Oasis, the tabloids: “There will be no more dates in Great Britain”

Between endless virtual queues and technical issues, are you not among the one and a half million fans who managed to purchase tickets for the UK and Ireland concerts of the Oasis reunion tour? Please know that no further dates will be announced.

At least that’s what the tabloids across the Channel are saying, starting with The Mirror. The London daily confirms that the 17 dates announced by the Gallagher brothers and sold out in less than a day will be the only chance to see the Britpop legends in action after fifteen years in Great Britain and Europe in general. Oasis will announce other dates, yes, but on other continents. The news is destined to be a cold shower for the many fans who tried their luck, but were unable to buy tickets for the shows.

After the pre-sale on Friday night reserved for the winners of the lottery surprisingly announced by Oasis, general sales opened at 9 am Italian time on Saturday 31 August, for the concerts in Ireland, and at 10 am for those in England, Wales and Scotland. Millions of fans around the world tried to get their hands on tickets, battling against a thousand obstacles: first the long virtual queues, then the technical problems of Ticketmaster (the site crashed due to too many simultaneous accesses), then the mockery of the so-called “dynamic pricing” (the increase in prices based on demand: many users at the time of purchase found themselves having to spend more money than they had planned), and finally that of secondary ticketing, or resales on unofficial channels at increased prices. Finally, at 8 pm sharp, the official announcement arrived, with a post published by Oasis themselves: “Oasis’ 2025 UK and Ireland dates are now sold out”.

On the subject of the practice of “dynamic pricing”: as already reported by Rockol, the British government will launch an investigation into the practice – which is a legal one and has nothing to do with secondary ticketing and online speculation, but aims to maximize profits by leveraging market demand, which consists in fixing the price of concert tickets based on demand – in light of what happened during the sales of tickets for the Oasis tour.

Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said it was “depressing to see such high (ticket) prices excluding ordinary fans”, announcing that Keir Starmer’s government would examine “issues around transparency and the use of dynamic pricing, including the queuing technology that incentivises it”.

And as the British government announces an investigation into dynamic pricing, rumors are swirling about who will be joining Liam and Noel on stage for the reunion shows. It was initially written that no other former band member would be taking part in the concerts. That’s not quite right. According to British tabloids, guitarist Paul Arthurs, aka “Bonehead,” will definitely be there: “It’s confirmed. Both brothers wanted him in the band and he was one of the hosts of the reunion. Noel also brought some of his band members. The Oasis family has really come together. Bonehead is delighted,” an anonymous source told The Sun. But he won’t be the only one. Former drummer Alan White, who was in Oasis from 1995 to 2004, posted a photo of his historic kit on Instagram, suggesting he’ll be there too.