Oasis Cancels L.A. Dates but Management Says Band Intact

The good news for Oasis fans is that the popular British rock band has not split up.

The bad news is, the group announced Friday in London that it will not be touring “in the foreseeable future” and has canceled its Nov. 4-5 shows at the Universal Amphitheatre.

It’s the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of the bickering band, which is led by the combustible Gallagher brothers: Noel, 29, the group’s guitarist and creative force, and Liam, 23, the lead singer.

Noel left the band’s current U.S. tour on Thursday, flying home to London and touching off wild speculation among the British press that the group had broken up.

The media attention given the matter in England, where Oasis is the most popular rock band since the Beatles, rivaled coverage of the Iraqi crisis, with the banner front-page headline in the Daily Star tabloid screaming: “OASIS: END OF STORY.” Countered the rival Daily Mirror: “OASIS: NO SPLIT.”

Ignition, the band’s management company, ended the speculation on Friday by announcing that, while the band will stop touring for the time being, “in every other aspect, Oasis will continue to exist and function as a band.”

The band’s U.K. label, Creation Records, said the Gallaghers would spend the weekend together to discuss future plans. They are expected to meet briefly with the press early next week in London.

Oasis had started its abbreviated U.S. trek without Liam, who stayed behind in London to sort out a “personal problem” involving the sale of the house he shared with his girlfriend, actress Patsy Kensit. Noel filled in as lead singer before Liam rejoined the band a few days later.

The tour continued without incident until Wednesday, when a show in Charlotte, N.C., was canceled without explanation about two hours before it was scheduled to start.

On Thursday, Noel flew home and the band issued a statement saying that “internal differences” had prompted the group to cancel the remaining four dates of the current leg of its tour.

Friday’s announcement ended speculation about the Universal Amphitheatre dates, the first of which had been rescheduled from April 15, when the group had to cancel because of illness. Tickets for that show can be refunded at point of purchase.

Freelance writer Dave Jennings contributed to this story from London.