It’s about 7pm on Saturday December 16 and there’s a sombre mood around this pub. The place is full of Englishmen wearing their once-a-year shorts who have spent up big to fly half way around the world and watch their cricket team get thumped. When opening batsman Andrew Strauss falls to yet another unlucky decision it just reiterates what every Englishman knows: nothing is going their way. Time for another lager please.

But there’s a handful of geezers at the bar who look well chuffed with themselves. They’re holding tickets to Oasis man Noel Gallagher’s semi-acoustic gig at the Perth Concert Hall tonight. “Lucky sods,” one dejected barmy armyist mutters.

As the clock ticks toward 7.30, scores of punters file down Adelaide Terrace from the WACA Ground and surrounding pubs to the Concert Hall. The foyer is quickly filling up and there’s hardly an Australian in sight; every second shirt seems to advertise the nationality of its wearer.

Support act Jae Laffer is in the minority: he’s actually Australian. As frontman for The Panics he has rubbed shoulders with Manchester’s musical elite but tonight he’s batting for the home fans, even though they’re outnumbered 10 to one. As he explains how he’s resisted the taunts of impatient Oasis fans for the whole tour, a quick look around the venue reveals what we knew anyway – half the crowd is still at the pub. Laffer puts in a solid innings with tracks from his band’s back catalogue ( Crack in the Wall, Lost in Green Eyes) as well as their impressive sophomore effort Sleeps Like a Curse ( Twin Sisters).

After the obligatory trip back to the bar in the interval, Gallgher takes to the stage and now, every one of those empty seats has been filled. Anyone who came to this show to hear another greatest hits set from the older Gallagher brother would probably be very disappointed. Those people can go home and listen to the new best of in the comfort of their own living room.

Starting fairly low-key with (It’s Good) to Be Free, from the the band’s B-sides compilation The Masterplan, Gallagher, guitarist Gem Archer and percussionist Terry Kirkbride are quick to shatter any expectations of a small-scale Oasis gig. Only two songs in the first half-hour of the gig have ever actually turned up on an Oasis album. There’s Cast No Shadow, from 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, and The Importance of Being Idle, from 2005’s Don’t Believe the Truth, which both manage to sit comfortably alongside Oasis’ underappreciated and underrated acoustic works ( Listen Up, Half the World Away). But Oasis fans are a dedicated bunch: regardless of whether it’s the band’s biggest hit or the most obscure B-side, they all sing along in full voice.

Tonight’s show also shows a different side to the band. Gallagher manages to dictate proceedings from centre stage for once, and it’s something he relishes. Where normally he is smothered by his baby brother’s ego, our lead singer for tonight has the 1000-or-so punters eating out of his hand. After every song there’s more banter than usual and Gallagher manages to counter every single heckle (many of them football-related) with ease.

Stage left is Kirkbride who, as only an occasional Oasis collaborator (he played drums on Mucky Fingers on last year’s album), keeps a low profile while playing stripped-back drums and percussion. To Gallagher’s right is Archer, whose lead guitar takes the back seat with minimal solos and zero flair.

The last half-hour of the set is what the barmy army have been hanging out for though, and it’s the perfect remedy for what’s happened over the past three days on the cricket pitch. “I wrote this song so I’ll sing it however I like,” Gallagher says before teasing the crowd with a reworked version of Wonderwall. And he’s right; he could sing it backwards and in a German accent and it would still be one of the greatest songs ever. If only they had a musical equivalent to the Ashes.

From Wonderwall on, the setlist reads like a dream set. Fan favourites Whatever and Slide Away get rare airings but it’s Don’t Look Back in Anger and a cover of The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever that bring the house down.

Fittingly, the set wraps up with Married With Children, the final number from debut album Definitely Maybe. “Goodbye I’m going home,” Gallagher sings at the song’s close, before the house lights come on and the crowds are ushered to the exits. Coming in at just under 70 minutes and just 13 songs, tonight’s set has come and gone quicker than England’s grip on the Ashes. But was it worth it? Oh yes. In that hour-and-a-bit, Gallagher gave his countrymen some pride and reminded his hosts that the motherland is still good for something.