Noel Gallagher's flying high thanks to fan power

Some musicians are born for the spotlight.

But as the main songwriter for British giants Oasis, Noel Gallagher managed to dodge the issue for quite some time thanks to his larger-than life younger brother Liam.

The older sibling, who walked out on Oasis and went solo back in 2009, admits he’s got used to the idea of holding an audience’s attention on his own.

Noel has played more than 100 dates since his debut solo album ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’, including a raft of big festival dates - and he will be on the road until November when his tour wraps up in Texas.

The ‘Everybody’s On The Run’ singer says: “Any confidence I have on stage comes from the songs I’ve written. As the song goes, I haven't got moves like (Mick) Jagger.

“I’ve more got moves like (Bill) Wyman (the former bass player for The Rolling Stones). People at gigs either want to dance or sing and I can make people do that.

“Plus they're not watching me anyway, they’re staring at the heavens singing their hearts out and that's magical.”

Noel’s debut solo album has sold more than half a million copies so far but the 45-year-old can’t escape his old Oasis back catalogue either. At the Isle of Wight festival this year he performed the 1995 Oasis classic ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’. He has no problem with doing the Oasis song, in fact, he’s delighted that new fans are joining in the fun.

He says: “We toured for so long in Oasis I got used to it (the crowd reaction) but then every few years I think ‘wow, this lot are kids’ and I realise they weren’t there on the last tour, they're just experiencing it for the first time and that is truly amazing, that a fan base keeps regenerating itself.

“I’m yet to play to a person my own age. I’m sure the oldies are at the back doing their knitting but all I’m playing to is a load of teenagers going berserk at the front.”