The man who built the moon
The title of this post is the name of the penultimate song from Noel Gallagher’s 2017 album, “Who Built The Moon?”. And in a week where there was the double whammy of Valentine’s Day and seeing the heads of three key departments in our warehouse staff being let go, I was looking for a saving grace. I found it tonight at Radio City Music Hall.
My concert history begins and ends with the Gallagher brothers. Oasis at Madison Square Garden was my first concert in December 2008. Even if they looked down and out, you wouldn’t have thought so by the enthusiasm in the crowd to every song. Of course, there was plenty of spirit aided by beer. They were every bit the badasses I first saw on the DVD of their 2000 concert from Wembley Stadium, Familiar to Millions. It wouldn’t be the last time that night.
In 2011, I won a contest via the music network Fuse. The prize was a pair of tickets to Noel’s concert at the Beacon Theatre. I entered it on a lark, not thinking that I’d win. But there I was in the upper balcony belting out “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and recapturing the joy of the first time. I would see him in concert once again in July of 2016, with orchestra seats that I bought. As the night wore on, I forgot that it was a hot and humid summer night and let myself get lost in the songs from his 2015 album, “Chasing Yesterday”.
Before we get to last night, we have to go back to last September. The week before the Ireland trip the tickets went on sale. I try not to spend money in the two weeks prior to my vacations. But this was too good to pass up and so I bought a ticket for 2/15. There was the added sweetener of getting a copy of his new album with the purchase of the ticket. I had something to look forward to for the new year even if there was still a little over two months left in it.
In most years, Valentine’s Day depresses the daylights out of me. It’s the annual reminder that my love life is non existent. But this year, I didn’t have reason to be as sad with this on the way the next night. I can put everything that’s bothering me out of mind for the night. I made it through the work day today still reeling from the changes happening around our office. On the ride to the subway, I would get the standard interrogation from my dad about why I choose to go to everything alone. The car ride to the train ended with him pleading for me to “get a girlfriend, it would make me happy”.
After arriving in Manhattan and having dinner, I made it to Radio City. The last time I saw a concert here was Chvrches the week before leaving for Spain in October 2016. I was in the first mezzanine that night as I missed out on orchestra seats by waiting three hours. I wouldn’t let it happen here. After dinner, I went inside the venue.
A little after 8:15pm, the lights went out and over the PA, the instrumental opener to Who Built, Fort Knox rang out. And Noel didn’t waste time during the 21 song set. And in those songs were a mix of solo songs and Oasis songs. The biggest sing alongs were reserved for …What A Life, Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back In Anger. The final song of the night was a cover of The Beatles ” All You Need is Love “. I was sweating through my shirt, my feet cramped up but that didn’t keep me from singing along to every song and enjoying the two hours. I went gently into the cloudy and rainy night.
As was the case the previous times, I had a great night. Noel Gallagher is one of a small group of musical acts that I’ve seen in concert at least twice, joining Erin & Her Cello, Sir Paul McCartney, U2, Rush and come later this summer, the Foo Fighters. My next concert will be a much more intimate affair, seeing my friend and singer-songwriter Eliane Amherd at Club Bonafide on March 9th. After that, it’s going to be a while before anything else is on the cards. But for tonight, it was a beautiful dream, it was a beautiful world!
