The star of this auction will be a red guitar, like the blood that went to the heads of brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, pillars of Oasis, this summer evening 2009 at Rock en Seine, a Parisian festival. “It’s been in the works for a while between the two brothers but, that evening, it explodes in the dressing rooms, a guitar from Noel is broken and the group breaks up”recalls for AFP Jonathan Berg, co-founder of Artpèges.
The crowd waiting for the concert of the stars of brit-pop then learns, amazed, by a message from the festival, their separation. Since then, the enemy brothers have long exchanged acidities via social networks or the press, before a relative lull lately. “What is happening at Rock en Seine is a cult moment, develops this expert luthier. Today, this guitar is in one piece thanks to Philippe Dubreuille, a French luthier who stayed in London for a long time, who restored it two years after the incident..
After “having persisted in looking for a luthier who could repair it, Noel Gallagher finally parted with it. This guitar reminds him too much of Oasis”complete for AFP Arthur Perault, another co-founder of Artpèges. “Estimated between 300,000 and 500,000 euros, the starting price for this guitar will be 150,000 euros”he specifies, emphasizing the echo “international” expected with this sale.
A bondage outfit worn by Martin Gore, brain of the rock band Depeche Mode, is also part of the 85 lots of these auctions at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris, organized by the Artpèges gallery in partnership with the auction house Lemon Auction. Hminimalist aut and front side mesh leather shorts – “estimated between 8,000 and 12,000 euros will be on sale for 4,000 euros, we could have good surprises”, says Arthur Perault. The musician had given this set to Sarah Freegard, his costume designer, who is selling it.
Depeche Mode has never hidden its dark sides. The singer Dave Gahan, for example, had his scarified body immortalized by the famous photographer Anton Corbijn, while Martin Gore appears in the foreground of the photos of the group, harnessed in bondage style in front of the lens of Paul Natkin, in the mid-1980s.
The same fee schedule will be applied to an object with a crazy history, a 45 rpm featuring the autographs of Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Hallyday. It all starts with a fan who wants her Johnny 45 rpm to be signed by the young idol after her concert in France, in Nancy, in October 1966. Trying her luck in a brasserie, she only comes across musicians. In particular the opening band, with a certain Jimi Hendrix, still unknown. They then sign the disc.
“This is the first set of autographs from the Jimi Hendrix Experience (group of American guitarist and singer). We see that Jimi is not used to signing, he just writes his name with a heart while the others are used to doing that”, describes Arthur Perault. It was when the owner of the disc then inquired in the 2010s with Yazid Manou, a French specialist in Hendrix, to get an idea of its value, that the latter extended the story.
“I was also contacted at that time because Johnny was going to pay tribute to Jimi in Taratata and I had the idea of having him sign the record”, Yazid Manou told AFP. In 2011, 45 years after the Nancy concert, Johnny finally signs the vinyl. The record holder is parting ways today.