Oasis ticket-selling sites hit by outage issues

Oasis fans may struggle to get hold of general sale tickets as booking websites have experienced outages.

Manchester-based promoter SJM Concerts’ website Gigs and Tours has been unable to load since around 8.10 am on Saturday, ahead of ticket sales for the UK shows opening at 9 am.

The site displays messages saying: “Please bear with us. At the moment there are a lot of people on the site looking for tickets, so we have put a queuing system in place, which is completely normal. This page will refresh automatically and we’ll get you where you want to be as soon as a space opens up. Thank you for your patience!”

Similar issues were encountered on the ticketmaster.ie page for the two shows at Dublin’s Croke Park, which went on sale at 8 am. Instead of a page opening to buy tickets, an error number was displayed, which usually indicates a webpage is unable to handle any more connections.

A similar code was visible at gigsinscotland.com/artist/oasis as Scottish fans had difficulties getting onto the website for the Edinburgh shows. The tickets.seetickets.com/tour/oasis weblink, where you can book for several UK shows, also appeared unavailable.

A message said: “Our website is very busy! We have lots of people looking for tickets and you are being held on this page until a space becomes available. This page will refresh automatically.”

On Friday evening, the band issued a warning after unofficial reselling websites listed tickets obtained in the pre-sale ballot for thousands of pounds. A post to the band’s X page said: “We have noticed people attempting to sell tickets on the secondary market since the start of the pre-sale. Please note, tickets can ONLY be resold, at face value, via @Ticketmaster and @Twickets. Tickets sold in breach of the terms and conditions will be cancelled by the promoters.”

Tickets are officially being sold via Ticketmaster, GigsAndTours, and See Tickets, however, the band’s reunion concert tickets have also been relisted on ticket exchange and reselling websites for thousands of pounds. On Friday evening, Oasis tickets for Wembley Stadium were listed on Viagogo for up to £5,909 while some tickets at the London venue, listed under “Hospitality Club”, were on sale for £10,578 on StubHub. The StubHub website says all Oasis tickets “come with our FanProtect 100% guarantee for secure purchasing.”

On Friday evening, the band asked fans whether they were “ready” for the sale and said it is “essential” to be logged into the “relevant ticketing agencies ahead of the general sale.”

Chief executive of the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers, Jonathan Brown, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that fans need to “open their eyes and protect themselves”. He added: “It’s a dreadful combination, I suppose, you’ve got that high level of emotion, a high level of excitement about Oasis reforming, and a limited supply of tickets – and that’s going to lead to problems, it’s going to lead to people trying to scam people.”

UK Music chief executive Tom Kiehl also called inflated ticket prices of “great concern” during the Radio 4 show. Mr Kiehl added: “Obviously, it’s a natural tendency, if you can’t get tickets, to find alternative sources but I very much urge music fans today, if they don’t get tickets, not to take that route.”

Prices for a seat to watch the band at London’s Wembley Stadium begin at £74.25, with the most expensive ticket a £506.25 pre-show party, exhibition, and seated package.

The cheapest seats are for Cardiff’s Principality Stadium shows, which will set you back £73, and Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium at £74, according to Manchester-based promoter SJM Concerts, which runs the website Gigs And Tours. Standing tickets at Wembley will cost fans £151.25, with the same tickets in Cardiff and Edinburgh slightly cheaper at £150 and £151 respectively.

In the band’s home city of Manchester, tickets start from £148.50, with only standing available alongside a number of hospitality and luxury packages. Before the announcement for the UK shows, Irish promoter MCD said on its website that the price of both of the two Croke Park gigs in Dublin will start at 86.50 euros (£72.75) without booking fees.

The Gallaghers announced on Tuesday that they had put their acrimonious split behind them, confirming the band’s long-awaited reunion by saying: “The great wait is over.”

Fans have been urging the brothers to regroup since they disbanded 15 years ago, a split prompted by a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris in 2009. It has not been announced who will be performing with Liam and Noel as part of Oasis.

Noel, 57, quit the group on August 28, 2009, saying he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer”, and the brothers have made negative comments about each other for more than a decade. Viagogo and StubHub, along with the official ticket sellers, have been approached for comment.