Noel Gallagher joked that his children are "lucky bastards" to have him as a dad as he performed at the London Palladium on Thursday night (09.05.19).
The 51-year-old rocker played an intimate gig at the historic venue and among the 2,300 fans in attendance were his wife Sara MacDonald and their two sons, Donovan, 11, and Sonny, eight, and Noel’s 19-year-old daughter Anais – whose mother is his ex-wife Meg Mathews.
Showcasing his sarcastic humour, Noel dedicated his High Flying Birds hit ‘AKA… What A Life!’ to his three kids by saying: "I’d like to dedicate this song to my three kids who are here. You lucky bastards. You lucky, lucky bastards."
It was the first time that Noel had ever played the London Palladium – which has been open for over 100 years – and the rich history of the venue was not lost on him, especially the fact that some of the ashes of the late showbiz legend Sir Bruce Forsyth are scattered beneath the stage.
Before singing Oasis single ‘The Importance of Being Idle’, he said: "Did you know that Bruce Forsyth has some of his ashes scattered beneath this stage? That’s quite interesting isn’t it? The Beatles played here, too. That’s cool."
Noel treated fans to a set made up of tracks from his three solo albums, with highlights including ‘Holy Mountain’, ‘Lock All the Doors’ and ‘If I Had A Gun…’, and Oasis classics such as ‘The Masterplan’, ‘Half the World Away’ and ‘Wonderwall’.
He also performed two songs from his upcoming EP; current single ‘Black Star Dancing’ and ‘Rattling Rose’, an Americana influenced track on which he was joined by a total of six female backing singers.
After a rousing rendition of ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’, Noel briefly left the stage before returning for his encore which featured the anthemic Oasis number one ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ and his cover version of The Beatles song ‘All You Need Is Love’.
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ new EP will be released on 14 June and it will be followed by two more four-track EPs, which will be released between now and Christmas.
Noel and his band will be touring across the UK and the rest of the world throughout this summer, including a mammoth show in his hometown of Manchester at Heaton Park on 7 June.
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds London Palladium setlist:
Fort Knox
Holy Mountain
It’s a Beautiful World
She Taught Me How to Fly
Black Star Dancing
Rattling Rose
Talk Tonight
The Importance of Being Idle
Little by Little
Dead in the Water
The Mexican
If I Had a Gun…
Lock All the Doors
The Masterplan
Wonderwall
Half the World Away
Stop Crying Your Heart Out
Encore:
AKA… What a Life!
Don’t Look Back in Anger
All You Need Is Love (Beatles cover)