The Oasis reunion tour has sold out, but many fans, who were thrilled to attend the rock and roll band’s first concerts in more than a decade, were dismayed to see that prices of some tickets more than doubled due to high demand.
Here is what we know about one of the biggest reunions of all time and the ticket row.
Where and when are the Oasis concerts?
Under the Oasis Live ’25 Tour, the British brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher are to appear on stage for the first time since 2009 in the United Kingdom, Wales and Ireland next year.
They are expected to participate in a 17-date tour. They will start in Wales with two dates in July, continue at Manchester’s Heaton Park, and then move on to London’s Wembley Stadium. They will also appear in Edinburgh and Dublin.
Below is a breakdown of the dates and venues:
- Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in Wales: July 4, July 5.
- Manchester’s Heaton Park: July 11, July 12, July 16, July 19, July 20.
- Wembley Stadium in London: July 25, July 26, July 30, August 2, August 3.
- Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, : August 8, August 9, August 12.
- Croke Park in Dublin: August 16, August 17.
The band officially disbanded in 2009 following a backstage altercation at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris. The reason for the reconciliation is unknown but in an statement the band said: “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”
Due to unprecedented demand, three new UK dates will be added to Oasis Live ‘25 🔥
🎸Heaton Park – July 16th
🎸Wembley – July 30th
🎸Edinburgh – August 12th
Tickets on go on sale this Saturday, 31st August at 9am BST: https://t.co/EtNuE2Hx6b pic.twitter.com/nLgnBtkQhL— Oasis (@oasis) August 29, 2024
What was the problem with the ticket pricing?
Initially, standing tickets for the shows were being sold at £148 ($194), while standard seated tickets were about £73 ($96) to £205 ($269).
Premium packages were available, and prices went from £216 to £506 ($664). These packages included various perks such as merchandise, a pre-show party, and entry to a private Oasis exhibition.
General tickets sales for Noel and Liam Gallagher’s concert began on Saturday morning, but online ticket giant Ticketmaster kept raising prices – even as people waited in line for hours. Some fans managed to buy tickets through a presale lottery on Friday.
According to a report by Rolling Stone magazine, at some point the tickets priced at £148 ($194) long disappeared, and new tickets called “In Demand Standing” were available for upwards of £400 ($525).
In the afternoon tickets were already sold out. Some tickets were listed for more than $6,000 on resale sites. The duo said only tickets bought on the primary market or at face value ticket exchange through Ticketmaster will be honoured.
Still, fans were left angered and hundreds took to social media to complain about the spiralling cost.
Aidan Moffat, of Scottish band Arab Strap, said on X that as “dynamic pricing for concert tickets is an utterly despicable practice”.
As many people are finding out today, dynamic pricing for concert tickets is an utterly despicable practice, and acts who do it are no better than the touts they claim to oppose. In fact, they’re fucking worse. Voice of the working classes? Pfft.
— Aidan Moffat (@AidanJohnMoffat) August 31, 2024
So what is dynamic pricing?
Dynamic pricing is a strategy in which businesses raise prices in response to high demand.
This approach can also be seen in airline ticket prices, or in hotel room rates during peak holiday seasons. Companies like Uber, Amazon and Airbnb also use it.
Ticketmaster says that in “many circumstances ticket prices are set at the time of the initial on-sale and stay the same until the event”.
But some tickets, including those that are “categorised as in Demand Tickets or Platinum Tickets are market-priced, and so the price of the ticket may increase or decrease at any time”.
Ticketmaster has said that for concert tickets, artists or promoters are responsible for determining the number of tickets and set the face value price of tickets. “They can opt for dynamic pricing if they want and it is implemented once Ticketmaster gets their approval,” it added.
The practice has long been controversial. In 2023, the Cure singer Robert Smith called it “a greedy scam”.
WHAT I MEANT BY THIS BIT WAS… I HAD A SEPARATE CONVERSATION ABOUT ‘PLATINUM’, TO SEE IF I HAD MISUNDERSTOOD SOMETHING… BUT I HADN’T! IT IS A GREEDY SCAM – AND ALL ARTISTS HAVE THE CHOICE NOT TO PARTICIPATE… IF NO ARTISTS PARTICIPATED, IT WOULD CEASE TO EXIST X https://t.co/Kj7hjkRGn1
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
In the past, bands like Crowded House said that Ticketmaster applied the practice without their consent and in 2020 it instructed the agency to reimburse any fan who paid more than face value.
Ticketmaster is owned by United States media company Live Nation and this latest outrage will add to continuing problems. In May, the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly and inflating ticket prices for concerts, shows and other events.
How is the UK government responding to the Oasis ticket sale?
The UK government said on Sunday it would investigate how prices for concert tickets sold on official websites are increased when demand surges, after the Oasis ticket sale.
“Shocking to hear that Ticketmaster UK are now using ‘dynamic pricing’ to fleece fans and rake in the cash”, David Baines, Labour MP for St Helens North, said adding that it was “especially insulting for those who have queued all day”.
Regina Doherty, an MEP for the Dublin constituency, called for an investigation into Ticketmaster by Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Another government minister, Lucy Powell, who is leader of the House of Commons, told the BBC she bought two tickets for £350 ($460) each from an official retailer, more than double their original face value.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was “depressing to see vastly inflated prices” on sites operated by authorised retailers.
Which other artists have chosen to use dynamic pricing?
According to a report by the BBC, the strategy has been used in the UK for sales by Harry Styles, Coldplay and Blackpink.
Bruce Springsteen also approved the use of dynamic pricing for his tour dates last year.
Taylor Swift chose not to use the practice on her the Eras Tour.