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With just a couple of days to go, the official merch store has opened in Cardiff: among the items on sale is an old-school tour programme, designed by none other than Brian Cannon of Microdot, the iconic designer behind so much of the Oasis golden era.

A few photos of it have already surfaced online. Inside, you’ll find archival shots by Jill Furmanovsky and new photos taken by Brian himself. And right there on pages 2 and 3? A vintage pic of Noel… plus a list and photo of the gear he’s bringing on tour. And yes… there’s a new guitar in there that no one saw coming.

If you’re avoiding spoilers until the gig, fair enough – just stop reading now. But if you’re curious, keep reading after the break to check out Noel’s touring setup!

Here’s the photo in question – credit to Miss S on X for the original picture. You can find more sneaky glimpses from the tour programme over on her page.

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The usual suspects are all there: Noel’s ES-355 “No.1,” the blonde J-150 acoustic, and the pair of Hiwatt Custom 50 combos. I’m pleased to say I got those right in the previous “guesswork” article! That was easy.

But there’s a surprise new entry – a black Gibson Les Paul Standard, made-to-measure by the Gibson Custom Shop and fitted with P-90 (!) pickups. Now that was unexpected. We figured a Les Paul would show up (most likely the Sweet Cherry Standard), but this one looks like a recent addition to Noel’s arsenal.

It definitely echoes the vibe of his iconic black LP Custom: that one was fitted with pickups from Noel’s Firebird back in the late ’90s – which are in some way similar to P-90s (even though purists will say they’re not the same thing). Hopefully, this new LP is a bit lighter on the shoulder!

Can’t wait to see (and hear) it in action this Friday.

UPDATE – 03 JULY

Another photo from the tour programme has surfaced on X, shared by various sources. This time, we get a clear look at the full band setup used during rehearsals last May – likely the same rig that will appear on stage. The shot was once again taken by Jill Furmanovsky: fingers crossed we’ll see more in her upcoming book. If you haven’t pre-ordered it yet, do it! It will be great.

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Gem (on the left) appears to be running a setup very similar to Noel’s – two Hiwatt Custom 50 combos, along with two matched cabs. His pedalboard looks absolutely massive – look at the size of it!
Next to him is Andy’s spot, followed by Liam’s, then Bonehead with what looks like a set of Marshalls – possibly Bluesbreakers? Finally, on the far right, we see Noel’s own Hiwatt rig.

Interestingly, the semi-hollow guitar in Gem’s spot is a Gibson Trini Lopez fitted with a Bigsby. Could it be one of the two red ones owned by Andy? Hard to say without clearer photos, but either way – the Trini is a badass choice to bring on tour.

UPDATE #2 – 03 JULY

A reader kindly sent over a photo from the tour programme showing Gem’s gear in more detail. The Trini Lopez he’s using is finished in Black (Ebony), which rules out it being one of Andy’s. It’s most likely a recent Gibson Custom Shop reissue and it looks absolutely superb.

Gibson did a 200-piece limited run back in 2015, which lacked binding around the diamond-shaped soundholes. Since 2020/2021, though, the model has been reissued with the correct binding – making this one a likely candidate. The Bigsby B7 might have been factory-installed, especially if it was a “made-to-measure” order.

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UPDATE #3 – 05 JULY

So here we are the first gig is history, and the mystery is over.

For a complete breakdown of all the guitars spotted on stage, check out the full analysis in this blog post.