All dates for the Oasis comeback tour across the UK and Ireland next summer have sold out. The band revealed that by 19:00 BST, all tickets for their 17 gigs had been snapped up, although the sales process and ticket prices faced widespread criticism from fans.
Countless fans spent hours in online queues, eager for the chance to witness the band’s reunion tour, marking 15 years since their acrimonious split.
Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing” strategy caused ticket prices to escalate with demand, pushing some tickets to over £350, a significant increase from the initial £135 at the start of sales.
At the beginning of the week, standing tickets in Cardiff, London, and Edinburgh were listed at £135 plus fees. However, fans quickly noted that Ticketmaster’s “in demand” pricing had driven prices up to £355 plus fees.
Ticketmaster maintains that it does not determine ticket prices.
Ticketmaster’s website explains: “Promoters and artists set ticket prices, which can be either fixed or market-based. Market-based tickets are categorized as ‘Platinum’ or ‘In Demand’.”
Ticketmaster also confirmed that there were no additional benefits included with the price hike.
As of Saturday evening, neither Oasis nor the tour promoter had issued a statement regarding the pricing controversy.
Dynamic pricing has been around for a while and is permissible under consumer protection laws.
Within minutes of the tickets going on sale on Saturday morning, some individuals attempting to purchase tickets for next July and August at London’s Wembley Stadium found over a million people ahead of them in line.
Additional queues were created, and ticket vendors had to direct customers to a notification page stating high demand on their websites.
Ticket sales began at 09:00 BST, with sales for Ireland starting an hour earlier. During this period, several issues with accessing the Ticketmaster site were reported.
Some ticket seekers also encountered suspensions by Ticketmaster, which flagged their actions as potential automated bot activity, designed to purchase tickets faster than human users.
Jamie Moore, 50, from East Kilbride, expressed disappointment after being removed from the queue just as he was about to purchase tickets, having been erroneously identified as a bot.
Mr. Moore says he has “never been so let down by a website” in his life.
Ticketmaster urged patience, highlighting the exceptional popularity of Oasis and advised fans to stay in line, clear their browser cookies, and refrain from using VPNs.
Noel and Liam Gallagher, the famous brothers, announced their reconciliation and confirmed the band’s reunion earlier this week.
The band originally split up after a backstage fight at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris 15 years ago.
Oasis was established in Manchester in 1991, with its initial lineup including Liam and Noel Gallagher, guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, bassist Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan, and drummer Tony McCarroll.
As anticipation for their concerts intensifies, there has been a notable increase in the sales and streaming of the band’s earlier albums, elevating three of them to the top five of the UK charts this past Friday.
Their greatest hits album, “Time Flies,” currently holds the third spot, followed by “What’s The Story Morning Glory” from 1995 in fourth place, and their debut album, “Definitely Maybe,” released on August 29, 1994, ranking fifth as of this writing.
