On the 20th of July 2024, I went with family to see one of my favourite artists – Noel Gallagher. The venue is one of my most treasured because of the size. It feels like wherever you stand you have a great view because it is on a slope. Additionally, the capacity was only around 10,000 which makes it even easier to get an adequate position. When we had got through – with ease – we bought some snacks and drinks these were slightly overpriced as usual for a gig (especially since it was in the capital). We quickly found a space to stand after that and waited for the support act. 

The support act was also one of my most beloved bands, Echo and the Bunnymen. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their music. Notably since there were still many people to turn up to the venue and I ended up getting quite close. Getting drinks and snacks was easy because they were dotted around everywhere. This meant that we could split up and get supplies. Eventually finding our way back. Energy was running high after the support act as it brought to reality the fact that we were going to see one of our favourite artists since our childhoods. 

When Noel Gallagher stepped onto stage me and my brother had noticed the cut-out of Pep Guardiola as well as the Man City Football Club flags all around the stage. Which we both found to be quite comedic. The setlist consisted of firstly Noel Gallaghers High-Flying Birds songs – all of which were so beautifully written and clearly Noel Gallagher was focusing on how they'd sound live when he wrote them. Not only were they so wonderfully written they were also performed in a manner that sent shivers down my spine and no doubt everyone else there too. A few of my personal favourites that he performed were ‘If I had a gun’, ‘Dead in the water’ and ‘AKA…What a life’. I particularly enjoyed these songs because of the lyrics. Noel really managed to sing them in a way that showcased his raw emotion and how he must have felt at the time of writing.

After the section where he played his solo works, he played a few oasis songs which really brought everyone together. Chiefly since most people would’ve been wishing they could have gone to an Oasis concert since they broke up in 2009. People were singing arms over shoulder with each other and swaying about with the music. Certain songs like The Masterplan for me were my favourites because I was dancing with my family and singing along with them. As well as this being my most favoured out of all of Oasis’s songs.

As well as Noel’s spine-tingling singing, his charisma kept us amused for the whole performance. Whether he was cracking football jokes or interacting with the crowd. Talk tonight was another one of my favourites on the setlist due to its melodic nature and pairs very well with his voice, especially live. Hearing Noel perform oasis songs really made me feel as if I wouldn’t be missing much if I were to see Oasis in concert which I believe is a really hard thing to be able to achieve as an artist. Particularly when he had been in a band that took the world by storm in the 90s.

The encore was very short and lasted around 5 minutes. There wasn’t particularly enough time to go grab a drink/snack or go to the toilet but that’s par for the course for a concert. There were only a few songs left too (Stand by me, Live forever, and Don’t look back in anger – which were crowd favourites as they were the most popular oasis songs) which meant it wasn’t too big of an ordeal. 

After the gig, and after Noel said farewell, there was a long (but not too painful) queue to get to the toilets - which were just inside of the palace. It moved a little slow but took around 20 mins in total which is a perfect amount of time to gossip about the gig and discuss our favourites. After we got out of the queue, some members of my family were directed to go through a one-way system onto the street making sure there wasn’t a lot of congestion getting out of the venue. This did lead to some confusion among the family because we had gotten split up. This didn’t last long, and we were quickly reunited.

Getting out of the venue after was very straightforward. After the event we walked back toward a local pub and had some soft drinks before departing to head home. The night will forever be one of the best nights of my life and will be very hard to top.