Music history was made thirty years ago tonight, as Oasis performed four songs at Glasgow's King Tut's Wah Wah Hut and secured their passport to become Britpop giants.
Creation Records boss Alan McGee was so impressed by what he saw by the Manchester group, he offered to sign them on the spot.
But one of the things that's most interesting about this night is the fact that neither Oasis nor McGee were even supposed to be there.
READ MORE: Geoff Ellis on King Tut's and remembering that famous '93 Oasis gig
The version of events of how Oasis stormed King Tut’s and threatened to either torch or trash the club if they didn't play that night has been largely debunked, but it still makes for entertaining reading.
On Monday, May 31, 1993 Oasis decided to hitch a lift up to Glasgow with fellow Mancunians Sister Lovers.
The all-girl outfit had a slot booked at King Tut’s, supporting Glasgow bands Boyfriend and 18 Wheeler, who were both signed to Creation Records.
Legend has it that Oasis, who were not on the bill, turned up at the venue and simply demanded to play.
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For years, it was believed Bonehead, Oasis' rhythm guitarist, had threatened to "trash the place" if they didn't perform at King Tut's - all pretty bold and unlikely stuff for a group that had previously performed on stage just 14 times at this point - eight of which had been at the tiny Boardwalk in Manchester.
Here we look at several different versions of events from key figures both from Oasis and King Tut's to purge some rock and roll myths and examine what exactly happened that fateful evening.
Noel Gallagher's recollections
In 1997, Oasis' lead guitarist and songwriter Noel recalled: "We hired a van, put loads of people in it, charged them money for petrol and told them 'we'll get you into the gig for free and have a good night'.
"They said, fine. We got to the gig after driving all day, but the promoter said he'd never heard of us and refused to let us play.
"So we pointed out there were only two security guards and 17 of us. I said to him `what are you going to do about that then?'
"And he thought about it and replied `if you put it like that, you can do a few songs'."
Liam Gallagher's recollections
“We didn’t demand,” recalled former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher in a 2020 interview with Far Out magazine. “We just said: ‘Let us play'."
"What it was, was that we got told we were playing when we got there, the geezer goes ‘No, you’re not playing’.” Naturally, it didn’t go down well with the Mancunians: “What do you mean, we’re not playing? We just forked out for a van. Here, come one, let us play, we’re good.”
“Eventually he let us play and we played and we got a deal. That’s it.”
Tony McCarroll's recollections
Writing in his book Oasis: The Truth, the band’s original drummer, Tony McCarroll, says the band had travelled northwards that day in a two-transit van convoy, with several of their mates, including one called Big ‘Un, who wasn’t called that because he looked like Billy Connolly.
According to McCarroll, there really was violence in the air that night.
“We all had the same intentions: a good night out,” wrote McCarroll.
“Eventually we found King Tut’s, but we weren’t greeted at the door as expected. The promoter told us he already had three bands playing and the line-up was full.
“We told him we were Oasis from Manchester, as if that meant something. ‘Never heard of ye, now f*** off,’ came the reply, in thick Glaswegian.
“The wrong thing to say to a van-load of hooligans. Big ‘Un started the questioning: ‘Who owns the club, d******d? Get him out here now; tell him this club is getting razed’.
“The door staff were shocked by the onslaught. So, as if doing us a favour, they let us in.”
Geoff Ellis' recollections
Despite missing the gig, promoter Geoff Ellis, insists it was he who gave the order to let Oasis on stage at King Tut's - and that there had been no threats of violence from any of the band or their entourage.
Geoff recalled: "To say I feel gutted at having missed the gig would be a bit of an understatement. But I had a prior engagement in Edinburgh. The first I knew about Oasis was when the gig manager Ali Murdoch phoned to say an extra band had turned up.
"He wanted to know what I thought about letting them play. I said no problem, as long as they didn't want money. So they agreed to play for a few free beers."
"The whole thing about them turning up and demanding to play is one of the biggest myths in rock `n' roll history.
"They were cheeky and a bit wide but there was never any sign of trouble. The stories of them threatening to wreck the joint only came out months later. They were pure invention - all part of the band's laddish image."
Debbie Turner's recollections
Sister Lovers' singer Debbie Turner remembers things differently, saying she blackmailed King Tut's into letting Oasis play.
She said: "I had tipped off Alan McGee, the boss of Creation, that Oasis would be at King Tut's.
"But when we got to the gig, we were told there was no way Oasis could play as well.
"The reason they did play is because we told the promoter that if they didn't, then we wouldn't.
"We were mates with Boyfriend, the other band on the bill, and they said they wouldn't play either."
Whichever story is true, the promoters opted to quell the situation and allowed Oasis to perform four songs prior to the first support act taking to the stage.
Oblivious to all the shenanigans going on at the door, Creation Records mogul Alan McGee was also making a bee-line for King Tut’s. Alan was in the middle of a bitter breakup and had been coaxed into coming down to the venue by his sister, Susan, who had told him one of her pals who was “dead nice” and “hasnae got a boyfriend” was going to be there.
No bands were going to be on till 10 (or so the posters said), but McGee walked through the doors at 8.30pm. Normally he wouldn’t have arrived so early, but he’d also wanted to catch up with his friend, Debbie Turner from Sister Lovers, who he knew from the Hacienda in Manchester.
Alan McGee’s impromptu decision to rock up early that night would change the face of British music for years to come.
The gig and Alan McGee's recollections
Having just unwittingly bagged their golden ticket, Oasis set up their equipment on the small King Tut's stage. There were just 69 paying punters on what was an unusually quiet night at the venue.
The band rattled through four songs: Rock and Roll Star, Bring It On Down, Up In The Sky, and I Am The Walrus. Fifteen minutes of distorted guitars and growling vocal lines later, and Alan McGee was “frothing at the mouth”.
“I’d got there really early,” recalled McGee, “but I thought I might as well go in for a drink.
“As soon as I walked in I saw these kids sitting around a table and they all looked brilliant, dressed in cagoules and stuff. One of them was dressed in white and looked brilliant, like a natural star.
“They were just sitting around, laughing, having a good time. A bit later, before anyone was supposed to play, this band came on. I didn’t know what they were called or anything about them.
“They came on, and I realised it was the people I’d seen sitting at the table. The guy in white was the singer and he looked even better onstage than he did sitting down. He looked like he was born to be on stage.
“There was only me, my sister and a couple of 18 Wheeler there and they were playing like the place was packed,” recalled McGee.
“The last song they did was the cover of “I Am The Walrus” and right then I knew I wanted them on Creation.”
McGee continued: “They wandered out afterwards, and I went up to Noel. I said: ‘Have you got a record contract?’ I just knew I had to have them on Creation. They were awesome, even then.
“18 Wheeler didn’t seem to think much of them. They were going: ‘Why do you want to sign these scallies? Sister Lovers are much better’. That’s mad Glaswegians for you.”
Noel Gallagher recalled: “We genuinely didn’t know Alan McGee was going to be there.
“I’d vaguely heard of him and I knew about Creation, but the only reason we went there was ‘cos we were bored. We wanted to play to some Scottish c***s.
“Like I say, I only knew Creation by name, from people like Primal Scream, but this guy was like, frothing at the mouth. He was so excited, and he was the first person who actually seemed to realise how good we were.”
Within hours of the Oasis gig at King Tut's, Alan McGee got on the phone to Tim Abbott at Creation Records and drunkenly told him he'd just snared the greatest British band since The Beatles.
On June 3, 1993, Oasis travelled down to Creation's offices in London to sign on the dotted line, and, the rest, as they say, is history.
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