New York (AFP) – Oasis on Monday announced a North American leg of their reunion tour, after selling out their dates across Britain and Ireland. The Britpop rockers said they will play starting late next summer in Toronto, Mexico City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and East Rutherford, New Jersey, which houses a stadium outside of New York.
“America. Oasis is coming. You have one last chance to prove that you loved us all along,” the band wrote in a statement. Oasis, whose hits include “Wonderwall,” “Don’t Look Back In Anger,” and “Champagne Supernova,” last played together in 2009. News that brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher were setting aside their infamous 15-year feud to reunite for a string of concerts triggered a frenzy among fans.
The chaotic scramble for prized tickets for the original 17 concerts saw sudden big price hikes — known as dynamic pricing — hours-long waits online, and hopes dashed for some by technical glitches. It left many fans enraged, and the UK’s competition watchdog said it was investigating Ticketmaster over its handling of the sales. Following the hubbub, the band scheduled two more UK dates, with the brothers denying they had anything to do with the dynamic pricing.
America is no stranger to ticketing chaos: Ticketmaster’s pricing practices for concerts and other events, with high fees and lack of alternatives, have long been a political issue in the United States, with little done historically to open up the market to more competition. The pre-sale in 2022 for Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” memorably saw lawmakers in Washington hold hearings questioning Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation — a mammoth concert promoting company — over its practices.
Earlier this year, the US Department of Justice filed a major antitrust lawsuit seeking to break up the alleged monopoly between Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary Ticketmaster.
© 2024 AFP
