Concert tickets Oasis' UK reunion shows went on sale to the public on Saturday, and as expected given previous events have seen huge demand, things haven't gone smoothly for many fans.
After pre-sales on Friday and a strict warning about reselling tickets on the secondary market, the majority of tickets for the reunion shows went on sale on Saturday morning, with reports that more than a million people queued just to buy tickets for the London shows at Wembley Stadium alone.
However, many fans have taken to social media to recount their harrowing ticket-buying experiences, from reporting “glitches” on the Ticketmaster website to people saying the site accused them of being “bots” and therefore had their purchases reported and cancelled.
The Independent wrote that “Error 503” – the page some fans were directed to when trying to buy tickets – and “chaos” were trending topics in the UK in the hours after tickets went on sale.
British politician Zara Sultana, a Labour MP, was among those whose purchases were “suspended” due to their robot-like behaviour.
“As expected, Oasis is very popular. We are processing orders as quickly as possible, so please stay in line,” Ticketmaster said in a message to fans.
“We advise fans to keep their place in line, ensure they only use one tab, clear cookies, and ensure they are not using any VPN software on their devices.”
Despite the difficulties and long lines that extended for hours, Ticketmaster warned fans on Saturday that “tickets for the Oasis concert are still available, but stock is now limited and not all ticket prices are available.”
It was the last sentence that also sparked fans' anger: although general admission tickets were listed for pre-sale at £150, on Saturday morning when general admission tickets were being bought, a new option for purchasing tickets appeared: “Standing on Demand”, which costs over £400.
Fans were quick to notice that there was no difference between general admission tickets and “on-demand” standing tickets other than the cost, which Ticketmaster wrote was “dynamically priced.” It added: “Based on demand, these ticket prices may change.”
The “standing demand” tickets even caused fans to post a community note on Oasis' tweet about the tickets: “Oasis posted ticket prices that put standing tickets at most of their venues at around £150. That's face value. Oasis allowed Ticketmaster to sell via dynamic pricing that had the same £150 tickets listed for £350 or more.”
However, the dynamically priced tickets are selling for much less than the Oasis tickets that have so far appeared on the secondary market. Despite warnings of cancellations on those sites, hundreds of tickets have been listed on secondary sites such as Viagogo, which issued a statement on Saturday claiming that “reselling is legal in the UK”. “Fans are always protected by our guarantee that they will receive their tickets,” Viagogo’s chief executive told the BBC. “Demand will be at its peak when tickets go on sale, but that is not a natural reflection of what tickets can and will sell for.”
However, Oasis and Ticketmaster confirmed on Saturday that “tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either fraudulent or will be cancelled by the organisers”.
