SOME might say that Warrington band Toast never intended to be an Oasis tribute.

But ‘Gallagher brothers’ Jonno Walsh and Rich Dickinson are not looking back in anger.

Jonno, Rich and their five-piece formed Toast in 1994 when Oasis were at their peak and when they started incorporating a few covers into their set things began to change very quickly.

Rich said: “At that time it was all people wanted to listen to so we added more and more covers into the set and before we knew it, it was a full set of Oasis with a couple of our own songs thrown in.

“So we never intended to be a tribute band and we never conformed to the lookalike aspect and played the songs in our own style.”

Some incredible memories have been made since then, including the opportunity to play at The Parr Hall five times.

But now the band are ready to leave Oasis behind in a bid to put a lot more of their creativity into their music.

Before then they will be embarking on an acoustic ‘Farewell to Oasis’ tour, including a gig at Grappenhall and Thelwall British Legion on Friday, April 5, with support from Kerry Sheree, above.

Orford resident Rich added: “This is closure. It’s the last time we’re going to play Oasis in Warrington.

“I love the tribute scene and I was in a Metallica tribute band previously. But I just think it’s so condensed with so many tributes to one band.

“I think there’s at least 15 to 20 active Oasis tribute bands in the country. We still love the band but we’ve had enough.

“It’s very difficult to get your creativity out in a tribute band. There are things you can do in terms of organising the setlist in a certain way or maybe trying to do different arrangements of the songs but it’s very limited.

“At the end of the day there’s songs that you have to play. I must have played Wonder Wall tens of thousands of times and it gets a bit old. The only thing that keeps you going is the reaction that it gets. But you want to show your ability as a musician, you want to show your creativity. It’s been hard to get our own stuff out there but at the same time it was so enjoyable and we were so lucky.

“If you get the opportunity to play the Parr Hall to 900 people, who’s going to say no to that?

“I’d have played Baa Baa Black Sheep to get up on that stage. I used to watch pantos there when I was a kid and I used to sing carols there when I was at Penketh South Primary School.

“To have been on that stage five times as effectively a pub band from Warrington is unbelievable.”

Is it surreal to think this all began 25 years ago?

Rich, a former Penketh High School student, said: “It is bizarre until we see photos of ourselves as skinny little teenagers and then look in the mirror and see that we’re all grey.

“It is weird. Over the years there’s been a lot of fallouts and split ups and reformations but we’ve all stayed good friends.”

At the height of their popularity Toast were playing to 900 people.

Rich, 42, added: “The weird thing about Toast is that we had such a cult status. Back in the 90s we played the Parr Hall to 900 people.

“A lot of that was, of course, down to the popularity of Oasis but fans started to see Toast as a separate entity.”

Rich’s kids have been along for the ride too. The band took a break after the 90s to concentrate on work, family and other commitments.

But after a long hiatus, they reformed in 2014 which was when Rich’s family got to see what all the fuss was about.

The dad-of-five said: “I’ve kind of gone full circle from a really embarrassing dad to them thinking I’m a bit ‘cool’ as they’ve got a bit older.

“Having the kids watch me at Parr Hall for the first time was incredible. The band had been split up for 13 years and until then they’d only heard the stories so that was really nice.”

Rich and Jonno have been working on their own material since January last year and they are hoping to release their album, Songs About Nothing, soon.

Their debut single, Reason to Cry, will also be played live for the first time at the Grappenhall and Thelwall British Legion gig.

Rich added: “Anyone who’s expecting an Oasis clone album will be disappointed.

“We’re writing for us. There’s no pressure. We just want to get the songs out into the world as soon as possible and I smile when I say that because I’m really confident.”