Bristol Sounds – Day 1 22/6/22
Confidence Man
Bristol Sounds marks its post covid return with possibly its strongest ever line up. And who better to get the party started than Aussie, avant-garde, Indie-electro pop, aficionados Confidence Man.
Renowned for ripping up festivals with their high tempo, performance art, Grace Jones-esque swagger – you could see Janet Planet & Sugar Bones caught the Noel Gallagher crowd a little off guard. Indeed if you didn’t know the band are old friends of Noel’s you’d be forgiven for wondering how the two were on the same bill.
However, such is the playful, infectious nature of CM’s stage show the crowd were lapping it up in no time.
Confidence Man we’re born to lead the dance and get others to follow.
Smashing out tracks from both debut album “Confident Music for Confident People” and latest album “Tilt” (only released in April” the band proved the perfect jump start to what promises to be a feast of stunning live music over the coming days.
I think Confidence Man’s , strut into a bar, neck three shots of tequila, strut out approach may have gained them a lot of new admirers.
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
Walking on to stage to the kind of reception solely reserved for rock royalty, you could instantly tell Bristol was in for a special night.
Noel had that little twinkle in his eyes that indicated he was in a playful mood.
It’s impossible to understate the impact Noel Gallagher has had on the UK music scene, but seeing so many young faces sporting Oasis T-shirts certainly gave it away.
18 tracks, including 3 for a rousing encore were all it took to lock this gig in as a iconic “I was there” night for Bristol Sounds.
The old adage of “give the people what they want” was well & truly on show here with the set split between High Flying Birds originals & Oasis covers.
There were truly some special moments as crowd and performers become as one to sing “Little by Little” & “Wonderwall”.
Throw in some golden crowd banter as Noel picked on individuals in the front much like a top level comedian. Delivering genuinely funny moments in his one of a kind caustic, tell it like it is way and you have the recipe for as perfect a gig as you could ask for.
By the time the encore had delivered the likes of “AKA… What a life” & “Don’t look Back In Anger” the crowd were ready to float back home on a flying carpet of golden new memories & platinum nostalgia.
5/5 Mr Gallagher, 5/5
The Bristol Nomad / @bristolnomad_gigphotography
