Drugs go hand in hand with rock music - that’s an immutable fact of life only denied by those on the outside. Sex, drugs, and rock’n'roll fit together like a glove, and any rock musician who doesn’t understand this really has no place referring to him or herself as a rock musician in the first place. Those who do admit it’s the case may be condemned as bad influences but their only real crime is telling the truth.

Noel Gallagher isn’t one of these deniers. In fact, in his usual carefree attitude of saying what he wants and not caring about the consequences, he’s admitted that he and the rest of the Oasis boys were one of the hardest rocking bands of the nineties. Back when Britpop battles between Oasis and Blur were a monthly occurrence, the Gallaghers probably kept the black market economy of London going single-handedly.

Gallagher has never been one to hold his tongue and keep a low profile. In fact, give him a microphone or sit him next to a reporter and you can be almost guaranteed to get a classic and probably controversial statement or two. This trend has continued with an interview Noel recently gave to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera.

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Don’t you just hate those people who offer you something and then either revoke the offer or moan about it afterwards. If so, you’ll inevitably dislike Noel Gallagher after he criticized the 20,000 fans who registered for the full refund from one of Oasis’ Manchester homecoming gigs. Why offer it in the first place if you’re then going to bitch about on your blog afterwards?

Oasis played three gigs at Heaton Park in Manchester at the beginning of June. The second and third went off without a hitch but the first was blighted by trouble. First of all, The Enemy pulled out as support, to be replaced by Reverend and The Makers. Then, during Oasis’ set, the sound system blew twice, causing the band to be off stage for a total of 40 minutes.

When Oasis returned to the stage, both Liam and Noel both apologized before offering everyone present a refund. Details of how to claim were then posted on the official Oasis Web site, and 20,000 people have registered their name and address to claim the full face value of the ticket. Which should please Oasis because there were 70,000 people in attendance, meaning less than a third of all attendants have asked for a refund.

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Last year saw the famous and long-running Glastonbury Festival take a new direction when Jay-Z was asked to headline. Jay-Z is a blindingly good rapper and awesome live, but he was a controversial choice for an event that is more usually associated with rock and folk performers. Noel Gallagher of Oasis was the biggest (or at least most vocal and well-known) critic of the decision. So what does he think to this year’s line-up?

That’s exactly the question BBC 6 Music asked of the guitarist, songwriter, and mainstay of Oasis. This was kind of a loaded question, not only due to the reaction Gallagher’s comments received last year but also because one of the headliners at Glastonbury 2009 are Blur. I’m sure no one, least of all Noel, has forgotten that the newly-reformed Blur were, at the height of Britpop, Oasis’ arch enemies.

Thankfully, Noel has matured over the years. I know it’s hard to believe with some of the stuff he still comes out with but he has, now giving his opinion without resorting to mud flinging. At least most of the time.

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You can say a lot of bad things about Oasis - they’re past it, they’re full of themselves, they’re a decade out of date - all of which are true to a certain extent. But you cannot fault them for the loyalty they show to their fans, who return it in droves, or their willingness to go beyond the pale in order to please their fans.

Thursday saw Oasis play one of their biggest shows since Knebworth. Everything was set for the Heaton Park gig; the tickets were all sold, and six months of planning were in the bag. What could go wrong? Quite a lot as it turns out. First The Enemy had to pull out as support, to be replaced by Reverend and The Makers. Then the sound system blew not once but twice during Oasis’ set.

In all, Oasis were off the stage for 40 minutes during their 23-song set, having been forced to walk off twice due to “technical difficulties”. But the band still played their full set, running well past curfew in order to achieve this. So everyone there got the show they’d paid for.

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Today (June 4) sees Oasis play the first of three huge concerts at Heaton Park in Manchester. It’s a bit of a homecoming for the band as the Gallagher brothers are originally from Burnage, just up the road from the venue.

The concerts, which are today, Saturday (June 6) and Sunday (June 7) are all sold-out, with 70,000 fans attending each night. The gigs have been planned for the last six months, with transport links, park and ride schemes, and road closures all organized in advance.

Unfortunately, something has already gone wrong, with The Enemy, one of the two main supports along with Kasabian, pulling out of tonight’s show. The official reason is that lead singer Tom Clarke has contracted serious food poisoning but you do have to wonder if the recent feud between the two bands has anything to do with it.

Tom Clarke gave an interview about the tour, on which The Enemy are scheduled to provide support for each concert, and one of his comments upset the usually-so-calm and mild-mannered Liam Gallagher. He then called Clarke a “little f**ker” in a Twitter rant, forcing Clarke to apologize for any offense caused.

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With all the in-fighting, arguments, line-up changes, and controversy surrounding Oasis, I’m personally amazed they have lasted as long as they have. Really, you would have thought something would have had to give by now, with the group falling down like stack of dominoes at the slightest touch. But no, 18 years after being formed, Oasis are still going strong.

So strong in fact that they still manage to sell out huge venues time after time. Oasis announce a tour or concert, and it sell out in a matter of minutes. The music may be generic, Liam’s drawl may now be considered more of an affectation than anything, and they may not be the biggest rock band in the world as they were considered to be a decade ago, but they’ve still got it.

However, one of the many former members of the group, Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs thinks Oasis are way past their sell-by date. The guitarist left the band in 1999, a few years after Oasis played their two Knebworth gigs, two of the biggest concerts ever held in the UK with an estimated combined audience of over 250,000.

Bonehead thinks that would have been the perfect time to bail out, while Oasis were still at the top of their game and known the world over.

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Oasis are currently on a world tour in support of their Dig Out Your Soul album, and things aren’t going too smoothly. While it may be all sweetness and light on stage, there seems to be a bust-up in progress backstage.

A week ago, the current row between the Gallagher brothers Liam and Noel seemed to reach fever pitch. Both went public with their feelings on the tour and how relations were strained. And things don’t seem to be getting any better.

The problems seemed to begin when Noel expressed a desire to record and release material as a solo artist rather than as a part of Oasis. Liam clearly isn’t too happy with this idea and recently told Canal Multishow his thoughts on the idea.

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To say Oasis have had a troubled past would be akin to saying Adolf Hitler was a naughty boy - it’s an understatement of epic proportions. And it looks like another bust-up is on the way, with the Gallagher brothers seemingly at each other’s throats yet again.

Oasis as they are today are very different to what they were years ago. There has been numerous line-up changes with the only original members of the band left being Liam and Noel. The rest have either been fired, got bored and moved on, or left after getting fed up of the rows.

Bizarrely, the two brothers still in the group are the root cause of all the aggravation. Siblings often argue, but the Gallaghers have taken the art of rowing to a whole new level, and many a tour has been ruined by their bickering.

The last couple of weeks have seen the situation flare up yet again. The band are currently on tour to support Dig Out Your Soul and the whole rigmarole of gigging night after night seems to be taking its toll on Liam and Noel.

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I don’t know about you but the recession has started to affect me personally, and it hurts more than just the bank balance. We’re in the middle of a global economic crisis and it’s likely to get worse before it gets better.

While most of us hope our government rescue plans succeed and spark growth once again, one man is hoping the credit crunch gets worse. Step forward Noel Gallagher from Oasis.

In an interview with That’s Shanghai, via NME, Gallagher spoke about a great many subjects, one of which, rather oddly, was the current economic situation. Not really a subject I’d grill the guitarist and lead songwriter of Oasis on personally.

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Barely a month ago, Oasis announced they would be playing China for the first ever. The Beijing and Shanghai shows were to form a far east trio of gigs on their current world tour along with one in Hong Kong.

Now, the gigs have been forcibly canceled due to the Chinese government revoking the band’s licenses to play. Oasis were deemed “unsuitable” to visit the country thanks to supposed links with the ‘Free Tibet’ movement.

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