Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Garbage at Central Park SummerStage [Photos]

Rock icons Garbage and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds took NYC’s SummerStage this past week as part of their North American co-headlining tour.

Garbage took the Central Park stage first to massive applause. Formed in 1995 in my home state of Wisconsin (go Badgers!), the foursome is still going strong 25 years later with no lineup changes. All four members (Shirley Manson on vocals, Duke Erickson on guitar and bass, Steve Marker on guitar, and Butch Vig on drums) have a hand in the songwriting and production process and have churned out hit after hit like “Supervixen” and “#1 Crush” with which they opened their set.

Frontwoman Shirley Manson was decked out in a flowy red dress as she belted more of the band’s hits for their 12-song set from early tracks “Special,” “I Think I’m Paranoid,” and “Push It” to “No Gods No Masters” from their latest album of the same name released in 2021. Fans were also treated to “Run Baby Run” and “Bleed Like Me” from their fourth studio album Bleed Like Me, as well as hits “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happy When It Rains” before closing with “Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)” from 2001’s Beautiful Garbage. 

The crowd was largely from the UK, as everywhere I went, I heard wonderful accents, and even met a family from Liverpool that had flown to NYC to see Noel Gallagher in a much more intimate venue than they would have back home.

Formed in 2010 as Noel Gallagher’s solo project (after leaving Manchester rock band Oasis), Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have gone on to release four studio albums, with the latest Council Skies recently released in June of this year.

Their set was largely Oasis covers, of which Noel Gallagher had written during his two decades in the band – but also featured four songs from Council Skies as Noel opened with “Pretty Boy,” “Council Skies,” “We’re Gonna Get There in the End,” and “Open the Door, See What You Find” before playing my personal favorite “AKA… What a Life!” from their debut album in 2011 – aptly titled Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

Noel’s touring band consists of former Oasis members Gem Archer on guitar, Mike Rowe on piano, and Chris Sharrock on drums, who seemed happy to launch into many Oasis tracks from “The Masterplan,” “Going Nowhere,” and “Little by Little” to “Half the World Away,” and “Live Forever” before closing with one of their most legendary tracks “Don’t Look Back in Anger.”

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (w/ Garbage) @ Central Park Summerstage (NYC) on July 10, 2023

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