Oasis tribute act says younger fans are flocking to see them play since reunion
Live Forever is Ireland's only Oasis tribute band and is the third most-followed tribute band on social media in the world.
Band member Paul McKeever, who plays Noel Gallagher, told us that he's noticed an increase in younger fans coming to their own concerts.
Paul told The Irish Mirror: "Business is great. Luckily for us, we were already flying. This is our 15th year going now and we already conquered the Irish stage. We were travelling to the UK and playing in some big festivals, but Covid slowed it down.
"But we've sold out Vicar Street after that. We are as busy as we want to be. We have full-time jobs as well and families and stuff at home.
"But the crowds have gotten a lot bigger and a lot younger now, we've noticed. That was very interesting.. that is the biggest thing for us that came out of the reunion.
"They became so popular again for the younger crowd who weren't even born when the biggest hits were around and now the average age has probably dropped by about 10 years in our crowd, which is great." Oasis perform on stage during the opening night of their Live 25' Tour at Principality Stadium on July 04, 2025 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by)
Paul co-founded the band with Gavin Fleming, who performs as Liam Gallagher, after the pair met through a mutual friend.
In total, there are six members, including Keith Murphy, Colm Gavin, Mark Bolger and Joe Mullins.
"I'm Noel Gallagher in the band. I used to be in a Rolling Stones tribute band before this. We were a good band, but we weren't really getting much of a crowd.
"I always loved Oasis. I started playing the guitar because of Oasis and then it was around 2010, and I was thinking what tribute band could we do. Oasis has just split up and they had two hours of absolute hits, and they pull a crowd.
"A friend of mine introduced myself to Gavin Fleming, who is Liam Gallagher. Gavin had been going around impersonating Liam Gallagher in competitions.
"A friend put us in contact and the rest is history.
"We've never come to blows but there are a lot of similarities. Sometimes you might have a little tiff on stage and people think it is part of the act but sometimes it wasn't."
"We're all good though," he said laughing, before adding: "We've learned that we're much better working together than against each other." Gavin Fleming as Liam Gallagher on stage
Paul, who works as a Cladding Fitter in Dublin, said when news that Oasis had reunited was finally confirmed, he was looking forward to seeing the two brothers back on stage.
"I was wondering what their body language would be. It definitely seems genuine. The way they were hugging, you can see there is proper love there."
Live Forever are hugely successful within their own right. The band are confirmed to play Electric Picnic next month, while they will be also performing two acoustic shows in Whelans in Dublin at 2pm on August 16 and 17 – the day of the Oasis concerts.
"We're fully confirmed for Electric Picnic as well.
"We're playing at Forest Festival…. We're actually after Franz Ferdinand, and we'll be closing the show. It's mad.
"We're playing in Whelans from 2pm on August 16 and 17. We're doing pre-shows. We do them all the time when Liam or Noel play here. We have them as acoustic shows."
And he said the Gallagher brothers do know about the tribute band.
"Oh 100 per cent they know about us. Gavin has met Liam a couple of times when he played the Olympia.
"Ken Doherty, the snooker player, comes to our shows, he knows Gem Archer. Ken was telling us a few years ago that he was showing them our videos."
But off stage, Paul said they don't like to impersonate Oasis.
"If you see us everyday, definitely not. We don't go around and put on the gear.
"That's a bit 'cruise ship'… people walking around trying to impersonate them.
"Gavin would be very popular. His charisma is amazing and he gets recognised a lot whether he is on stage or not.
"Like we had many opportunities to go on tour in Australia and we could easily… so with that tool behind us we could've.... but we all have full time jobs and the lads have families. We all have kids so it would be too difficult at this stage to go do that," he added.
Tickets for Live Forever at Whelans on August 16 and 17 are on sale now, priced at €27.50.
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