This, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds' (NGHFB) second outing in the BCP area in two nights, is billed as a warm-up gig for his Teenage Cancer Trust performance at The Royal Albert Hall later this week. 

Its also his second visit to Boscombe in seven months.

Focusing on songs from the fourth solo album Council Skies released in 2023, Gallagher delivered a set of two halves – keeping it fresh with his own material for the first part of the show before slipping into Oasis classics for the latter part of the performance. Something for everyone.

Stereophonics’ Adam Zindani provided the support, delivering a short set of his solo work – just the ticket to get the packed house cued up for the main event.

The stage was festooned with an array of plants and flowers and the obligatory cardboard cut-out of Pep Guardiola (I would like to think there’s a reciprocated cardboard figure of Noel in the Manchester City dressing room) NGHFB took to the stage and with no more than a slight acknowledgement to the cheering crowd, launched into Pretty Boy followed by four more Council Skies numbers before a sojourn through his back catalogue with accomplished songs such as We’re On Our Way Now, If I Had a Gun and AKA…What a Life.

Surprisingly, for such an intimate venue, there was little interaction between Gallagher and the crowd.

What chat was there was, centred around football and his admiration of AFC Bournemouth!

Teasingly, Gallagher announced it was “time to go back to the 90s” which increased the intensity of anticipation with the audience demanding their favourite Oasis songs.

The rest of the main set was Oasis classics; Going Nowhere, Half the World Away, Little by Little and The Masterplan.

It says something about the confidence of Gallagher and how comfortable he is with his art that he can close the main set with Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart rather than one of his own masterpieces.

There was no way his fans were not going get an encore and after a burst of Happy Birthday to one of the backing singers we were treated to three more Oasis songs culminating with Don’t Look Back in Anger and every member of the audience on their feet and bellowing out the lyrics.

It’s fair to say that Gallagher is one of the most prolific and successful songwriters of his generation and tonight’s show was a celebration of that.

A great night out.