Former Oasis mastermind, songwriter and guitarist Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds returned to The Pabst as part of the tour for their second record, "Chasing Yesterday," which was released March.
The band made its Milwaukee debut at The Pabst on April 3, 2012.
Hecklers and folks who thought they were at the pub instead of a gig made these great seats untenable:
There were the faux footie chants between songs, which might've been tolerable, but then there was the non-stop chatter during the music and the folks who kept shouting out the name of Noel's brother and perennial feud mate, Liam.
So, I moved up to the gallery, where the view was nearly as good, albeit different, and the crowd was much more interested in what was happening on stage.
The band played "In the Heat of the Moment," "Lock All the Doors," "Riverman" – which would've nested comfortably amid Oasis' 1995 masterwork, "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" – "The Dying of the Light," "The Mexican" and the brilliant "You Know We Can't Go Back" off the new record.
Countering his own assertion in the latter number – my favorite from "Chasing Yesterday" – was the inclusion of six Oasis tunes (was he, ahem, chasing yesterday?). Unsurprisingly, those were crowd favorites.
The remainder of the set – including songs like "Everybody's On the Run, "AKA... What a Life!" and "The Death of You Me" – came from the band's self-titled debut. Interestingly, Gallagher opened the set with a b-side, "Do the Damage."
The band sounded strong in the friendly confines of The Pabst, though Gallagher's between-song banter and repartee with members of the crowd was as unintelligible to this audience member on the first floor as it was up in the nose-bleed seats.
Hardly an animated showman, Gallagher – who turned 48 the day before – instead set his gaze on the microphone and the High Flying Birds turned in a solid, workman-like performance; one that ended with "Don't Look Back in Anger," which – as the photo below attests – remains an anthem for the Oasis and HFB faithful.
Setlist:
Do the Damage
(Stranded On) The Wrong Beach
Everybody's on the Run
Fade Away (Oasis)
In the Heat of the Moment
Lock All the Doors
Riverman
The Death of You and Me
You Know We Can't Go Back
Champagne Supernova (Oasis)
Whatever (Oasis)
Dream On
The Dying of the Light
The Mexican
AKA... Broken Arrow
Digsy's Dinner (Oasis)
If I Had a Gun...
Encore:
The Masterplan (Oasis)
AKA... What a Life!
Don't Look Back in Anger (Oasis)
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
