Noel Gallagher: Manchester homecoming show 'a proper one-off'

Noel Gallagher's huge homecoming show will be "an amazing night" and a "proper one-off", the rock star's friend and photographer has said.

Gallagher will become the first act to headline Manchester's Wythenshawe Park when he steps out on stage with his High Flying Birds on Saturday.

The park lies close to the area where the singer-songwriter grew up.

Sharon Latham, who tours with him, said he was "on fire at the moment", so she was sure the gig would be "wonderful".

About 25,000 fans are expected to attend the concert on Saturday, which will also see sets from Future Islands, Primal Scream, Billy Nomates and Picture Parlour.

It will be Gallagher's first show in the city since a gig at Heaton Park in 2019 and the closest he played to his childhood home in Burnage since he left Oasis in 2009.

He did perform a little closer while still part of Oasis when they famously took to the stage at the then-home of Gallagher's beloved Manchester City, Maine Road, in 1996.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News in May, Gallagher said he was looking forward to the show and a chance to showcase his new album.

However, he added that where it was being held had made him pause for thought.

"It's fitting really that it's going to be the first British gig in the middle of the biggest council estate in Europe, promoting an album called Council Skies," he said.

"The irony isn't lost on me."

Latham, who has spent years photographing Gallagher and has been touring with him in recent months, said it could all add up to something special.

"He's on fire at the moment," she said.

She said his recent sets had been "amazing and it's just going to be wonderful".

"We've been to America for eight weeks and then we've been back in the UK doing various other festivals and gigs, so it's been mega busy, but this is the big one.

"This is massive."

She said nobody had "played in that park ever, so it's a proper one-off and a proper first".

"I know that the Manchester fans [and] everyone who will be travelling over to come and see are just going to have an amazing night," she added.

Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig, who also represents Burnage at the authority, said it would be a "very fitting event" to celebrate a musician who had played a "significant part" in the city's music heritage.

"Manchester is known for its music heritage, past and present, [and]Noel and his brother have been a significant part of that over the years," she said.

She said there was a lot of excitement for both fans and for Wythenshawe, which also had some exciting plans of its own from "the reinvention of the town centre through to the fantastic Wythenshawe Park".

"It feels to me to me a very fitting event that will see 25,000 people all go through the gates and have a great bank holiday weekend."

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