The Culture Secretary has called the inflated selling of Oasis tickets “incredibly depressing” as she revealed that surge pricing would be included in a government review of the secondary gig sales market.

Before the backlash from Oasis fans over standard tickets more than doubling from £148 to £355 on Ticketmaster on Saturday (August 31), the government had pledged to “bring in protections to stop people being ripped off by touts”.

But on Sunday (September 1), Lisa Nandy released a statement saying: “After the incredible news of Oasis’ return, it’s depressing to see vastly inflated prices excluding ordinary fans from having a chance of enjoying their favourite band live.

“This Government is committed to putting fans back at the heart of music. So we will include issues around the transparency and use of dynamic pricing, including the technology around queuing systems which incentivise it, in our forthcoming consultation on consumer protections for ticket resales.



“Working with artists, industry and fans we can create a fairer system that ends the scourge of touts, rip-off resales and ensures tickets at fair prices.”

It is believed the ticket prices for Oasis gigs were set by promoters.

Over the weekend, fans called the “in-demand” pricing both “sickening” and “scandalous”.

Ticketmaster said it does not set prices, and its website says this is down to the “event organiser” who “has priced these tickets according to their market value”.

Lots of fans also missed out on the reunion tour tickets as they battled with website issues, and being mislabelled as bots, before Oasis announced all 17 shows had sold out.

However, Ticketmaster maintained its website had not crashed, and directed customers to clear cookies and to only use one tab.

Recommended reading:

Following Noel and Liam Gallagher announcing their Live ’25 tour on Tuesday (August 27), Oasis told followers on X that Ticketmaster and Twickets should only be used for resales, and put up for prices at “face value”, otherwise they will be “cancelled by the promoters”.

The band’s promoters, Manchester-based SJM Concerts, Irish MCD and Scottish DF Concerts & Events have all been approached for comment by PA.

Oasis have also been contacted for comment.