Hundreds of thousands of fans are jostling to get tickets for the highly anticipated match Oasis reunion tour We faced error messages and long online queues as platforms ran out of demand.
The Britpop-era band, fronted by brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, thrilled fans this week when they announced they would be performing together for the first time in 15 years. They are set to play 17 shows in Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin starting on July 4, 2025.
More than a million tickets are on sale with prices starting at just under $100.
Early Saturday, some people trying to access the handful of authorized sales sites, including Ticketmaster and Gigs and Tours, received error messages, while many others were told they were in a long queue with thousands of people waiting.
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Within hours, tickets began appearing on resale sites for prices as high as $7,800.
The group was quick to issue a warning, stating that tickets could only be resold at face value on authorised sites.
“Tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either counterfeit or will be cancelled by the promoters,” he said in a statement on social media.
Josh Jeffery, a videographer who lives near Edinburgh, spent hours working his way up the queue for online tickets, before “the whole site collapsed” at the last stop.
“I gave up, my friends gave up,” said Jeffery, who first saw Oasis in Manchester in 1996 as a teenager. “We just decided it was too complicated.
“While I was in line, I heard ‘Wonderwall’ playing from my neighbor’s house,” he added, saddened. “He obviously had tickets.”
Some fans managed to buy tickets through a pre-sale lottery on Friday, with barista Isabelle Doyle saying she was “over the moon” after securing two tickets to one of the band’s London shows.
“I’ve been an Oasis fan for about 10 years now, literally since I was 11,” the 21-year-old said. “To finally be able to see them after they helped me through my teenage years is absolutely incredible and I’m so excited.”
The tour will kick off on July 4 and 5 at the Principality Stadium. Oasis will also perform at Manchester’s Heaton Park on July 11, 12, 16, 19 and 20; London’s Wembley Stadium on July 25, 26 and 30 and August 2 and 3; Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium on August 8, 9 and 12; and Dublin’s Croke Park on August 16 and 17.
Group separation and reunion
Formed in Manchester in 1991, Oasis were one of the most dominant British bands of the 1990s, with hits like “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” Their sound was fueled by sing-along rock choruses and the explosive chemistry between guitarist-songwriter Noel and his singer brother Liam.
The band split in 2009 after many years of internal strife. Noel Gallagher officially left the band just before a performance at a festival near Paris. Even before the breakup, the two brothers had a long-standing conflictual relationship.
“People will write and say what they want, but I simply couldn’t continue working with Liam one more day,” Noel Gallagher, the band’s guitarist and songwriter, wrote in a statement at the time.
Although the Gallagher brothers have not performed together since, both regularly performed Oasis songs during their solo concerts.
In 2011, Noel Gallagher told the Associated Press in an interview that he left the band after an incident in which Liam Gallagher began swinging a guitar “like an axe… and he swung that guitar and kind of ripped my face off with it, you know?”
In 2019, Liam Gallagher told the AP he was ready to reconcile.
“The most important thing is that he and I are brothers,” he said. “He thinks I’m desperate to get the band back together for money. But I didn’t join the band to make money. I joined the band to have fun and see the world.”
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Earlier this week, the Britpop forefathers ended their a few days of fan speculation A short video on the band’s social media accounts on Sunday night revealed the date “27.08.24” and the time “8:00”, written in the same font as the famous Oasis logo. The brothers shared the same on their individual accounts.
Announcing the reunion, the band said fans would experience the “spark and intensity” that only happens when they appear on stage together.
Big payday
Ticket prices for concerts in London, Cardiff and Edinburgh range from $97 to just over $260 for seated tickets and around $200 for standing. In Manchester, the cheapest tickets are $195 for standing, with no seating.
The most expensive option is a $666 London concert package that includes a pre-show party, entry to an Oasis exhibition, memorabilia and a “premium collectible.”
Tickets for Dublin shows start at $96 plus a booking fee.
Alice Enders, research director at media consultancy Enders Analysis, said the band could expect a big payday, even though the tour, currently limited to the UK and Ireland, pales in comparison to global behemoths like Taylor Swift’s Eras tour.
“Streaming is not really profitable,” she said. “The only way most artists make money these days is by performing live.”
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She said Oasis is trying to catch up in a live music market that has seen “a relentless increase in spending, consumer spending and demand for festivals”.
“They’ve missed a major trend for 15 years,” Enders said. “So it’s a good thing they’re jumping on it now. If they wait too long, they’ll just be a bunch of old farts.”
Host cities are planning an economic boost for hotels, bars, restaurants and shops, particularly Manchester, the band’s hometown and a city renowned for its musical heritage.
Sacha Lord, Manchester’s official adviser on the night-time economy, said there was “a big buzz” in the city about the reunion.
“It’s a homecoming concert,” he said. “When they step on that stage for the first time, it’s going to be a really special moment.”
