Another Liam Update

Oasis brothers find peace an ocean apart

HARMONY broke through the sibling rivalry of Oasis yesterday, when Noel Gallagher said that his brother Liam was going through a personal crisis and promised that he would support him, not fight with him.

"That never gets anyone anywhere," said Noel, who is having to stand in as lead singer on the band's American tour after Liam refused to get on the plane.

"We have had enough of slapping each other. You have to support people when they are going through a personal crisis.

"I can sing as well as Liam can, but I am no front man and it's going to be hard work. The show must go on, which is a motto at the moment. If he telephones, I am telling him I expect him to be in the band when we get back, but you never know with Liam."

Noel, the band's songwriter and guitarist, says in an interview with Select magazine: "I am the brains behind the band, the quiet, calm one. Liam's the nutcase. It's a good job he's the singer and not me."

Explanations for Liam's late refusal to board the plane have ranged from a throat infection to housing problems with his fiancee, the actress Patsy Kensit, after the sale of their property in St John's Wood, north London.

His mother said the couple would fly to America tomorrow to join the rest of the band. Peggy Gallagher told the Manchester Evening News that Liam had telephoned her at home in the city's Burnage district to tell her not to worry. She said: "Liam called to tell me there is not a problem with the band. He says he and Patsy will be flying out on Friday. He just has a few things he has to sort out first."

Thousands of fans cheered Noel's singing as he filled in for his absent brother at the start of the tour, but the 14,000-capacity Rosemont Horizon in the Chicago suburbs was two-thirds full for Tuesday night's concert. Fans had been offered their money back.

Rick Reger, a rock critic for the Chicago Tribune, said: "I thought that Noel filled in pretty well. The sound was not dramatically different. The fans did not seem to notice. In some of the high parts, like Live for Ever, his voice kind of cracked. He could not quite make the high parts. Oasis has, here, a reputation for not a very dynamic stage presence. They are reminiscent of Madame Tussaud's at times, and that's when their lead waxwork Liam Gallagher is with the band."

Mr Reger said the band simply rehashed its recordings, without adding much zest in a live performance that lasted 90 minutes. In his opinion, the Screaming Trees, who were the support band, stole the show.=20 Oasis's next stop is in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The American tour will finish on September 18 in Florida.

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