Noel Gallagher's On The Beach concert in Brighton a triumph

There was never a chance of sunshine on Sunday but music fans didn’t care, instead choosing to whip on a waterproof jacket and get stuck in.

The arena filled up early due to the day’s massive lineup.

We began with Brighton’s own RnB vocalist Lily Knott who was perfect to open the stage on a drizzly afternoon, lifting spirits and setting a great tone for rock’n’roll’s next big thing Picture Parlour, whose sound echoes Fleetwood Mac while comparisons to latest-era Arctic Monkeys are inevitable.

The day was damp but fans didn't care (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

Next up was Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes who both looked and sounded the part.

He is effortlessly cool, clad in thick, black shades and fills the air with a wall of swirling guitar. The thundering Deep Pockets was a particular treat.

Into the evening early-2000s indie darlings The Coral blistered through their catalogue of hits - Pass It On, Faceless Angel, Dreaming of You - and find me one person in that crowd who wasn’t belting out every word to In The Morning.

But by far the best track of their set was a gorgeous rendition of The Doors’ People Are Strange.

Crowds were in great spirits (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

James Skelly’s voice was spellbinding and a more than worthy match for the Jim Morrison classic – the track didn’t sound cliché which could have been a risk and was a great way to mix up the song list.

Following such a loved band is tricky business but The Vaccines were up to the job.

They’re easily one of the best groups around today thanks to a bunch of songs that can tear the roof off anywhere and were perfect to kick the night up a gear.

Fans watching on from the road (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

Opening track I Can’t Quit was immense and revitalised the 7,000 fans as the band stormed through favourites like Your Love Is My Favourite Band, Headphones Baby and I Always Knew. But how else to end an outing like this than with crowd-pleaser If You Wanna.

It's worth mentioning at this point that organisers didn't put up hoarding along the A259 overlooking the festival to stop people looking in as they had last year.

A good decision. The screens caused more problems than they solved with people climbing on bins and bus stops while security rushed around desperately trying to stop people seeing in.

By now, the night had rolled around and it was time to welcome The Chief to the seaside.

Things have changed since the chaotic final days of Oasis in 2009. Noel Gallagher still chats with the crowd in his usual wit but he appears happy, and even smiles on stage, would you believe?

Fans had all come out the see The Chief (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

The place erupted as he sauntered on with ex-Oasis men drummer Chris Sharrock and guitarist Gem Archer, along with some fresher faces to make up the High Flying Birds outfit.

Noel rattles through tracks from his new record Council Skies, with Easy Now and Pretty Boy already massively popular among fans, before thrashing out heavy hitters You Know We Can’t Go Back and In The Heat Of The Moment.

But as we all know, there is a calmer side to the rocker and he shows this in a beautiful rendition of Dead In The Water – which sees Noel command the seafront audience with just an acoustic guitar and staggering vocals.

Noel was on top form (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

But now it was time for the much-anticipated Oasis numbers, and what a treat we were given.

Noel knocked out a relic with Going Nowhere, before tearing through The Importance of Being Idle, The Masterplan, Half The World Away and Little by Little.

During the encore we heard the seminal Live Forever before it was time for the classic Don’t Look Back in Anger, which the crowd sang every word of.

Noel at On The Beach (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

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In fact, it was only the crowd that was singing as Noel announced he’d leave it up to us, telling us not to let him down because it was going out live on the radio… or at least that’s the precis we can print.

Any show from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will always be a treat – but having seen him five times previously, this reporter feels last night was the rocker at his best.

And of course the magic in the Brighton sea air helped too.