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Oasis fans frustrated by technical issues in battle for reunion tickets | Oasis
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Oasis fans frustrated by technical issues in battle for reunion tickets | Oasis

Oasis fans looking for tickets for the band’s reunion tour faced technical problems and long wait times online, often ending in disappointment.

The interest in seeing the Gallagher brothers was huge. Fans who sold tickets on websites like Ticketmaster reported problems. They were given error messages or were considered bots and kicked out before they could buy tickets.

To combat scammers trying to resell tickets at inflated prices, the band said tickets “sold in violation of the terms and conditions will be cancelled by the promoters”.

A limited number of people were able to secure the coveted tickets through a pre-sale on Friday night. Those who successfully navigated the competitive voting and last-minute website glitches said they were looking forward to the “special” performances after securing the coveted tickets.

Joseph Martin, 29, and his fiancée Molly Abbott, 26, faced a “rollercoaster of emotions” on Saturday morning in their bid to get two tickets. Abbott, who was on holiday in Greece, joined an online queue at 8am. About two hours into the show, the unthinkable happened. “She got to the front of the queue and then the site crashed and she was thrown out,” he said. “She rang me in tears and said, ‘Oh my god, I’m never going to listen to Oasis again’. I was devastated.”

Moments later he received a text from Abbot saying, “Oh my god, I tried again and I’m at the box office for two tickets.”

The duo will travel from Brighton to the band’s home base of Manchester. “It’s going to be crazy,” said Martin.

The pair paid £350 for a night at a Premier Inn in the city, roughly the same as their tickets. The couple consider Oasis their “all-time favourite” act – Abbott even has a Don’t Look Back in Anger tattoo – and had considered paying above expectations if they weren’t successful on Saturday morning.

“We discussed the possibility of not taking a holiday next year and going to Oasis instead, but some of the resale prices I saw would probably have ruled us out. I would have been prepared to spend £800, but when people are talking about thousands of pounds, I couldn’t do that,” Martin said.

Pete Cross, 50, said he was looking forward to a summer “full of excitement and joy” after securing advance tickets on Friday to see the band with his family next year.

He said his entire family, including his wife, 21-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son, signed up to receive a presale code, but he was the only one who received one.

“My kids are just as obsessed with music as I am – Oasis is the foundation of everything. When my daughter was five, she would take a Definitely Maybe CD (to her room) to play quietly as she went to sleep,” Cross said.

Some “loyal” Oasis fans received a separate email with a guaranteed presale code. He said he was “stupid” not to have received one of these emails, as he had spent around £200 in the past few months on two vinyl copies of Definitely Maybe, a CD tape bundle and a T-shirt. “A friend of mine got a loyal customer presale code because he apparently signed up to the Oasis mailing list,” he said.

Still, he’s glad he managed to get four tickets to see the band at Wembley in London. “The relief was huge when the screen changed. We went to see Oasis as a family. Quick hugs. A beautiful moment,” he said.

For Cross, next summer can’t come soon enough. “It’s going to be so full of excitement and joy. Oasis is back.”

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Official ticket prices ranged from £73 for standing room to £506.25 for access to a pre-show party, exhibition and seating package at Wembley.

However, by Saturday afternoon, tickets for the floor were already selling for between £720 and £4,500 on StubHub, while tickets for seats on the lower levels were being offered for £9,037.

On Ticketmaster, some fans were faced with prices far exceeding the original asking price after the site introduced dynamic pricing. These tickets were labelled as “in demand” and in some cases were double the price. Social media users reported that standard tickets that were supposed to cost £148.50 each were being rebranded as “in demand standing tickets” with a price tag of £355.20 each.

A Ticketmaster spokesperson said the company does not set prices itself, pointing to a page on its website that states: “Promoters and artists set ticket prices. Prices may be fixed or market-based. Market-based tickets are labeled ‘Platinum’ or ‘In Demand.'”

UK Music Director Tom Kiehl called the inflated ticket prices “deeply concerning” on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Of course the natural inclination if you can’t get tickets is to look for alternative sources, but I would strongly urge music fans today, if they can’t get tickets, not to go that route.”

The concerts will take place in July and August in Cardiff, London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin.

Oasis’ 2025 UK and Ireland tour dates are: July 4, 5, Principality Stadium, Cardiff; July 11, 12, 19, 20, Heaton Park, Manchester; July 25, 26, August 2, 3, Wembley; August 8, 9, Murrayfield, Edinburgh; and August 16, 17, Croke Park, Dublin.

The concerts come 16 years after the band’s acrimonious split, when Noel Gallagher left before a performance at a French festival, and 30 years after the release of their second album, 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?