After breaking up 15 years ago, iconic rock band Oasis announced on Aug. 27 that they would be reuniting for a U.K. and Ireland tour in 2025. The news that formerly feuding brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher will once again share the stage has been met with enthusiasm—but not without controversy.
The announcement of the tour resulted in an “unprecedented demand” for tickets, leading the band to add even more U.K. and Ireland dates. Still, the quest for tickets via Ticketmaster has been marred with frustration over technological issues, pricing, and touts.
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Here’s a breakdown of the Oasis ticketing controversy and where things currently stand.
Issues with Ticketmaster
On Friday, Aug. 30, fans who had been selected in the pre-sale ballot waited in a queue on Ticketmaster—which dominates concert and sporting tickets around the world—ahead of the three-hour window for pre-sale purchases. On X (formerly Twitter), many fans complained about technical difficulties preventing them from accessing tickets. Some people got locked out of their Ticketmaster accounts, or were virtually queuing behind tens of thousands of people, only to be kicked out of the Ticketmaster queue or to receive an error notification once they finally reach the checkout stage of the ticket-buying process.
When the tickets went on general sale on Saturday, Aug. 31, fans complained of the same issues.
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Former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson, widely known to be a long-time Oasis fan, even entered the conversation. While attending the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon, he shared that he had been in the queue for reunion tour tickets, but was unlucky and hadn’t received a (pre-sale ballot) code.
In addition to the queuing and technical problems, there’s also been backlash about the prices. Within an hour of the pre-sale, tickets appeared on re-selling sites for triple the face value.
Oasis spoke out on X about the controversy and prices, telling fans that tickets can only be re-sold at face value via certain websites. “Tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either counterfeit or will be cancelled by the promoters,” the post read.
Yet, the controversy is also connected to Ticketmaster’s own price raising, since during the sale, they upped their own prices for “in-demand” tickets. As fans finally entered the ticket-selection portion of the website, they found out that tickets that were originally £148 ($194) were being sold at £355 ($466). Ticketmaster introduced this “in-demand” dynamic pricing system in 2022, which allows their prices to inflate according to the market demand.
Fans referred to the raised ticket prices as “problematic,” with some comparing Ticketmaster to touts.
“As anticipated, millions of fans accessed our site and were placed in a queue, which moved along as they bought tickets,”a Ticketmaster spokesperson told TIME in an email. “We always advise fans to hold their place in line, make sure they’re only using one tab, clear cookies, and ensure they aren’t using any VPN software on their device.”
They added: “To clarify, Ticketmaster does not set ticket prices.”
On its website, Ticketmaster states: “Promoters and artists set ticket prices. Prices can be either fixed or market-based. Market-based tickets are labeled as ‘Platinum’ or ‘In Demand.’”
This is not the first time Ticketmaster has been at the heart of controversy over their ticket system. During the sale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, the company came under fire after fans waited in a queue for hours during pre-sale, just for the website to glitch at the last moment, with Ticketmaster eventually canceling the general sale.
Are Oasis adding extra shows to the 2025 U.K. and Ireland tour?
Due to the difficulties and demand for tickets, many fans are calling for Oasis to add more tour dates for their now-sold out 2025 tour in the U.K. and Ireland.
Calls for more dates come after Oasis already added an additional three extra shows in the U.K. ahead of the tickets going on sale.
It is not yet known if Oasis will be adding further additional dates in light of the continued public demand.
TIME has reached out to Oasis’ representatives for comment.
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