packed the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia on February 13, 2018 with his Who Built The Moon? Tour to promote his new album of the same name. This being the second show of the tour, and the Eagles winning the Superbowl just 10 days before, the room was filled with excitement.
Walking on the stage with rockstar attitude, Gallagher kicked off his set with the first track of his new album, “Fort Knox,” n tribal dance sounding song that features female singers singing over the main riff while the drums keep the pulsing beat, and the bass grooves in the spaces between. Along with Gallagher’s chants throughout the song, it features one of the new “instruments” on Gallagher’s new album, the alarm clock. Piercing loud on the record, the alarm clock blared through the 1,800 seat theater.
The fact that this album was recorded with a different producer, David Holmes, known for his soundtracks to films such as the Ocean’s Eleven series, gave it a completely different sound than anything Gallagher has done so far in his 27 year career. Adding a horn section, instrument loops, and inspiration from older records, together, Gallagher and Holmes created a record with a classic Noel Gallagher sound and adding a splash of a new, fresh 2017 vibe.
Gallagher spoke to Radio X DJ, John Kennedy, in the video “Noel Gallagher discusses Who Built The Moon? Track by track.” posted on Radio X’s youtube page on November 24, 2017, the day the record came out, about his vision for the upcoming tour.
He said “Initially now, what the set list is coming out is playing the entire first side in order. Then as the gig goes on, splitting them with a trip of what you have done in the past and all that. But the first side of this album is so strong, it feels like they all are going to go into each other live.”
Keeping his word, Holy Mountain was next, which was the first single released from the new album which features the high pitched, children like tin whistle loop from “Ice Cream,” a full brass section and a catchy, “German Pop” chorus that will leave you hearing and singing “She fell, she fell, right under my spell” for days. When he got to the chorus the crowd chanted right along, clapping and stomping to the beat making the entire theater shake.
In the same interview with John Kennedy for Radio X Gallagher explained how Holmes inspired and brought new ideas to the table saying, “I went to his house and we were having a drink playing records, and he was asking, what do you think of this? He was playing obscure stuff. The first day in the studio he played me ‘Chewin’ Gum Kid’ by Ice Cream, which I never heard. He took a sample and looped it, and said: “you think you can write a song around this?” And I thought if it kills me, I’m gonna do it, cause it’s so annoying, it’s gonna be brilliant. And then one day I nailed “Holy Mountain,” and it all started to fall into place after that.”
In between guitar changes for songs, the crowd yelled out songs which then lead to an “E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!” chant anytime there was a moment of silence. This lead Gallagher to say, “Listen, I’m sorry, but you guys aren’t ‘World Champions’, maybe in your world, but not the world. But hey, I’m just glad you guys beat the Patriots. I hate Tom Brady”
The crowd roared. He then followed with “Don’t put this on Youtube, I’m gonna be saying the same things about you guys next week.” At some points, Gallagher couldn’t even get a word into the mic with the overpowering noise from the crowd which lead to him going into songs faster to not the audience take over the show.
Tony Cuenca, a second year Music major from Mercer said, “I feel like his new music is a little too poppy, and doesn’t have the depth like his older music. He was good live, and rifled through the set touching on different areas of his career. His band was on point with their harmonies, and music, which made up for the room’s bad acoustics. He also needed subtitles because his accent was so thick, but when he sang, he nailed it.”
A highlight of the set was in the song, “She Taught me How to Fly” when French band member, Charlotte Marionneau, played another new “instrument” featured on the album, the scissors. Yes, scissors. And it actually worked. Moving along, chopping away to the beat, literally. Marionneau was announced to the crowd which lead into a “scissors, scissors scissors!” chant, showing the appreciation for the unique talent and instrument.
Also during the set Gallagher performed a power rendition of the 1995 Oasis hit, “Don’t Look Back In Anger,” which was an anthem of hope after the 2017 Manchester arena terrorist attack. The song was spontaneously sung during the candle vigil, after the moment of silence, when a woman started to sing, which prompted the crowd to join in and sing together in unity. Until recent events, the song was just a “throwback Thursday” to sing at karaoke night,but now 22 years later, it has a whole new meaning.
Patrick Doyle from Rolling Stone spoke with Gallagher in his article, “Noel Gallagher on New Solo LP: “It’s about everything the terrorists hate” saying, “I’m sitting in my lounge in the very spot when I watching the new when there was the minute silence in St. Ann’s Square, and just a lone girl started singing it and the crowd joined in, I don’t get speechless. I’ve gotta say, I sat there and I was like, ‘Holy fuck.’ then, as the weeks passed, it kind of reignited my faith in music because regardless of whether it’s my song or not, I was like, ‘Fuck, it is important, man. These people are rallying around this song’ I’m still speechless about it. I wrote that song so long ago and it’s taken on a different meaning now. It’s been adopted by the people like a flag of defiance.”
Yardville, NJ resident, Noah Rusnak said, “Noel put on a good show, and did justice to his new record. Adding a live horn section gave it a bigger sound and more flair. The energy he puts into his live show reflected in the audience’s response, that was already electric due to the Eagles win. He played for two hours”
Ending the night with The Beatles 1967 classic, “All You Need Is Love”, Gallagher paid homage to his biggest influence and leaving the crowd with another powerful message, “Love Is All You Need.”
