A pleasure

Yeah,I'm noticing it too,at least from what people are saying,can't wait till Saturday!

I didn't read your post before I typed mine, nice to know others have the same impression
Keep it up, NOELY FUCKING G! (Whose idea was that for Noel to do some kind of shirt like Johnny Marr did with "JOHNNY FUCKING MARR"? )

It's so much better when he dances around a bit like he's doing now. Were not asking him to be like Chris Martin or Bono, just show a little enthusiasm which he seems to be doing now! In the first tour he didn't and just looked as though he was in pain whilst singing.

Champagne Supernova

Another couple shots of Noel and Johnny on stage

And there's already a review of the gig!   I'll post this in the other official review thread too. There's a gallery of photos from the concert if you click on the link.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/review-noel-gallaghers-high-flying-8807028

Review: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds at Manchester Arena
23:23, 9 March 2015
OPINION BY ADAM JUPP

The Oasis star leaves his hometown crowd 'buzzing' with an electric performance

****



Many fans will no doubt single out Johnny Marr's appearance on stage alongside Noel Gallagher as the highlight of their night at Manchester arena.

But for anyone who has followed the careers of Oasis - and subsequently Noel - there can be few better live music spectacles than The Masterplan being performed to a hometown crowd.

The title track to an album of B sides good enough to rival anything Oasis or either of the Gallagher brothers have ever released was what the girl stood next to me in the beer queue was looking forward to most.

Privately, I was too. And it didn't disappoint.

I know it is terribly bad form to start a review with the last song of the encore but it was without doubt the highlight, particularly the electric guitar solo in the middle of it.

And therein lies part of the problem for Noel. He has created such a rod for his own back with his back catalogue, it is hard for anything to top it.

But he certainly gives it a good go and a packed Manchester Arena suggested his popularity is far from fading.

Much of the build up was dominated by rumours brother Liam was set to attend the gig and, judging by the amount of pretty green (Liam's fashion label) clobber on show, it seemed many fans had believed the hype. But it turned out to be just that.

When Noel and his High Flying Birds entered the stage, they kicked things off with (Stranded on) the Wrong Beach, from their self-named first album.

I have to begrudgingly admit, it was a little tame.

That was followed by everybody's on the run, a single from the same record.

It took the first Oasis song to really get us going and that was B-side Fade Away. In the background, slides of someone's childhood played as the lyrics 'while we're living, the dreams we had as children fade away' we're sung by Noel and the crowd.

It would be nice to believe they were his, but it didn't seem likely.

Our first taste of new album Chasing Yesterday came in the form of In The Heat of the Moment but it wasn't until songs later we heard the one I had been eagerly awaiting - Riverman.
If you'd closed your eyes during the intro, you'd have been forgiven for thinking Wonderwall was about to be unleashed.

But the true identity of the Weller-esque track was soon revealed and you got the feeling Noel knew it was his best work of late, with his face scrunching as he sang the words "find me the girl who electrifies the storm".

Along the way, we heard The Death of You and Me, from album one, and The Mexican, from NGHFB's latest offering.

The latter when performed live - as it does on the album itself - illustrated Noel's definite lurch away from Oasis towards his own, individual sound

And would we ever have seen Noel doing a 360 spin during a song without his brother looking on and taking the proverbial? Well, we did last night.

As if to hammer home that contrast, sandwiched somewhere in between those two tracks was Champagne Supernova, which he dedicated to Oasis's bonehead.

Predictably, the crowd lapped it up and the performance came with the obligatory two steps back from the mic to let them finish the chorus.

As news of United's FA Cup exit filtered through, Noel took the chance to dedicate Dream On to all Reds fans.

Marr's appearance came in the encore - with the set list altering from elsewhere in the country - and they performed the Ballad of the Mighty I, the track they recorded together.

Again, the contrast to Oasis was evident, with Noel sounding more like REM's Michael Stipe throughout, than his 1990s self.

And then came the Masterplan, which exceeded all expectations.

I saw the girl from the beer queue on the way out. "Buzzing," she said.

That's what I was wondering.  That review says he opened with SOTWB again. I like that song, but I think I preferred it when he opened with DTD.

Then there's this pic someone took on twitter

Edit: nevermind, I think they got that off of the other gig, because SIOL is still on there (and I don't think he played that tonight)

Just got home. He opened with do the damage. Fantastic gig. Johnny Marr joined for Mighty I, no idea if that's been the case at other shows?

Played most of the new album bar a couple, all bar I think three of HFB, and then the same oasis tracks as the other gigs

Third time watching him post-Oasis for me and he's really grown into it.

Love that bloke

I tell a lie about the oasis tracks because he didn't play shout it out loud

A "30 second" review by the same guy who did the longer review.  What is he smoking, though, if he keeps saying that SOTWB was the opener, and not DTD??

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/noel-gallaghers-high-flying-birds-8807040

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 30 second review
23:53, 9 March 2015 By Adam Jupp

Our reviewer picks out the highlights from the Oasis man's homecoming gig

First song
(Stranded on) the wrong beach. Being honest, a bit of a tame start but that is often the way.

Noel's first words
It took until after Fade Away but he said: "Yes Manchester. How is everybody?," then couldn't help himself but add: "United are getting beat 4-1." A theme that would rumble on, as he admitted he was joking, before declaring "Danny welbeck's just out Arsenal 2-1 up." His timeline might not have been right but it got at least half the crowd going.

It didn't get going until...
Fade Away. It was always going to be the case that an Oasis song would be the first to lift the crowd but it really, really did and it only got better from that point on.

Highlight
To many it will be Johnny Marr's appearance on stage but you simply can't beat a performance of The Masterplan, particularly to a home crowd. That said, Don't Look Back in Anger came close, as did Digsy's Dinner.

Lowlight
Can't really describe it as a lowlight but Noel stopped in his tracks just after starting Lock All The Doors, declaring "that is an almighty cock-up" when his roadie gave him the wrong guitar. He had been the one checking the football scores for him though. A Liverpool fan, Noel told us.

Best banter
Hard to choose. Noel's joy at hearing angel di Maria was was hard to beat. "He's gone straight home to Argentina," he said, adding: "you can't take a bit of burglary? He's moved to the wrong place hasn't he?"

Other highlights
The Riverman is arguable the best track form Noel's latest album and it felt like he knows it, with his face scrunching as he sang the lyrics "find me the girl who electrifies the storm." The fairground imagery as he played The Death of You and Me was great and while it might have the most David Brent-like lyrics ("trying hard to get there but I can't afford the bus fayre"), The Dying Of The Light was better live than it is on the album.