There’s no better feeling for Darren Spiby than when he is joined on stage by his two sons, Tom and Dan, as they perform hit after hit from British rock group Oasis – the inspiration behind their tribute band ‘Noasis’.
“It’s pretty surreal to be doing this with my two boys,” Darren, 56, tells New Idea.
With Tom, 23, on guitar as Noel Gallagher, Daniel, 19, on bass, and Darren as swaggering frontman Liam Gallagher, Noasis truly is a family affair.
Darren, who is originally from Derby, England, but now lives in Adelaide, started the tribute band in the late ’90s after he, like thousands of other fans, struggled to get tickets to see the real thing.
“I was working as a bar manager [in the UK] and we decided to have an Oasis theme night and then we thought we’d get a band together,” Darren says.
“We sold out – all 560 tickets. It was fun and we made a bit of money, so we thought we’d do it again.”
The group started touring around the UK, playing to crowds of up to 800 people.
“Liam and Noel even sneaked into one of our gigs,” Darren says. “They were playing nearby, and we were told they came in and watched two or three of our songs.
“We were a bit up ourselves at the time. I was in ‘Liam mode’ so I didn’t care. We thought, ‘so what they’ve been in!’”
Unlike the warring Gallagher brothers, Darren didn’t have a big bust-up with his band members, and the tribute band continued to perform long after Oasis infamously split in 2009.
It was the family’s move Down Under in 2013 that made Darren wonder if the tribute band could work on this side of the world, too.
In 2018, he enlisted his boys to join him on stage, donned Liam’s famous bucket hat and parka jacket, and picked up the tambourine.
“Noasis became even bigger here, playing real venues like Liberty Hall in Sydney and Max Watts in Melbourne,” he says.
“We’d regularly play to 1000 and yes, we have groupies who come to all the gigs!”
Darren says Noasis is all about the details, where everything, even down to the angle of Liam’s microphone, is a replica of a real Oasis gig.
“We make it as authentic as we can,” he says. “The stage looks great, and we have the same guitars because if you don’t have the gear, you can’t make the same sound. True fans pick that stuff up.”
Of course, that doesn’t come cheap, and Darren estimates he’s spent $25,000 on rare guitars.
He’s also spent tens of thousands on limited edition ‘Liam’ parkas, Adidas trainers, and bucket hats, and more recently, he had a $5000 Liam wig commissioned – made from human hair.
“Rachel [my wife] gets a bit beside herself with the spending. She used to be an Oasis fan, but I think I’ve worn her out now!” Darren says, laughing.
The couple went to see Oasis in Melbourne during their reunion tour last week – an event that Darren says he is still shocked that actually happened.
“I never thought they’d get back together,” he says. “I didn’t think Noel would buckle.”
But, even with the real band back on the scene, there’s still room for Noasis. In fact, ticket sales are better than ever!
“We’re even playing in Sydney on the same night as them!” Darren says.
