Sunday Sessions Norwich

This is my first Sunday Sessions appearance at Earlham Park and I have to say I was suitably impressed with the set-up, sound quality and location for an outdoor daytime festival, the slope in the park really allowed the crowd to get a great vantage point of the stage from wherever they were positioned and this really seemed to add to the overall atmospherics of the occasion.

The proceedings kick off with Norwich’s very own Ducking Punches and they get things off to an absolute flyer as they go down extremely well with the punters that are arriving early as the rain clouds start to descend upon us. They already have over one thousand live shows under their belt, so it shouldn’t be of a great surprise to anyone that they are one incredibly tight live act with a real cutting edge and they more than handle the occasion and being the opening act today.

And so ontoOctober Drift and what a great set it is too. Tracks such as Come And Find Me and Losing My Touch really do get the pulses going, they are a fabulous live band and really keep the growing audience’s attention throughout their set with their dynamic stage presence and captivating songs.

Neon Waltz’s lead singer reminds me of a cross between Keane’s Tom Chaplin and the 1975’s Matt Healy looking very resplendent in his spotty shirt. They are sounding great and really seem to be full of confidence this evening, totally unfazed they deliver a very lively and composed set.

The Coral are a band that I have always liked but somehow seemed to miss them whenever they play in Norwich for one reason or another! The Merseyside sons don’t disappoint as their quality shines extremely bright, they are such a polished and thoroughly professional band. Jacqueline, Billy McCai, Pass It On, Dreaming Of You and Goodbye are the stand out tracks. They may not have been the favourite band of the day with the younger audience members today, but they really do strike a chord or three and were quite easily my personal favourite band of the day.

Razorlighthave for me always been a bit wannabee band, standing on the shoulders of giants at the peak of their fame of just generally much better bands, but it’s hard to argue the case that they are a perfect warm up act for the main event, they have the crowd in raptures with hits like Golden Touch, America and In The Morning. Johnny Borrell has the masses eating out of the palm of his hand in the now early evening sunshine. Fair play to that man.

And so to the main event, it’s time for the eagerly anticipated Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.Gallagher hasn’t been seen in Norfolk since a very young breaking Oasis played Norwich Arts Centre way back in June 4th1994, where he was spotted selling tickets for the said gig on St Benedict’s Street! He is keen to find out if anyone in the audience is his love child from the orgy that allegedly ensued post gig that night in the NAC dressing room! Tonight he has his amazing eleven piece band with him and visually they look quite stunning and they sound equally as good. They kick off with the physedelic Fort Knox, it’s a very fitting arrival with the band in full flow from the kick off. You just know already that this will be a fantastic night out for the by now generally pissed up crowd. The solo material in general doesn’t reach the same dizzy heights of the majority of the Oasis songs, but it manages to keep your attention, before the inevitable happens and we get treated to some Oasis songs. We have to wait for six NGHFB songs to pass before we get our first taste of the really good stuff. Talk Tonight is first up, originally a B side for Some Might Say, it then took on a new life as part of the Masterplan album. It’s a great injection to the proceedings and provides the merried crowd with just what they have been waiting for. The Importance Of Being Idle and Little By Little ensue, before we dip back into some more of the NGHFB material including AKA…What A Life. Then it’s as Noel said it would be the karaoke part of the evening where Gallagher barely seems to move his lips throughout, it’s a mass singalong as he covers off Half The World Away and Wonderwall. The crowd are buzzing as they break out into On The Ball City, to which he shrugs his shoulders and replies with “let’s be aving you”! He then asks, tongue in cheek how the Canaries have done this season!? “We Are Premier League” booms back from the crowd, it’s a great moment, hilarious in fact as he dedicates Stop Crying Your Heart Out to all Norwich fans, he proclaims “It’s the song that you lot will be singing when you get relegated at the end of the season”. He moves into, Don’t Look Back In Anger and then finally The Beatles, All You Need Is Love.

He is on great form musically and with the banter also, would you have expected anything less?
It has been a very special day indeed as we all depart from the park, some people the worse for wear, from where they started today.