Noel Gallagher shocked when ‘sh*t’ magician brings bubble machine to Melbourne concert

REVIEW: Noel Gallagher busted out some killer tunes during his Melbourne concert — but he wasn’t happy when he saw a fan blowing bubbles at him.

Cameron AdamsNational Music Writer

3 min read

March 31, 2016 - 2:56PM

News Corp Australia Network

Noel Gallagher Concert

Music Tours

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SORRY Noel.

At Mr Gallagher’s Melbourne show on Tuesday he was as surprised as anyone that someone was blowing bubbles from the front row.

Bubbles. Like at a kid’s party. Floating above the crowd for a good part of the show.

You expect a lot of things from Noel Gallagher concerts in Australia. Amped expat Brits chuffed he’s playing somewhere smaller than a stadium. British flags. Soccer chants of ‘Noel’ while chugging mid-strength lager and wearing vintage Stone Roses and Oasis T-shirts. But not bubbles.

This did not escape the attention of one of England’s most popular musicians.

“Hey El Houdini,” Gallagher said during the concert. “Someone actually bought a f***ing bubble machine to a gig. You’re a magician? Why don’t you make the f***ing bubbles disappear then? Did you pay to get in? Or did you magic yourself through the f***ing door. If you bought a ticket you’re a sh*t magician.”

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Tuneman: Noel Gallagher — no bubbles required. Picture: Tony Gough

And at the end of the concert Gallagher noted “Hey Houdini. If they mention in the f***ing review of this gig that I had a shit bubble machine on stage you’re in f***ing big trouble.”

Apologies. DIY bubbles were highly unexpected at the show, but killer tunes were not.

For his second solo tour of Australia (third if you count that amazing time he came here to promote Oasis best of Stop the Clocks and played a few tunes on his lonesome) Gallagher has a very balanced setlist.

It’s about half material from his High Flying Birds solo career, and half Oasis tunes, many of them b-sides, because at their prime, Oasis b-sides were better than most of their contemporaries’ a-sides. Fact.

Compared to those contemporaries (and mates) like Morrissey and Paul Weller, Gallagher remembers he’s also a music fan himself and doesn’t shy away from his past by ramming his present down your throat.

Noel Gallagher knows how good his purple period in the ‘90s was and isn’t shy of reminding people. Talk Tonight, one of those b-sides, got a run for the first time on this Australian tour, as well as fellow b-sides D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman, Half the World Away and The Masterplan.

And a mellow Champagne Supernova from @NoelGallagher pic.twitter.com/vKxHS5oM9O
â€” cameron adams (@cameron_adams) March 29, 2016

When Gallagher plays Sad Song he notes “here’s some songs some of you won’t know, feel free to go to the merchandise stall. Buy a T-shirt, it pays for all this fancy shit.”

Naturally, most people do know them. Someone yells out for Live Forever, ye olde Oasis classic which the High Flying Birds have played, but only twice, including at Lollapalooza in Argentina earlier this month, so it wasn’t totally out of left field. But Gallagher isn’t really your Springsteen play-a-song-because-someone-shouts-it-out type.

“You’d like me to play it?,” Noel asks the shouter. “Have I played it yet? So what makes you think tonight will be any different. Because you’re my biggest fan? You’re not even my tallest fan let alone my biggest.”

Gallagher then pointed out a nearby woman who’s followed him around the globe on this tour.

“She happens to be my biggest fan, particularly in this room. Her name’s Sandra by the way. Hi Sandra.”

The High Flying Birds material is the sound of Gallagher growing up gracefully — Lock All the Doors sounds like the older brother of Morning Glory, The Death Of You And Me has flashes of another Oasis gem you don’t get tonight, The Importance of being Idle.

And AKA What a Life, You Know We Can’t Go Back and Riverman are proper tunes from a man who knows a thing or two about them.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds are drama-free. Picture: Tony Gough

Anthems? There’s a mid-strength Champagne Supernova (the drummer plays a tambourine, which instantly reduces arms-in-the-air possibilities somewhat) and he dusts off Wonderwall, again doing it the way Ryan Adams did it. How do you end things on a high? Don’t Look Back in Anger, where it doesn’t take a rogue bubble machine to demonstrate that this is, once again, a magic communal moment.

Given how much Gallagher is clearly enjoying himself on stage, and there’s so little drama he even comes on stage at the very respectful time of 8.30pm sharp, you witness just how redundant those dreams of an Oasis reunion are. He’s giving you the best of both worlds, or at least this is as close as you’re going to get.

Also, imagine how angry Liam Gallagher would have been had he seen those rampant bubbles. The show would have been over by song three.