Oasis is back. The band’s warring brothers, Liam and Noel Gallagher, have patched up their differences nearly 15 years after a backstage brawl led to the end of one of the most popular bands of the 1990s.
In what is set to be the biggest music event of 2025, Oasis has announced a wave of shows across the UK and Ireland, with fans lining up to compete for tickets when the shows go live on Saturday morning.
The pre-sale, which closes at 8 p.m. Wednesday, has received “an extremely high number of entries,” the band’s website said after launching a vote for tickets.
That wave of early potential buyers had to go through a few hurdles before they could sign up, including being quizzed about their Oasis fans.
Oasis called out ticket sellers, known as “touts,” in a pre-sale message, and had questions to try to deter them and perhaps even regular concertgoers.
Fans were asked how many times they had seen the band, who last appeared on stage at V Festival in 2009, although Sellers stressed that this would not affect respondents’ chances of voting.
However, the band was also keen to test fans’ general knowledge, asking buyers to name the band’s original drummer.
A quick Google search in a separate tab can quickly turn up the unaware fans (that’s Tony McCarroll, by the way). But the line of questioning posed before the ballot was allowed in echoes a debate that has swirled online since Oasis announced their reunion: should only “real” fans be allowed to buy tickets?
The debate between generations continues.
Since Oasis broke up nearly 15 years ago, there have been a number of Britpop imitators to please fans looking for a ’90s soundtrack. Liam and Noel have embarked on their own projects, often playing Oasis hits during their shows.
Oasis’ rivals Blur, the British pop band that has remained largely unchanged this century, played to a sold-out crowd at Wembley Stadium last year.
Catfish and the Bottlemen, an Oasis-inspired band, are likely to curse their bad luck after booking a huge gig at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the same night that Oasis are due to play one of their citywide shows at Wembley.
However, Oasis has also managed to attract a new wave of younger fans, who have embraced the band’s music and ’90s culture more broadly since their breakup in 2009.
These fans have sparked a debate on social media about who deserves tickets to their reunion.
Older Gen X fans, who may have seen the band during their initial rise when they routinely sold out arenas and played to 500,000 people at Knebworth in 1996, objected to the idea that they might lose out at the expense of younger fans.
Imagine waiting 15 years for Oasis to reform only to lose tickets to Chloe, a 21-year-old from Stockport who just wants to hear Wonderwall live. #Oasis_Meeting
— Billy Corcoran (@BillyCorcoran) August 26, 2024
This view has been widely criticised online, with others claiming that those who have never had the chance to see Oasis perform should be the first to do so.
Despite their differences, both groups agree on who their main enemy is: ticket sellers.
Distributors in the Spotlight
There is huge expectation that Oasis tickets will become the latest in a long line of tickets flooding resale sites, which have become a blight on the modern concert experience.
Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have been high-profile acts in recent years with tickets for their concerts appearing on resale sites like Viagogo and StubHub for thousands of dollars.
Last year, Chris Miller, Viagogo’s global general manager, defended the model, which has been heavily criticized inside and outside the industry.
“Buyers make their own decisions,” Miller said. “If they see a ticket out there that’s outside their price range or comfort zone, they don’t buy it.”
Hoteliers in cities hosting Oasis concerts are also being criticised for the reported Cancel previous reservations On concert nights before it was re-listed for a much higher price.
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