It’s quite hard to believe that Oasis split up nearly 15 years ago. The Gallagher brothers went their separate ways but forever live (or should that be ‘Live forever‘!) in the shadows of that band despite their subsequent successes. Their respective live dates are still hugely popular as was the case for this four date tour of Japan by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (NGHFB). I was there for the opening night in Tokyo and my wife was with me for her first ever concert of this kind.

This concert in Tokyo on December 1st was my seventh time to see Noel play live but was actually the first time I’d seen him under the Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds moniker. I am a big fan of his not-so-new band (they have actually been around for 13 years now!) but have just never been able to see them live on previous visits to Japan in 2012, 2015 or 2018. This time I wouldn’t be denied though.

The last time I saw Oasis was actually in Tokyo all the way back in November 2005 so it’s been a long wait. I was successful in getting two tickets in the lottery application back in June but I didn’t tell my wife about it at all. I just told her to take the Friday off work and only on that morning did I tell her we were going to a concert that evening. She did ask if we were going to see Oasis but I said that they no longer existed but that her guess was close. At this time some NGHFB videos were playing on the TV via YouTube so I assumed she knew what was in store.

It seemed she didn’t though as she stunned me right outside the venue by asking who we were watching. It seems she thought we were just going to see some minor gig or something! Not even the big screen outside the venue showing Noel’s face on the promo poster seemed to alert her to what was about to happen!

I can’t say I had ever heard of Tokyo Garden Theater until this tour was announced. Little did I know but it was just over the road from Ariake Coliseum; the tennis arena I’ve frequented a fair few times over the years with my last visit just a few months ago. Inside the venue, which is part of a shopping mall, I lined up just to get a picture with a cardboard Noel! I’m sure you’ll agree that it was well worth the fifteeen minute wait!!

Tokyo Garden Theater is an all-seat venue which doesn’t seem right for such an artist like Noel even if his musical style is now considered to be middle-of-the-road dadrock! The younger me would never have thought that I would become like the generation before me!!

As I get older I’m probably quite thankful to have more space to myself and not have to quite literarlly rub shoulders with those around me. It proabably does dilute the atmosphere a bit though.

The band came on stage at 7:10pm and five tunes from the latest album ‘Council Skies‘ were bashed out before Noel addressed the crowd. The sound in the place was really good.

I know many people do only go and see this band (or indeed his younger brother Liam) just to see and hear some classic Oasis songs played but it feels quite sad that he maybe feels has to get them out of the way early doors! I wasn’t greatly familiar with this album but did my homework beforehand and really got into the songs played from it.

Some Japanese guys were going absolutely nuts for Noel between songs and one was really shouting his name that it got the reaction from the frontman he wanted. When asked what he wanted he actually said ‘Setting Sun‘ which was a 1996 Chemical Brothers tune featuring Noel on vocals and probably one of the least likely tunes to ever get played here.

The concert was basically split into three parts and the middle section consisted of half a dozen songs from their previous three albums as well as a track recorded for their greatest hits compilation album. Some of my favourite songs like ‘The Death of You and Me‘, ‘Everybody’s on the Run‘, ‘Holy Mountain‘ and ‘It’s a Beautiful World‘ were all sadly omitted but when you’ve got such a hefty back catalogue it really must be something of a headache to decide what to include in the setlist.

The final part was the Oasis one with seven tracks. Three of the first four songs played were actually b-side but such tunes were a real strong point of the band’s output in the 1990s. Noel introduced ‘The Masterplan‘ as being one that he wrote by himself which is perhaps a little ironic given that he’s written over a hundred great tunes over the last 30 years.

There was the inevitable encore which gave me the chance to sit down and rest for a miute or two so maybe I was glad that I had a seat after all! It began with a Bob Dylan cover of a song I’m not aware of but that’s no real surprise as I know very little of his work. A stripped down version of ‘Live Forever‘ followed and the set inevitably finished with ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger‘ and my wife’s face lit up with excitement as that is not just her favourite Oasis song but one of her most-liked tunes ever!

Noel Gallagher and James Dean Bradfield (of the Manic Street Preachers) are my two biggest musical heroes and I have seen both of them do their thing on stage recently. What a fortnight! It was absolutely great to see Noel and his band in action with my wife, and I did absolutely love the 19 song set but felt that 80 minutes was a little short for someone with such a vast collection of mega hits. Noël is Christmas in French and for a concert in the month of December another 10-15 minutes would’ve been an even better present!

Setlist: 1. Pretty Boy; 2. Council Skies; 3. Open The Door, See What You Find; 4. We’re Gonna Get There In The End; 5. Easy Now; 6. You Know We Can’t Go Back; 7. We’re On Our Way Now; 8. In The Heat Of The Moment; 9. If I Had A Gun…; 10. AKA… What A Life; 11. Dead In The Water; 12. Going Nowhere; 13. The Importance Of Being Idle; 14. The Masterplan; 15. Half The World Away; 16. Little By Little; 17. The Mighty Quinn (Quinn, The Eskimo); 18. Live Forever; 19. Don’t Look Back In Anger.

Bonus: Back in 2012 I was at the Budokan as NGHFB were playing their first concert in Japan. However, I didn’t actually have a ticket but was just close by during a break from work. I took a photo and posted it on social media in the name of fooling people into believing I was there. It worked but in hindsight seems a little bit very sad!!

What a prankster!! I said prankster, not w*nker!!

Click here to read ‘TF Flashback: Watching Oasis At Summer Sonic ’05 (2005)’

Click here to read ‘Oasis Masterplan25 Exhibition In London’

Click here to read ‘TF Flashback – Coachella Festival In The USA (2002)’

Click here to read ‘Manic Street Preachers & Suede Roll Back The Years With Co-Headline Dates In Tokyo’