Virtual gallery: Noel Gallagher and Primal Scream at The Civic

English musician, singer, songwriter Noel Gallagher’s and Scottish rock band Primal Scream’s concert this past Sunday at the Civic Theatre was a round of firsts. First off, due to less-than-optimal ticket sales, the opener, Primal Scream, canceled their Monday night set at the Civic and opted to open for Noel Gallagher’s latest band, British rock ensemble High Flying Birds. Second, neither band had ever played New Orleans..

Primal Scream took the stage at 9 p.m. sharp. The set consisted of a frantic romp through most of the band’s catalogue. In fact, Primal Screen ended up playing material off of six of their ten albums, and, oddly enough, they didn’t play a single track from their 2013 album More Light. With only a narrow window to make an impression, the band opened up with one of the biggest hits, “Rocks,” amping the audience up right from the start. The end of the set consisted of two songs, “Loaded” and “Come Together,” — from Primal Scream’s most critically acclaimed album, Screamadelica — both of which generated the most enthusiastic response from the crowd.

Contrary to what some might believe, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, formed in 2011, is more than merely an extension of Gallagher’s previous band, Oasis. With this group, Gallagher and his bandmates have managed exceed the initially skeptical expectations of most fans, while still managing to keep the Oasis rock spirit alive.

The band is currently on tour publicizing their 2015 album, Chasing Yesterday. Thei set was split among this most recent album, Gallagher’s his self-titled debut album and a spattering of Oasis tunes, of which the audience appeared to appreciate, as evinced by the crowd’s wild reaction when the opening chords of “Champagne Supernova” struck.

The crowd interaction was virtually nonexistent, but mirrored the mystique that is Noel Gallagher, the stage also an extension of Gallagher’s ego, as images of the lead musician and the band streamed over the vibrantly lit stage. View an extended gallery here.