Did Oasis sell out yesterday? Definitely in Dublin. Maybe in Manchester. It's hard to say.
Fans struggled to buy around one million tickets for the Manchester band's 17-date comeback tour, which went on sale at 9am yesterday. Tickets were expected to sell out within minutes, but many ended up waiting for hours in online queues, growing frustrated and eventually being booted off booking sites.
It was probably inevitable that there would be drama surrounding an Oasis reunion: the band's brothers, Noel and Liam Gallagher, had a notoriously tempestuous relationship and didn't speak to each other for a long time after they split in 2009. If they're still keeping score, they're probably just as likely to be pleased that this has caused a bigger shock than last year's reunion of Britpop rivals Blur.
The star of the night was “Error 503,” not a song by cult '90s musician Aphex Twin, but the message some people received after thinking they'd reached the front of the queue.
Some people who were able to pick up tickets to concerts in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Dublin, London and, of course, Manchester found that prices had unexpectedly increased (in some cases doubling) due to dynamic pricing policies.
Ticketmaster, Gigs and Tours and See Tickets web portals all appear to be struggling with demand, sparking a flurry of social media posts from fans, politicians and celebrities.
Former Channel 5 news anchor Strictly Come Dancing “There has to be a fairer, simpler and more efficient way to sell tickets that isn't open to scalpers, scammers, scalpers and bots,” star Jonathan McGregor said.
“In queue, out of queue, refresh/no refresh, waiting in line, back of line, accused of being a bot…timeout.”
Zara Sultana, MP for Coventry South, posted a screenshot of her failed attempt to buy a ticket. “Nationalise Ticketmaster,” she wrote.
A limited number of people were able to secure tickets through an advance lottery on Friday evening, although some appear to have resold their tickets, with floor standing tickets selling for between £720 and £4,500 on StubHub, and lower tier seats going for £9,037.
Ticket resale has been a significant issue for Oasis, with the band warning that any tickets sold in breach of these terms and conditions will be cancelled by the promoter.
But Jake Moore, global cybersecurity adviser at software security firm Eset, said scalpers, who often use automated software to manipulate ticket-selling websites, could be behind the issues with ticket-selling websites.
“Since Taylor Swift is the next concert series there has been high demand for tickets so I think it's very likely that bots will be used,” he said.
There's also been a lot of noise about dynamic pricing of tickets, with fans reporting seeing standard tickets, previously priced at £148.50, relabelled as “popular standing tickets” priced at £355.20 each.
A Ticketmaster spokesman said the company does not set prices itself, and pointed to a page on its website that states, “Promoters and artists set ticket prices. Prices may be either fixed or market based. Market-based tickets are labeled 'Platinum' or 'In Demand.'”
UK Music chief executive Tom Keil told BBC Radio 4 that rising ticket prices were a “huge concern”. today The show featured the news as one of several reports covering the ticket sales.
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“Of course, if tickets are not available, it is natural to look for alternatives,” Keel said, “but I would urge today's music fans not to take that route if tickets are not available.”
By 1.23pm, Ticketmaster's Irish site reported that all tickets for the show in Dublin's Croke Park had been sold out, while tickets continued to be listed on its UK site later in the day, albeit with a warning that “limited availability” was still available.
Those who made it through voting and last-minute website issues said they were looking forward to a “special” concert after securing sought-after tickets.
Super Oasis fans Joseph Martin (29) and his fiancée Molly Abbott (26) were hit with a “roller coaster of emotions.” Abbott, who was on holiday in Greece, started queuing at 8am. About two hours later, the unbelievable happened. “She got to the front of the line and then the site crashed and she got kicked out,” he said. “She called me crying and said, 'Oh my God, I'm never listening to Oasis again.' I was gutted.”
A short time later, he received a text message from Abbott saying, “Oh, I tried again and ended up buying two tickets at the register.”
The couple consider Oasis their “favourite” band – Abbott even has a “Don't Look Back in Anger” tattoo – and were considering paying the exorbitant price if the concert didn't go through on Saturday morning – but instead could shell out £350 a night for a hotel room – roughly the same as the cost of the tickets.
