Oasis Makes No Guarantees as Tour Opens

May 11 -- When The Black Crowes and Oasis announced The Tour of Brotherly Love — which opens tonight in Las Vegas — there appeared to be more differences than similarities between the bands. After all, the former is a blues-rock outfit; the latter is a Britpop leader. So, aside from their rich histories of sibling rivalry (the acrimony between Crowes' brothers Chris and Rich Robinson and Oasis' Liam and Noel Gallagher is legendary), what do these two bands have in common?

"Certainly not haircuts," jokes Noel Gallagher calling from London. "Probably record collections."

For Oasis, the tour is the perfect opportunity to support its late 2000 live double-disc release, Familiar to Millions. Still, a tour is always an adventure with Oasis — its last major outing, in support of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, found another Gallagher occurrence that was familiar to millions — about halfway through, Noel split (he did the same thing during a mid-'90s American tour). The natural question is can Noel guarantee that both Gallagher brothers will take the stage tonight in Las Vegas, June 11 in Boston, and every date in between?

"No," says Gallagher, with a long, awkward pause and a hearty laugh. "I wouldn't like to paint too negative of a picture, but if somebody is asking for a smack in the mouth, then they'll get one from me, that's for sure. I have intention of sticking it out for the five weeks, but if people want to make it difficult for me, then I will act accordingly."

Noel, the band's songwriter and guitarist, makes no excuses about the last rift.

"It was just drunken, fucking nonsense," explains Gallagher. "Maybe I overreacted a little bit, but it's all in the past. It's always been this way, since we were kids. You could call it [sibling rivalry]. You could put a nifty little tag on it. I don't know. It's just two brothers in a band who have strong opinions about how things within that band should be."

Despite the infighting, Oasis' successful tour last spring opened the group's eyes regarding its Stateside following, which is why the quintet is at it again.