Photos and words: Ian Cumming.
The stage was set for what I was hoping to be an amazing evening of music, and I wasn’t left disappointed.
The capacity crowd at The 02 Academy in Bournemouth (18 March, 2024) was buzzing with anticipation the lights went out and the crowd was in an uproar knowing that Noel and the High Flying Birds had entered the stage for what turned out to be such an amazing gig.
The opening track for the night “Pretty Boy“ from the “Council Skies” album went down a treat. Other crowd-pleasing tracks included “In the Heat of the Moment”, “Easy Now”, and “We’re Gonna Get There in the End”.
There was a huge amount of crowd participation in the relatively intimate venue and it made for a fantastic atmosphere.
I must not forget a special mention for the life size cardboard cut-out of Manchester city football club manager Pep Guardiola, which joined the band on stage for everyone to see, and which also got some heckling – all in good taste – from other football fans which Noel took in his stride and gave back as much as he received .
This small and personal-feeling gig was a warmup for Noel’s Royal Albert Hall Teenage Cancer Trust show on Thursday – based on tonight it’s definitely worth getting a ticket if you can.
I doubt very much that anyone left the academy without a huge feeling of satisfaction, especially after the show stopping encore featuring “Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)” , a Bob Dylan Cover, and two of Oasis’ greatest hits – “Live Forever” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger”.
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