One of the largest Oasis exhibitions ever is coming to Salford Lads Club

If you’re a big fan of Oasis, oh boy, do we have an exhibition for you.

A new Oasis exhibition ‘Together We Fly’ will showcase an incredible display of memorabilia, including a six-figure collection of Noel Gallagher’s guitars.

Plus, the exhibition will take place at one of the coolest and most historic music venues in Greater Manchester – The Salford Lads Club.

Oasis ‘Together we Fly’ exhibition at Salford Lads Club

This isn’t the first time this memorabilia has been showcased, following two hugely successful, sold-out events at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, where Oasis wrote “What’s the Story (Morning Glory)” and parts of “Definitely Maybe.”

This exhibition is believed to be the largest collection of Oasis memorabilia ever assembled.

Organised by Bittersweet Home, one of the UK’s leading memorabilia companies, the exhibit features ten guitars previously owned and played by Noel Gallagher, as well as awards, visual and audio displays, and signed merchandise.

In addition to a VIP launch party, there will be general viewing dates and two closing Q&A sessions with Wigan-born graphic designer Brian Cannon (Microdot), who created the cover for the Oasis Definitely Maybe album and several other iconic artworks.

This unique Oasis experience covers every release, item, image, and story from 1992 to 2009, and beyond.

It includes the largest collection of band-used instruments and stage equipment ever gathered in one place. Signed merchandise will be available for sale, and the event will conclude with Q&A sessions presented by John Robb

Kyle Dale, Director at Bittersweet Home

What inspired the creation of this Oasis exhibition, and how do you go about assembling such incredible pieces of history?

I’ve been a massive Manchester music fan all my life, we’re so lucky to have so many eras of music come from this amazing city.

Oasis in particular along with The Verve, and the Roses all provided the soundtrack to my youth, playing in (awful) bands growing up around the centre you get the feel for how much the music scene means to Mancs.

I moved away to Scotland around 15 years ago for work and started to miss home, at that stage I bought a few pieces of music memorabilia and my obsession grew from there.
Over the lockdown period, I set up a small online site/community to help collectors buy and sell but also make sure the items being bought were the genuine signatures of the band. This ended up being the big selling point and I gained a reputation as a trusted source.
Via contacts made on this group, you’d be amazed at the calibre of items that appear.

I held a few signing sessions with various band members, these were HUGLEY popular and before we knew it….a business had formed.

A few times I’d been asked to do an exhibition for other people, as in I’d donate some items for them to display, but it never felt big enough or at the right time. This year I sat back and looked around and thought…. ‘yeah, now is the time’. Bittersweet Homes’s core values form around charity. So with that premise, the contacts and the reputation….the events began

Can you share some memorable stories or interesting facts about the items on display?

One of the first items people will see as they walk in the door will be the 1991 Demo Tape, recorded before even Noel joined the band.

The story of this tape is crazy!

There will have been three or four of these done back then for each band member, one has surfaced previously and now this one. So, as we know it, there are only 2 of these and it is certainly the earliest dated item related to Oasis. 

Literally as they became Oasis from The Rain.

I got a call from local legend Anthony Donnelly (founder of Gio Goi and currently smashing it with Madchester), he knew the chap who was given this tape back in 1991 when Oasis rehearsed at an Irish social club briefly. So, we acquired the tape and are now lucky enough to have it on show. You can watch an interview with Liam Dennehy below 

Of course, we have 10 of Noel’s guitars on show kindly donated by Propstore, a previous high for Oasis guitars is 6 shown in one show. Double Digits time eh!

A legendary band exhibition in a legendary venue – you’ve done Rockfield Studios, and now Salford Lads Club. What made you pick SLC for the exhibition?

The Rockfield Studios events were great, all sold out in minutes so we definitely will do more of them next year with Nick Brine (who is also one of my QnA guests on the Sunday, a few tickets left on that.

He’ll be showing some interesting smashed guitars that go with a certain rock n roll story from the Morning Glory recordings…..

For me the host venue needs to have some meaning to any event I do, Rockfield was a no-brainer. 

Now Salford Lads Club, a building steeped in Manchester folklore and a self-run on donations club for the locals. Is there a better reason to raise funds than that? Visitors get a double whammy here, the Oasis room and The Smiths room, easy purchase.

What can attendees expect from the VIP launch party and the Q&A sessions with Microdot’s Brian Cannon and Nick Brine hosted by legendary music journalist John Robb?

At the launch party, we have The Magic Mod flying up, fresh from his introduction into the Magic Circle and a previous support slot on Paul Weller’s tour. Radio X DJ Sophie Sveinsson on the tunes and an extended exhibition walk around with various connected names in attendance.

The QnAs are always a huge hit, with the 30th-anniversary package announced for pre-order yesterday it’s great to have Microdot in-house to answer questions on the DM release and go over the history of the 90s iconic sleeves he designed. Nick has no end of stories from the old days and new, what he’s bringing along will be unseen to most fans too so grab a ticket for these if you can as the exhibition is INCLUDED in that ticket….save your cash!

What do you hope visitors will take away from their experience at the exhibition, and how do you think it will impact their appreciation of Oasis?

I’m a fan of Oasis, and always have been. To help the brand in any way (as if it needs it?!?!?) is a pleasure and a privilege. I want fans to walk away with an open jaw and be hyped to head to Liam’s gigs at the weekend and then Noel’s gigs in July.

Buy the reissue anniversary pack and get those demos and unheard mixes officially owned at Oasis – Oasis Official Store (oasisinet.com)

To anyone who couldn’t make this event….join the mailing list over at www.bittersweethome.co.uk to be in the know for any further events we do. Requests are flooding in for London in September at a certain well-known venue…watch this space.

Raising funds for Salford Lads Club, the event takes place Friday 14th – Sunday 16th June 2024, with tickets available for purchase here

What guitars are on show?

The guitars on show:

Noel Gallagher’s Custom Silver Sparkle Gibson Les Paul Florentine Guitar

Noel Gallagher’s Guild 12 String Acoustic Guitar

Noel Gallagher’s Fender Esquire Guitar

Noel Gallagher’s Hohner JT60 Guitar

Noel Gallagher’s Modified Fender Jaguar Guitar

Noel Gallagher’s Burns Bison Bass Guitar

Noel Gallagher’s Taylor 12 String Acoustic Guitar

Noel Gallagher’s Gibson J-150 Natural Acoustic Guitar

Noel Gallagher’s Rickenbacker Bass Guitar

Noel Gallagher’s Hohner Baritone Guitar