Noel Gallagher hits number one, announces arena dates

Number one...arena dates...Splitting Oasis not a bad move, eh?
Number one...arena dates...Splitting Oasis not a bad move, eh? (Image credit: Torben Christensen/epa/Corbis)

Former Oasis main man Noel Gallagher hit number one this past week with his debut solo release, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. The album moved some 122,530 copies in the UK, an impressive amount, more than doubling what his brother Liam sold last February with his band Beady Eye's offering, Different Gear, Still Speeding.

In MusicRadar's track-by-track review of High Flying Birds, we said that "the 10 songs on Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds rank as the best set of material the singer-songwriter and guitarist has assembled...As it is with the best of composers, the emotional buttons - desperate, angry, joyful, melancholy and everything else - are right there in plain sight....."

With a number one smash under his belt, Noel Gallagher has just announced a new string of dates for next year. This follows the UK and US dates he's already playing. The new dates go on sale this Friday right here.

13 Feb MANCHESTER, MEN Arena
16 Feb BELFAST, Odyssey Arena
17 Feb DUBLIN, The O2
23 Feb NEWCASTLE, Metro Radio Arena
24 Feb GLASGOW, SECC Hall 4
26 Feb LONDON, The O2
01 Mar BIRMINGHAM, NIA

And if you haven't done so already, be sure to check out the video for Noel Gallagher's new single, AKA...What A Life! above.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.