Perth, Australia (Concert Hall)

SETLIST:
1. (It's Good) To Be Free
2. Talk Tonight
3. Fade Away
4. Cast No Shadow
5. The Importance Of Being Idle
6. Listen Up
7. Half The World Away
8. Wonderwall
9. Whatever
10. Slide Away
11. Strawberry Fields Forever
12. Don't Look Back In Anger
13. Married With Children

PRESENT:
Noel Gallagher
Gem Archer
Terry Kirkbride

REVIEWS:
The Age
Jay Hanna

Oasis half-measure plenty

IN stark contrast to the flashy fanfare preceding concerts from single-name superstars Robbie, Kylie and Elton in the past few weeks, Noel Gallagher's solo tour of Australia has been relatively low-key.

The tour was announced only weeks before it was due to take place and the tickets sold out within minutes, yet many fans didn't even know Gallagher was coming. For the lucky couple of thousand who scored tickets to this intimate acoustic performance, this was a chance to hear tracks Oasis never play and see Noel Gallagher perform them without being upstaged by the simian-like antics of his younger brother, Liam.

During the hour-and-a-bit show last night at the Perth Concert Hall, Gallagher played some of his favourite songs, many of which were album tracks and b-sides, and a few well-loved classics.

Joined by Oasis guitarist Gem Archer, who shifted from guitar to a theatrical box organ, and Terry Kirkbride on snare and percussion, Gallagher sauntered on to the stage with his trademark "come on" hand gestures before plonking himself on a stool, plugging in his acoustic and launching into (It's Good) To Be Free.

Focusing his attention at his feet, Gallagher was hardly an energetic performer, but what he lacked in showmanship he made up for with sincerity, handling each song like an old friend and delivering it flawlessly.

Talk Tonight was a crowd pleaser and got several audience members on their feet. It was followed by the Noel-sung acoustic and much better version of Fade Away.

Addressing the lad-heavy crowd, Gallagher asked: "So how are you anyway?" before acknowledging that England's cricket team were not doing too well. The team had arranged to be at the show, but given the misery of their day at the WACA, who could blame most of them for opting for a warm bath and cup of tea instead.

Introducing Archer and Kirkbride, Gallagher pointed to himself and said: "And I of course, is Liam's brother." The remark was greeted by cheers as the always straight-faced Gallagher launched into Cast No Shadow.

A barrage of quips, requests and banter from the Brit-packed crowd flowed throughout the night, causing Gallagher to remark: "Is there anybody here who is not from England?"

During a rare moment when all fell silent in the Concert Hall, Gallagher looked up and said: "This is why Liam doesn't come to things like this. It would do his head in. Just that 45 seconds of silence would do his head in."

It was a rare and welcome treat to hear obscure Oasis songs and see the elder Gallagher playing outside of the Oasis stadium rock environment without the necessary posturing and posing of his younger sibling.

The song selection reflected the laid-back vibe of the performance, from Gallagher's latest favourite, The Importance of Being Idle, to the excellent Slide Away, crowd pleasers Wonderwall and Don't Look Back in Anger and even a cover of Strawberry Fields Forever.

Possibly one of Oasis's greatest b-sides, Listen Up, was greeted by an enormous roar that caused Gallagher to remark: "You all think it is Supersonic and it's not, so you can take that cheer back."

"No I'm not doing Rock N Roll Star that would be ridiculous," he remarked to another heckler.

"If you keep shouting songs at me I will just shout them back," he said, before reeling off a few ending with Beethoven's 5th.

"Fortunately it's not as good as this one," he remarked of the maestro's masterpiece before playing his own gem Half The World Away.

A slightly different version of Wonderwall prompted the explanation of: "I wrote it, so I sing it the way I want to."

Gallagher’s wit and unchecked ego were both in full flight and it was clear he was lapping up the limelight, in his own way.

With the "goodbye I'm going home" strains of Married With Children, Gallagher, who would the very next morning be boarding a plane back to England "to do the Christmas shopping", gave the audience a clap and walked off stage.

It was hardly the gig of the year, but it was a rare and warm treat delivered with style by England's premier rock ‘n’ roll songwriter. Gallagher, at least, did England proud.

PICTURES:

Sydney, Australia (Enmore Theatre)

SETLIST:
1. (It's Good) To Be Free
2. Talk Tonight
3. Fade Away
4. Cast No Shadow
5. The Importance Of Being Idle
6. Listen Up
7. Half The World Away
8. Wonderwall
9. Whatever
10. Slide Away
11. Strawberry Fields Forever
12. Don't Look Back In Anger
13. Married With Children

PRESENT:
Noel Gallagher
Gem Archer
Terry Kirkbride

REVIEWS:
Sydney Morning Herald
George Palathingal

Gallagher makes every fan a winner

When Noel Gallagher described himself, a handful of songs into this set, as "the former most important man in the music business", he got a typically big laugh. But he wasn't kidding.

Oasis, the band started by Gallagher's younger brother, Liam, but wrestled into shape by Noel in 1994, were unstoppable then; a force of nature that didn't just change British music, they changed the country, providing the soundtrack for the rise of a new government and restoring a sense of national pride. (Maybe they overdid that last thing, but let's not get off track.)

Noel Gallagher seems to know the band never really recovered musically after the drug excesses following their monster second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory, otherwise you'd guess he wouldn't spend this sublime evening playing a 13-song semi-acoustic set featuring only one song from after 1995. We got blissful B-sides, rearranged and thoroughly refreshed versions of classic singles, album tracks that could (and arguably should) have been singles and one joyous cover version.

Accompanied only by fellow Oasis man Gem Archer on organ and guitar and their percussionist mate, Terry Kirkbride, Gallagher didn't just remind us of a bunch of glorious songs, he stripped them back and sang them so soulfully, in some instances we suddenly realised there was more to those bombastic anthems than we may have first noticed. The line "her soul slides away" in Don't Look Back in Anger, for example, was suddenly crushing.

The warm arrangements of Wonderwall, in a new-country style, and a speeded-up Whatever that tipped its hat to Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues proved more surprising than the rendition of the Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever - damn that information superhighway - but all were wonderful. Cast No Shadow and Slide Away sent shivers down your spine the way they did the first time you heard them. Half the World Away was simultaneously tender and jubilant.

By the end of the hour-long set - no encore, but it finished perfectly anyway with the wit and bile of Married with Children and the lyrics "goodbye, I'm going home" - Noel Gallagher and his friends had sent every fan home with a better Christmas present than they could have hoped for.

VIDEO:
Clip of Fade Away and pre-gig interview with Noel at ninemsn video

Melbourne, Australia (The Chapel)

SETLIST:
1. (It's Good) To Be Free
2. Talk Tonight
3. Fade Away
4. Cast No Shadow
5. The Importance Of Being Idle
6. Listen Up
7. Half The World Away
8. Wonderwall
9. Whatever
10. Slide Away
11. Strawberry Fields Forever
12. Don't Look Back In Anger
13. Married With Children


PRESENT:
Noel Gallagher
Gem Archer
Terry Kirkbride


REVIEWS:
Sydney Morning Herald
Julietta Jameson

Hearing an acoustic, solo Noel Gallagher perform his band's magnum opus, Wonderwall, it was hard not to wish he'd sung it in the first place. Of course, it was his brother Liam - the surly one - who belted the Cool Britannia anthem out in his usual unmeasured style on the the 1995 Oasis release (What's The Story) Morning Glory?. (It was great, of course. Liam Gallagher has never been one of England's most technically proficient vocalists, but he is one of the most compelling.)

In the hands of its writer Noel - the curmudgeonly one - the song might not have had the energetic angst of the record, but it had light, shade and nuance and it was apparent the song actually meant something to its composer.

The feeling was typical of Noel Gallagher's performance during an intimate gig in Melbourne recorded for MTV's Live At The Chapel series on Monday night. The gig was held before Gallagher's sold-out show at Enmore Theatre in Newtown on Wednesday night.

Accompanied by Oasis guitarist Gem Archer and percussionist Terry Kirkbridge, Gallagher performed a handful of Oasis hits as well as a whole lot of B sides with which only fans, or those in possession of the recently released Oasis best of, Stop The Clocks, might be familiar.

Introducing the Kinks-esque 2005 British hit The Importance Of Being Idle, Gallagher called it the "last great song I wrote" with a wistfulness that provided a deliciously voyeuristic insight into the psyche of the loudmouth as artiste.

No such intro for Talk Tonight, the gorgeous B side of the hit Some Might Say. But Gallagher's delicate (yes, delicate) performance of a song containing the lyrics "I wanna talk tonight ... 'bout how you saved my life" left a lingering sense of his vulnerability and not just a whiff of boyish charm.

Gallagher hadn't gone completely soft though. A few choice digs at his favourite sources of derision, brother Liam and Robbie Williams, kept his motormouth rep well intact. His taped performance, Noel Gallagher At Vodafone Live At The Chapel, will screen on MTV December 26.


---###---
AdelaideNow
Paul Nassari

Noel Gallagher has long been one of Britain's most talented - and outspoken - musicians. On his visit to Australia this month he performed an intimate set for Vodafone Live at the Chapel.

It was a very excited audience that greeted 39 year-old Oasis leader and main songwriter Noel Gallagher as he fronted up for an exclusive acoustic performance for Vodaphone’s Live At The Chapel to promote the new, 2CD Oasis compilation, Stop The Clocks.

Earlier in the week, the famous Manchester-born musician was quick to point out this was not a greatest hits offering, but a ‘best of’.

"Your greatest hits are the hit singles that are most popular ... your ‘best of’ is what is considered your best work,'' the Brit said.

“Thereby lies the difference.”

The double CD features a selection of what Gallagher considers the band’s best work, including such hits as Wonderwall, Champagne Supernova, Don't Look Back in Anger and Morning Glory.

“It could easily have stretched to three CDs, but that doesn't really appeal to me, do you know what I mean?'” Gallagher said.

“Three CDs is a bit much, seeing as how the Beatles only had two on their ‘best of'. It would be taking the piss to have three I think.”

Unsurprisingly, a number of the Stop The Clocks tracks featured in his Chapel performance; the most recent being The Importance Of Being Idle from the recent Don’t Believe The Truth set.

With uncharacteristic modesty on the night, the usually cocky guitarist declared this song to be “the last great song I wrote.”

The performance was littered with comical asides, crowd putdowns and insights into the origins of several songs.

He also included a surprise cover of The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields and a large amount of the group’s celebrated early b-sides - including the lovely Half The World Away, which he explained to the captivated audience came from a miserable time in his life when he “was confused and lonely. The irony is, I was surrounded by people.”

Which is literally what he was for this performance… Noel Gallagher in the round.

The crowd was abuzz with media-types and a number of ‘friends of Oasis’ (whatever that means – quite possibly fan-club members and competition winners), with the latter being admitted first and getting pride of position right behind Gallagher - a first for the Live At The Chapel series.

The rest could hardly complain as they snuggled up closer to the stage than most would ever have the opportunity to do, reclining on luxurious red beanbags and couches surrounded by the gentle glow of wax-dripping candelabras.

The organisers and hosts for The Chapel made no bones about declaring this particular performance the largest crowd they’d ever had.

The elder of the two Gallagher brothers admitted the choice of material for Stop The Clocks was mostly his, with just a little help from younger brother Liam.

“I done all that,'' he said.

“I get to pick the songs, that is my right as the oldest living member of Oasis.'”

This was not a true solo performance per se, as Noel was accompanied throughout by Oasis’ Gem Archer on guitar and organ and newcomer Terry Kirke-Brien on a stripped down drum-kit; but there was little doubt this show was all Gallagher Sr.

When it came time for his mystery drummer’s introduction, Noel pointed out Kirke-Brien was no stranger to the Oasis camp and had appeared on the track Monkey Fingers from Don’t Believe The Truth.

Inevitably, someone in the crowd fired up about the whereabouts of infamously temperamental younger brother and Oasis lead vocalist Liam, who immediately came under rapid smart-arse fire from Noel.

“What d’ya mean?” Noel asked. “Spiritually or mentally? Spiritually he’s all over the place. Mentally, he was never really there anyway.

“He’s just bought his first mansion and is currently turning it into Disneyland. Oh you laugh, but it’s not far from the truth.”

When a heckler asked if Liam was turning into Michael Jackson, Noel warned, “Watch it, he is family… but I’d be up for it if he started hanging out with a chimp. But who’d have the higher IQ?”

The Gallagher brothers, famed for their thick Manchester accents and bitter sibling rivalry, burst on to the British music scene more than a decade ago before going on to sell millions of albums worldwide.

Their volatile relationship, fights, drug problems, celebrity relationships - and their prodigious talent for producing catchy pop songs - have filled thousands of news pages around the world.

But it seems the brothers are going through a rough patch at the moment.

“We are not on the best of terms,” Gallagher said.

“I haven't seen him for a couple of months. I am not interested.

“I am generally not interested because he is generally not doing anything interesting. “They're not fighting though, he said.

“We aren’t fighting at the minute… but could well be the next time I see him though.”

Brotherly feuds and record label contracts aside, Oasis have enough material to release another album in 2007.

“There is this project going on that will probably take us to spring next year,”' he said.

“We have got most of our next album already recorded, stuff that was left over from the last one - we could start mixing it tomorrow.”

Sadly Gallagher couldn’t stay on hand to offer more as he was due at an exclusive Q&A after a Melbourne screening on the new Oasis doco Lord Don’t Slow Me Down.

Stop the Clocks is out now.

The Noel Gallagher episode of Vodaphone’s Live At The Chapel will be on Ch 10 on Boxing Day at 11.15pm.


BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Was broadcast live to Vodafone 3G Mobile holders in Australia. Slide Away, Don't Look Back In Anger, The Importance Of Being Idle, Wonderwall and Married With Children were broadcast on in Australia on MTV and on Channel 10 on December 26. A stream was due to appear on http://www.liveatthechapel.com/ from December 28.


PICTURES:

Melbourne, Australia (The Forum)

SETLIST:
1. (It's Good) To Be Free
2. Talk Tonight
3. Fade Away
4. Cast No Shadow
5. The Importance Of Being Idle
6. Listen Up
7. Half The World Away
8. Wonderwall
9. Whatever
10. Slide Away
11. Strawberry Fields Forever
12. Don't Look Back In Anger
13. Married With Children


PRESENT:
Noel Gallagher
Gem Archer
Terry Kirkbride


REVIEWS:
The Age
Andrew Murfett

Gallagher performs it short, but sleek

There was plenty of conjecture surrounding Noel Gallagher's acoustic gig at the Forum Theatre on Sunday night.

It had nothing to do with Gallagher's vocal performance, which was first-rate. The set-list was outstanding, too. No, fans took umbrage at the brevity of the show.

Gallagher, accompanied by Gem Archer and percussionist Terence Kirkbride, delivered a superb (and succinct) hour of sing-alongs that left a beer-soaked crowd hungry for more.
The trio, who remained seated for the entire show, leaned heavily on songs from the band's mid-1990s heyday.

Opening with the B-side It's Good to Be Free, Gallagher offered up several more rousing renditions of his remarkably strong B-side catalogue including Talk Tonight and Half the World Away.

With the theatre's air thick with cigarette smoke, the room was brimming with diehards. Every song was greeted with a formidable roar of recognition within a few seconds of its beginning.

The exuberant crowd also mustered high-spirited vocals for each track, none more raucous than the classic Don't Look Back In Anger, from the (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album.
For his part, Gallagher was in good spirits. He playfully bantered with the boisterous - and sometimes belligerent - crowd through the show, joking on the Ashes trophy, and even brother Liam's absence.

Some genuine treats included album highlights Slideaway and Cast No Shadow as well as The Importance of Being Idle and Gallagher's reclaiming of the band's worldwide hit Wonderwall.
The night's biggest curio was an ecstatically received cover of Strawberry Fields.

After a brief farewell, Noel and co were suddenly gone. As the house lights slowly came on and the crowd realised there would be no encore, there were a few errant boos.

An abrupt ending, yes, but also one of the gigs of the year.

Manchester, England (Lowry Theatre)

SETLIST:
1. (It's Good) To Be Free
2. Talk Tonight
3. Fade Away
4. Cast No Shadow
5. The Importance Of Being Idle
6. Listen Up
7. Half The World Away
8. Wonderwall
9. Whatever
10. Slide Away
11. Strawberry Fields Forever
12. Don't Look Back In Anger
13. Married With Children

PRESENT:
Noel Gallagher
Gem Archer
Terry Kirkbride

REVIEWS:
Manchester Evening News - 5/5
Helen Tither

WHAT would you expect from an exclusive and intimate Oasis homecoming gig? Cosy revelations about the Gallagher brothers’ life growing up down the road in Burnage? Heartfelt tales of missing Manchester?

When Noel Gallagher and bandmate Gem Archer take the stage for their acoustic gig in front of 400 Xfm competition winners at The Lowry theatre we get nothing of the sort.

Turns out he’s not really the kiss and tell, gut-spilling, tea and sympathy type.

But, if we don’t get up close and personal with Noel himself, we do get more intimate than ever with his songs. Which, let’s face it, more than makes up for that lack of chat.

This is Oasis, after all, not Oprah. And what songs. Stripped back, toned down, and minus the trademark strut of little brother Liam, these are Oasis tunes as you have never heard them before.

How Noel perhaps wants them to be. Take blast from the past Whatever – a string-laden single from the back catalogue which teeters dangerously on the brink of schmaltz.

Transformed here into a feisty folky number, it comes alive with a bit of Noel re-mastering.

“The original way we done this was ****,” he mumbles. “But we was all on drugs.”
Yes, he’s a man of few words. But when he does use them to answer back the (frequent) hecklers, he’s quick off the mark.

“Lend us a tenner,” comes the cry from the audience. “I only carry fifties, cock.” And not a hair on that mop top barnet ruffled.

But if the crowd are less than gushingly star struck by the presence of this modern day music icon on stage, you get the impression that’s just how he likes it.

He certainly comes without any of the airs and graces of the super famous, preferring instead to dress down in trademark jeans and polo shirt, as though he’s strolled straight off the street.

It soon becomes clear there’s little need for rock n’ roll swagger anyway.

Even without all the hype, the tough talking, and the hard-faced controversy, these are simply some of the greatest songs of the past decade.

From the anthemic Wonderwall to the recent chart comeback, The Importance of Being Idle, each one sounds great once more with just some simple guitar and Noel’s vulnerable vocals breathed up close into the mic.

Heard without the posturing of frontman Liam (who barely gets a mention all night), it simply proves what a great singer/songwriter he is in his own right.

Ostensibly, these intimate forays of Noel’s around the country are to promote the band’s 'best of' album, Stop the Clocks.

Less of an advert for the band, maybe. Definitely a good sign for any future solo career.

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NME.com

Noel Gallagher voiced his support for ex-Arctic Monkey Andy Nicholson during an intimate hometown gig tonight (December 4).

The Oasis guitarist played 'Talk Tonight' during his latest acoustic show.

"I'd like to dedicate this one to our mate Andy" he told the crowd at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester. "He used to be in the Arctic Monkeys, but now he isn't for reasons I just don't know."

The Oasis leader's stripped-down gig, organised and broadcast by XFM Manchester, was witnessed by 400 ecstatic competition winners and celebrities including Peter Kay.

Backed by bandmate Gem Archer on guitar and organ, and percussionist Terry Kirkbridge, Gallagher played a career-spanning set, featuring early Oasis favourites 'Cast No Shadow', 'Wonderwall' and rapturously received set-closer 'Married With Children'.

The hour-long show also featured a cover of The Beatles' 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and a number of Oasis B-sides including 'Half The World Away' and '(It's Good) To Be Free'. Noel was in a buoyant, comic mood, slapping down a heckler who asked to borrow a tenner with a typical boast of: "I only carry fifties mate."

He also had a jokey dig at XFM DJ and ex-Inspiral Carpets man Clint Boon, who introduced him as "the greatest songwriter this country's ever produced."

"It's a nice thing for Clint to say - although it didn't stop him sacking me twice [as an Inspiral Carpets roadie]," he quipped. "Although it all worked out well in the end - I mean, he's working on the radio now!"

Support came from Tailgunner, the band fronted by 'Definitely Maybe' producer Mark Coyle, for whom Noel had a brief stint as a drummer.

The gig followed earlier acoustic show at the Union Chapel in London(November 26).

BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Live broadcast on XFM apart from final song Married With Children. Gig was preceded with special XFM show with interview with Noel.