Oasis’ reunion tour is set to bring Taylor Swift levels of demand to the United Kingdom as thousands around the world clamor to get their hands on tickets. The band appears to be doing their best to prevent fans from getting gouged by scalpers.
Oasis tweeted on Friday that they’ve already seen attempts to resell tickets and issued a warning that the only tickets that will be honored come showtime will be those bought on the primary market or on their face value ticket exchange via Ticketmaster and Twickets.
“Tickets sold in breach of the terms and conditions will be canceled by the promoters,” Oasis posted on X. The pre-sale started Friday, and the bulk of the tickets will hit the general on-sale on Saturday.
Indeed, resale sites like StubHub and Viagogo currently show listings for the band’s Wembley Stadium gigs for as much as £6,347, or about $8,300. A rep for Viagogo didn’t immediately reply to request for comment.
Face value ticket exchanges are becoming an increasingly common way that artists are trying to prevent scalpers and ticket brokers from charging major markups on the resale market. Other artists who’ve adopted the strategy for their recent tours include Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam, and the Cure.
The strategy helps keep ticket prices lower, but also makes it much harder for fans to get tickets if they missed out during a general on-sale. Zach Bryan, for example, restricted resale for his Burn, Burn, Burn Tour last year, and while he said it was a success at keeping prices lower, his social media feeds ended up flooded with fans angered that they had no way to get tickets after the sellout.
Resellers and other critics of the strategy also argue that exchanges aren’t fan-friendly because they limit customers’ options on their tickets.
Oasis fans are anxious as they get ready for the on-sale tomorrow, with some expecting chaos as ticket buyers flood the online queues trying to secure seats. However, it’s worth noting that even in the most ideal of circumstances, the reality is that a tour as big as Oasis’ will leave many fans frustrated as long as there are more fans in line than seats at a stadium.
The group’s reunion marks one of the most anticipated tours in recent memory, ending a 15-year split sparked by a notoriously volatile relationship between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher.
“The guns have fallen silent,” the band said in a statement of the comeback. “The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”