Noel Gallagher made an emotional dedication of his song Half The World Away to late comedian Caroline Aherne.
Playing in front of about 80,000 fans at the Heaton Park homecoming gig, Oasis songsmith Gallagher said the song was for Aherne and her Royle Family co-star Craig Cash.
Aherne, a close friend of Gallagher, died in 2016 aged 52.
She played Denise in the hit comedy, alongside Cash as her dopey boyfriend Dave.
Cash told the this week how the song – a B-side to the single The Masterplan – had come to be used on the show.
The comedian, now 64, said: “I just love that song. It really fit the mood. You’re kind of stuck here but you love it all the same.
“Noel says now it feels like it’s not even their song now, its ours,” he said.
Gallagher has dedicated the song to Aherne several times before, and has described her as “a very, very funny woman”.
She appeared in comedy sketch show The Fast Show before becoming a household name as Mrs Merton and then as Denise in The Royle Family.
