Addiction counsellors have claimed Oasis fans have “stashed drugs” in Manchester’s Heaton Park ahead of next year’s reunion shows.
READ MORE: “There’s a palpable buzz in the city”: the view from Manchester on the return of Oasis
The Britpop heroes first announced their long-awaited reunion back in August, with a string of gigs in the UK and Ireland. They stated that these would be their only shows in Europe, but vowed that – while they will not be playing any festivals next year – other headline dates around the world were planned.
Their reunion includes a now sold-out five-night run at Manchester’s Heaton Park, where it is estimated that 80,000 fans will be in attendance.
Now, drug and alcohol rehab facility Providence Project has told The Sun they have spoken to members of the addiction community, “who have told us they have already stashed drugs in the park”, adding they “would warn organisers to be vigilant.”
Festival goers attend the Oasis, Kasabian, Reverend and the Makers and Twisted Wheel performance at Heaton Park on June 4, 2009 in Manchester, England. CREDIT: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage
They went on to say people had bragged about various plans to smuggle drugs into the show, including using glow sticks, toys, merchandise and plaster casts to conceal them.
Treatment centre chief Paul Spanjar told the publication: “Whether it be the contaminated ecstasy tablet, cocaine-induced heart attack or cannabis-induced psychosis; the reality is whilst drug use feels relatively safe and socially acceptable, it’s still playing dice with death.”
I did it years ago when I went to see the pope in HP it’s not a new thing
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) October 12, 2024
Coz they got NO SOUL
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) October 13, 2024
Liam Gallagher responded to the news with a characteristically jovial tweet, saying: “I did it years ago when I went to see the pope in HP it’s not a new thing.” Likewise, when one fan asked him on X/Twitter: “Who are these sources and why do they always go to the scum,” he replied: “Coz they got NO SOUL.”
Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Manchester City Council will be charging Oasis over their massive hometown shows next year. Per the BBC, Manchester City Council – who own the 600-acre park located in the Gallagher brothers’ hometown – will be charging the group themselves for additional costs to accommodate the show with things like extra toilets and security arrangements.
The City of Edinburgh Council also recently announced they’ll be billing the band as part of a new policy which applies a 100% cost recovery to commercial events, with the new regulations coming into force almost a year before the newly reunited Gallagher brothers play in the city.
Devoted Oasis fans have been excitedly waiting for the reunion for years. Speaking to NME in a feature about the band’s return to their hometown, 29-year-old Oasis enthusiast and Manchester-based sports writer Razz Ashraf opened up to journalist Gary Ryan while at Sifters Records – the record shop the Gallagher brothers used to visit and name-checked in their 1994 track ‘Shakermaker’– and shared: “All I wanted to do was come down here and touch the sign and be where it all started.”
“I get emotional about it. I’ve been fantasising about this moment for so many years,” he added, explaining that his father would play Oasis around the house. “He wasn’t that big into rock, but because they were from Manchester, he could understand it. As I started connecting more to my city, they started meaning more to me.”
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