When Noel Gallagher had his final fall-out with brother Liam as a member of Oasis in 2009, his future as a musician was never in doubt. He formed and recorded an eponymous debut album with a band he dubbed Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, then went on a 15-month tour. Gallagher still had reservations about being a full-time frontman as the album went to No. 1 in the U.K. “I thought I’d kind of tolerate it, being center-stage and being a singer every night,” he said in an interview posted to his website in March. “As it got further on I really enjoyed it.”
Gallagher enjoyed it enough to record a follow-up, Chasing Yesterday, which also hit No. 1 upon its release last February in the land that spawned Britpop—20 years after Oasis released its second and arguably best album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Gallagher has been including a handful of Oasis tunes in recent sets, including Morning Glory’s “Champagne Supernova” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” as well as Definitely Maybe’s “Digsy’s Dinner,” but the wall of sound the band produces live with new songs such as the Neil Young-ish “Riverman” and propulsive rocker “Lock All the Doors” inarguably rivals the in-concert musical energy Oasis managed in its prime.
