You can say a lot of bad things about Oasis - they’re past it, they’re full of themselves, they’re a decade out of date - all of which are true to a certain extent.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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Maximo Park have been around for a few years now, and have released three studio albums during that time. The band are currently on a UK tour to support their new album, Quicken The Heart, and I went to see them live at the Manchester Academy on May 23.

I’ve seen Maximo Park play live on three different occasions, once after they’ve just released each album. It’s very interesting, to me at least, to chart their progress in that time. A lot has changed in the space of four years.

The first was in Leeds on an NME tour after A Certain Trigger debuted, when they were the middle act of a bill which included The Cribs and saw Kaiser Chiefs headlining. The second was in Manchester just after Our Earthly Pleasures was released, and this time makes three.

The biggest change I’ve noted is how much the fans have changed. They began as young, hip fans who align themselves to the latest NME band but are now a fair bit older and, it has to be said, a fair bit more raucous.

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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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Art Brut are one of those bands that remain an obscure secret to many people. When I told friends I was going to the band’s gig at Manchester Academy 3 tonight (April 27) I was mostly met with shrugs of the shoulders and the arching of eyebrows.

Once you hear of Art Brut and listen to a few of their tunes, they then become one of those bands you either love or hate - there’s no middle-ground whatsoever. Luckily, for someone who paid to go and see them play live, I’m in the former camp.

I first heard of Art Brut way back in 2004 when Formed a Band was released and the group were mentioned in the NME. But it wasn’t until I saw them support Maximo Park in 2007 that I fell in love with them. And this from a man who usually hates support acts.

Since then, Art Brut have released two further albums to follow up their debut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll. I reviewed It’s a Bit Complicated in the early days of Brit Music Scene and plan to review new album, Art Brut vs. Satan, soon.

Tonight saw them play Manchester Academy 3 as part of their current UK tour. This was the first time I’d seen them as the main band and they did not disappoint. They played a raucous 70-minute set which included many gems from their back catalog as well as many from Art Brut vs. Satan.

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Blur are back. And the majority of us who remember the glory days of the band are pleased as punch they decided to settle their differences and reform as a four piece. But while they have committed to touring again, what are the chances of some new material?

Blur haven’t made a record together since Think Tank in 2003. It was during the recording of this that Graham Coxon was asked to leave the band, and it took five years for Damon Albarn and him to forget the past and look to the future.

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Two supposed reunions as reported by the British tabloid newspapers have now been shown to be nothing more than pure speculation. First it was Led Zeppelin, now the Stone Roses. It’s time to face facts that neither is going to happen.

This week started with a British tabloid stating the Stone Roses were set to reform once again, with a full UK tour on the cards. This was immediately shot down by Ian Brown’s spokesman, and now John Squire has echoed that denial.

First, Squire created a piece of art declaring that the reunion wasn’t going to happen. The artwork, a picture of which was posted on Squire’s Web site, includes the line, “I have no desire whatsoever to desecrate the grave of seminal Manchester pop group The Stone Roses, 12.3.09.”

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The Smiths were, without a doubt, one of the most influential bands to emerge from Britain in the past 30 years. They were at the forefront of the Manchester scene, the alternative scene, and the independent scene, all of which have continued without them since they split up in 1987.

Fast forward twenty years to the present day and the band have turned down several offers to reform for one-off gigs, which they would have been paid a fortune to play. But now, according to a report in The Sun, The Smiths reunion could finally be about to happen, with a source claiming “it’s closer than it ever has been.”

For those of you not aware of The Smiths, first of all shame on you, but secondly, go away and download or YouTube some of their music and then come back here. I assure you, you won’t be disappointed.

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Elbow have won the 2008 Nationwide Mercury Music Prize, beating the likes of Radiohead, Adele, Estelle, and bookies favourite Burial. The Manchester band won the annual music industry award for their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid.

The prize was contested by 12 of the best of British acts from this year, all of whom were considered to have released the best albums from the past 12 months. The nominees were announced back in July, when I expressed my desire for Radiohead to win for In Rainbows. But it wasn’t to be.

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