Friday, November 15, 2024

‘Got them!’ Watch the moment desperate Oasis fan lands four tickets for Wembley show – as his frustrated friends keep waiting

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This is the moment one desperate Oasis fan finally landed four tickets for a Wembley tour date – as his frustrated friends keep waiting in the online queues.

MailOnline reporters joined some 14 million people hoping to be in with a chance of nabbing one of 1.4 million tickets available via general sale this morning.

After staggering little by little to the front of the queue, one of six reporters beat the odds to secure the opportunity to buy a ticket – as others complained of site errors.

‘Got them,’ Dan Quinnell said at last, raising one arm in the air as others found themselves blocked by error messages or stuck thousands of people deep in a line.

‘How many?’ asked Dylan Osullivan-Whiting, held up since the sale went live at 8am this morning. ‘Four tickets for Oasis at Wembley!’ Dan replied. ‘Cost: £519.75’

Dan Quinnell raised an arm in the air as he finally secured the opportunity… to buy tickets

Others were left waiting in the queues of hundreds of thousands of people held up online

Others were left waiting in the queues of hundreds of thousands of people held up online

A moment of joy and shock as our reporter finally breaks through the line to buy tickets

A moment of joy and shock as our reporter finally breaks through the line to buy tickets

Lucky Oasis fans alongside our reporters took to social media first thing to share their joy as they made it to the front of the queue despite the overwhelming odds and ticket site crashes.

The fight to the front has been marred by the collapse of popular ticket sites, overwhelmed by interest from desperate fans logging on this morning.

One user took to Twitter/X to – apparently – joke ‘I got four tickets and I only know Wonderwall’ – as thousands of fans report outages across the major ticket sites.

Another shared how they had overlapped with their brother, who had already bought tickets, and said they were trying to sell three before the 9am general sale.

‘Cannot tell you how good it feels knowing I’ve already got Oasis tickets,’ one user added to the growing chorus.

‘I have no idea how I got in so fast then I was like 676 from the start and got tickets within 10 minutes,’ another said.

One fan told MailOnline they had signed on to multiple devices to boost their chances.

‘Joined the queue on two different accounts, one from PC and one from the phone,’ Herman said this morning, minutes after the general sale began.

‘On the first I got placed at 6304 and the second at 301000, so I guess I got lucky.’ 

Alan told MailOnline he was fortunate enough to get his tickets via pre-sale – but still had to wake up especially early to join the queue.

‘As somewhat of a superfan (having seen Oasis previously in Auckland, London, Manchester, New York and Sydney), I got lucky with the pre-sale ballot access.

‘Set the alarm for 3:55am AEST and after a nervous wait, will be flying from Sydney Australia, for a Wembley show.

‘Wishing good fortune to all other fans!’ 

Superfan Peter Davies, 30, celebrated his win after securing four tickets for the opening night at Wembley for £600 – after joining the queue at number 1,051.

A previous attendee at both Liam and Noel’s gigs alongside the last Oasis tour, he battled against website glitches to get the prized passes.

Speaking about his reaction, he told MailOnline: ‘It was relief, at first, if I am honest. Then it dawned on me that I am actually going to go see Oasis at Wembley.

All week we prepared for this. I spoke with family and friends to tactically plan for how we were going to try for different dates, then seeing if one of us got a code, how many tickets we would get and where in the stadium.

‘I was the only one who got a presale code so it made it a lot easier to go for one date.

‘I am looking forward to seeing an iconic and historical moment with my family – we’ve all grown up loving Oasis and it’s going to be something we’re going to talk about for years.

‘It’s also going to be the first time my sister and girlfriend see Oasis live, so I look forward to seeing their reactions.’

Not all have had the same luck. One fan waiting anxiously online to buy tickets as a surprise birthday gift told MailOnline they had been waiting for tickets since 7:40am – but their ticket site crashed as they got to the front.

‘Couldn’t anticipate my excitement when it hit number one in the queue.

‘Stomach churning with happiness once again and whole body shaking and then everything crashes.

‘Cannot even secure a place in the queue for Dublin, let alone enter the website.

‘I am utterly devastated and in a panic trying to get back into the queue… it’s not happening.’

Several popular tickets sites have reported outages from 8am this morning, when the first tickets for Croke Park went on sale.

And ‘Error 503’, ‘Shambles’ and ‘Crashed’ all began trending on Twitter/X in the United Kingdom this morning.

Ticketmaster assures lines are still moving forward and has shared tips on avoiding issues with the website, though Oasis devotees are still reporting outages. 

But others fortunate enough to be in the position of buying tickets are now sharing their horror to discover various sites offering dynamic prices for ‘in demand’ tickets, at multiples of the original price, with tickets only reserved for a limited time. 

Darragh Moriarty, City Councillor for South West and Inner City, and Labour Leader on Dublin City Council, chimed in: ‘”In demand standing ticket” is just a standard standing ticket except double the price. No difference between Ticketmaster and touts.’

Mr Moriarty shared apparent screenshots from the Ticketmaster website offering In Demand standing tickets for 415.50 euros each, plus fees – equivalent to around £350.

Once through the queue, fans have a limited time in which their tickets are reserved to decide whether or not to pay the offered price.

Ticketmaster explains: ‘In Demand Tickets are dynamically-priced tickets.

‘Based on demand the prices of these tickets may change.

‘These tickets are not part of VIP packages – they are tickets only.’

MailOnline contacted Ticketmaster for further comment.

Darren Boyle found himself behind 240,000 people in a queue this morning

Darren Boyle found himself behind 240,000 people in a queue this morning

Veronica Tamimi tries to book tickets for Oasis this morning after general admission opened

Veronica Tamimi tries to book tickets for Oasis this morning after general admission opened

As many a 14 million fans are expected to try for tickets on Saturday morning

As many a 14 million fans are expected to try for tickets on Saturday morning

Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher appear together in Italy in 2009 before their split

Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher appear together in Italy in 2009 before their split

Ticketmaster notes that they do not have any say on the face value price of a ticket.

‘That is decided by the event organiser. What we do have a say over is the price that is displayed to you and we always ensure that you see the total price you will need to pay right from the beginning – we never hide our fees.’

The first batch of tickets went on sale yesterday at 7pm for those lucky enough to get a pre-sale code.

But within minutes of the sale going live, tickets were being resold for up to £10,000 by greedy touts.

Oasis soon assured on social media that tickets ‘can only be resold at face value via Ticketmaster and Twickets’.

‘Tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either counterfeit or will be cancelled by the promoters.’

Users have since responded to the post sharing some of the In Demand prices offered, calling on the band to ‘tell Ticketmaster as they are not selling at face value’.

Emma Munnelly, queuing for tickets since 8:30 this morning, told MailOnline she spent three hours waiting in a queue and a waiting room queue to buy tickets for herself, her husband and her daughter.

She said her daughter ‘has been desperate to see Oasis and couldn’t believe her luck when they announced they were touring’.

‘Expected to pay £148:50 for standing at Manchester, absolutely disgusted that when we had the chance of purchasing the tickets, Ticket Master had increased them to £355 each.

‘This was unaffordable and devastating for my daughter.’

‘It is such an unaffordable cost for many families and it should not be allowed to happen,’ she said.

Heidi Tringe told MailOnline she got up at 3:45am local time in Montpelier, USA – and was horrified to discover the ‘In Demand’ prices when she finally got to the front of the queue, three and a half hours later.

‘The Ticket Options that were showing on the screen were the ridiculously Ticketmaster-inflated “dynamic pricing” tickets…

‘I attempted clicking on various buttons and “Find Tickets” to no avail for the last 30 minutes. I finally hit refresh – nothing changed. I hit refresh a few more times and then it said I had lost my place in line and could rejoin the queue.

‘This is so maddening, heartbreaking. If companies are going to have a monopoly on tickets, inflate the prices well above the prices the band has set, they damn well better have systems in place that can handle fan demand. Something needs to be done, both in Europe and in the US.’

Jana, a fan from the Netherlands, told MailOnline: ‘Joined the waiting room, got 4.000 people ahead of me in queue for Manchester, chose tickets after 21 minutes and was 40 minutes waiting to get redirected to the payment, when I received error.

‘Web crashed and I was again at the beginning.

‘Meanwhile on the Irish site, I waited for 4 hours in the queue, 156.000 people ahead of me, only to be told that they “couldn’t find any tickets”. Oh well.’

Social media users jumped online to share their glee after finally securing tickets

Social media users jumped online to share their glee after finally securing tickets

Tickets have been in such high demand that some ticket sites have added 'in demand' prices

Tickets have been in such high demand that some ticket sites have added ‘in demand’ prices

Ticketmaster offer In Demand tickets to account for higher demand

Ticketmaster offer In Demand tickets to account for higher demand

The 1996 Oasis gigs at Knebworth saw the largest ever demand for gig tickets in UK history

The 1996 Oasis gigs at Knebworth saw the largest ever demand for gig tickets in UK history

Others criticised Viagogo for selling tickets at multiples of the original price.

The managing director of ticket resell website Viagogo today defended the decision to sell opportunities to see the band at beyond the price set by the organisers.

Cris Miller said: ‘This is a dream event anticipated by millions worldwide.

‘Our number-one tip for fans using secondary marketplaces is to continue to check prices outside of the first few weeks of sale.

‘Demand will be at its peak when tickets hit the on-sale but it’s not a normal reflection of what tickets can and will go for.

‘Just this summer tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in the UK sold on our platform for as low as £80.’

He added: ‘In the case of Oasis – a highly anticipated event – we saw the primary sites struggling to manage demand even before the on-sale, and site crashes.

‘We know fans are frustrated with the process and we know there is a better way.

‘We continue to support industry collaboration to ensure the entire ticketing market works for fans and the live entertainment industry.

‘Resale is legal in the UK and fans are always protected by our guarantee that they will receive their tickets in time for the event or their money back.’

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