Oasis gigs sell out as fans criticise surge in prices

The Oasis comeback tour has sold out for all the dates the band announced they would play across the UK and Ireland next summer.

The band wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that tickets for all 17 gigs had been scooped up as of 19:00 BST on Saturday - but many fans criticised the sales process and prices.

Throughout the day, hundreds of thousands of fans sat in online queues in the hope of being able to buy a first-hand view of a tour that comes 15 years after the group disbanded in an acrimonious split.

“Dynamic pricing” on Ticketmaster, where prices rise in line with demand, set some remaining tickets at more than £350 - up from £135 when the sale began.

Earlier this week, standing price tickets for Cardiff, London and Edinburgh were advertised as £135 plus fees. But angry fans online said they noted "in demand" pricing on Ticketmaster had increased prices to £355 plus fees.

Ticketmaster say they do not set ticket prices.

A link on the ticketing website stated: "Promoters and artists set ticket prices. Prices can be either fixed or market-based. Market-based tickets are labelled as 'Platinum' or 'In Demand'."

Ticketmaster confirmed that fans did not get anything else for the price increase.

Oasis and the band's promoter were not commenting on the issue on Saturday evening.

Dynamic pricing is not new and is allowed under consumer protection laws.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told the BBC it could not pass comment on Ticketmaster's pricing in this instance.

“We encourage anyone with concerns to get in touch with us and we’d carefully assess whether there were any grounds for action,” an ASA spokesperson said.

But they added: “Our rules (the Advertising Codes) are clear – quoted prices must not mislead.”

Within minutes of Saturday's morning sale, some people looking for tickets for gigs at London's Wembley Stadium next July and August found more than one million people ahead of them in the queue.

Others were put into a "queue for the queue" with all three ticket sellers redirecting people to a page saying their sites were experiencing high demand.

Tickets were on sale from 09:00 BST and an hour earlier for Ireland, where issues accessing the Ticketmaster website were also reported.

Some hopefuls also said they had been "suspended" by Ticketmaster after it accused them of being bots - automatic computer programmes that can snap up tickets quicker than humans.

Jamie Moore, 50, from East Kilbride, was hoping to get tickets to see Oasis and “re-live the good times” but was kicked out when he reached the front of the online queue after being mistaken for a bot.

Mr Moore says he has “never been so let down by a website” in his life.

Many others have expressed frustration and anger at how the website handled demand.

Ticketmaster's website called for patience from fans, saying that “as expected Oasis is incredibly popular” and encouraged people to keep their places, “clear cookies”, and avoid using VPN software on their device.

Noel and Liam Gallagher announced on Tuesday that they had put their differences behind them, confirming the band's long-awaited reunion.

The group disbanded 15 years ago following a backstage brawl between the brothers at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris.

On Friday, shortly after a three-hour pre-sale for a limited number of fans began, tickets for the UK gigs were being listed on resale websites like StubHub and Viagogo for more than £6,000 - around 40 times the face value of a standing ticket.

They included:

• £6,000 for Oasis's show at Wembley Stadium in London on 26 July

• Between £916 and £4,519 for the first concert of the tour at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on 4 July

• Over £4,000 for standing tickets at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium on 12 August

• More than £2,500 for the band's homecoming concert at Manchester's Heaton Park on 12 July

Standing tickets for the shows were expected to cost about £150, while standard seated tickets range from £73 to about £205. Prices for official premium packages go up to £506.

About 1.4 million tickets are expected to be available for the 17 outdoor concerts.

Oasis urged people not to resell tickets at higher prices on websites not linked to their promoter, and said those tickets would be "cancelled".

It added that they could only be resold at face value on the websites Ticketmaster and Twickets.

"Tickets sold in breach of the terms and conditions will be cancelled by the promoters," the band said.

Meanwhile, Viagogo issued a statement in which it said "resale is legal in the UK".

Cris Miller, Viagogo global managing director, said "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."

A consultation into ticket resale prices and “rip off” touts will be launched in the Autumn, the government has said.

Nayat Karakose with Liam Gallagher when he visited Istanbul in 2018 - and aged 15 standing outside Noel Gallagher's house

There was joy for some fans who managed to get tickets.

Nayat Karakose, 41, from Istanbul got two tickets to see the band in Wembley in the pre-sale on Friday.

She told the BBC that when she found out she got the tickets, she said she felt "supersonic".

“My heart was beating, I was super, super excited, I couldn’t believe it for the moment. I thought I’d have to pay a couple of thousands pounds," she said.

Ms Karakose has been a fan since she was 13 and this will be her third time seeing the band live.

Six years ago she met Liam Gallagher in Istanbul and got a photograph with him as he was about to leave a hotel, but added "it would be a dream to meet Noel Gallagher".

Rachael Board, 51, from Devon, got two tickets to see Oasis at Wembley - but paid more than £900 after failing to get cheaper tickets.

A longstanding fan, she told the BBC that "we got caught up in the vibe," adding that she "would never think I was that person who would spend so much on a concert ticket".

Oasis were formed in Manchester in 1991 - their original line-up was Liam and Noel Gallagher, guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs, bassist Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and drummer Tony McCarroll.

As hype for the gigs builds, sales and streams of the band's back catalogue have surged, putting three albums into the top five of the UK charts on Friday.

Greatest hits collection Time Flies is at number three, 1995's What's The Story Morning Glory is at four, and debut Definitely Maybe - released on 29 August 1994 - is in fifth place, at the time of writing.

A 30th anniversary edition of Definitely Maybe was released on Friday.