Oasis announce two extra Wembley Stadium shows

Published

2 weeks ago

September 4, 2024

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Oasis have announced two extra Wembley Stadium shows after their tour sold out over the weekend – and addressed the controversy over sales for the first time.

Both Noel and Liam Gallagher, as well as Ticketmaster, came under fire over the initial release, after fans spent hours in virtual queues and some tickets ended up costing more than double due to “in demand” pricing for the reunion tour.

Amid the backlash over prices, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced an “urgent review” of dynamic pricing to ensure consumers are being treated fairly, while Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy promised a government review and the European Commission also said it would examine the issue.

Now, Oasis have announced two further dates at Wembley Stadium in September. There will be a staggered “special invitation-only ballot ticket sale strategy”, the band said, devised “as a small step towards making amends for the situation”.

They said it needed “to be made clear” the band “leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management, and at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used”.

Applications to join the ballot for the September shows will be opened first to fans who were unsuccessful in the initial sale, they said.

“Inevitably interest in this tour is so overwhelming that it’s impossible to schedule enough shows to fulfil public demand,” the band’s statement continued. “But this ticket sale strategy will make the process far smoother for fans by reducing the stress and time it takes to obtain one of the hottest tickets of our time.”

Prior meetings between promoters, Ticketmaster and the band’s management “resulted in a positive ticket sale strategy”, which would have been a fair experience for fans, they said – including dynamic ticketing “to help keep general ticket prices down as well as reduce touting”. However, “the execution of the plan failed to meet expectations”.

They added: “All parties involved did their utmost to deliver the best possible fan experience, but due to the unprecedented demand this became impossible to achieve.”

When and where will the Oasis gigs take place?

4 July 2025 – Principality Stadium, Cardiff

5 July 2025 – Principality Stadium, Cardiff

11 July 2025 – Heaton Park, Manchester

12 July 2025 – Heaton Park, Manchester

16 July 2025 – Heaton Park, Manchester

19 July 2025 – Heaton Park, Manchester

20 July 2025 – Heaton Park, Manchester

25 July 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London

26 July 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London

30 July 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London

2 August 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London

3 August 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London

8 August 2025 – Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

9 August 2025 – Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

12 August 2025 – Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

16 August 2025 – Croke Park, Dublin

17 August 2025 – Croke Park, Dublin

27 September 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London – added date

28 September 2025 – Wembley Stadium, London – added date

The frenzy for tickets for the initial shows started way before they went on sale at 9am (8am for two gigs in Dublin) on Saturday, as Manchester-based promoter SJM Concerts’ website Gigs and Tours, Ticketmaster and See Tickets all told website visitors they would need to wait for the page to refresh to join a queue.

After the initial sale opened, tickets worth £148 were being sold for £355 on Ticketmaster within hours of release, due to the dynamic pricing systems which can raise costs in the event of high demand and limited supply.

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

Formed in the early 1990s, Oasis rose to fame with songs such as Supersonic, Cigarettes & Alcohol and Live Forever, before second album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory gave them their first number one single, Some Might Say, the following year.

With other hits including Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger, Stand By Me, Lyla and The Importance Of Being Idle, they became one of the biggest bands in British music history.

But tensions between the Gallagher brothers often ran high, and Noel eventually quit the band ahead of a show in Paris in 2009, saying he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer”.

The feud continued over the years, with the pair exchanging insults publicly but reportedly never speaking in person.

Fans had long hoped for a reunion – and now, finally, the brothers appear to have put their differences behind them.

While those who did get tickets were happy to ensure their place at the gigs, the sales controversy had somewhat tainted the long hoped-for reunion announcement.

Entertainment

Kylie Minogue reveals major world tour news – her biggest in more than a decade

Published

8 hours ago

September 19, 2024

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Kylie Minogue reveals major world tour news - her biggest in more than a decade

Kylie Minogue has announced her biggest tour in more than a decade – as well as a new album.

The pop star’s Tension tour will open in her home country, Australia, before heading to Asia and reaching the UK in May 2025. More countries and dates in Europe and North and South America are set to be announced over the coming weeks.

It comes after huge success last year with her viral sensation hit Padam Padam and album Tension, as well as a Las Vegas residency and a big show at Hyde Park in London earlier in the summer.

“I am beyond excited to announce the Tension tour 2025,” Minogue said in a statement sent to Sky News. “I can’t wait to share beautiful and wild moments with fans all over the world, celebrating the Tension era and more!

“It’s been an exhilarating ride so far and now, get ready for your close up because I will be calling Lights, Camera, Action… and there will be a whole lot of Padaming!”

The UK dates include shows in Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham and Birmingham, and two at London’s O2 Arena.

Minogue first teased the news as she announced her new album, Tension II, earlier today – revealing the sequel will be released in October, with the lead single, Lights Camera Action coming on 27 September.

“But wait! There’s more…” she added.

The tour announcement followed this afternoon. It will be Minogue’s first since her Golden shows in 2018 and 2019 and her biggest since the Aphrodite: Les Folies tour in 2011, which followed the Aphrodite album and hits including All The Lovers and Get Outta My Way.

The new album includes the dance hit Edge of Saturday Night with The Blessed Madonna, as well as collaborations with Orville Peck, Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo, and Sia.

“The Tension era has been so special to me,” the star said. “I can’t possibly let it be over just yet!”

Minogue, who rose to fame on Australian soap Neighbours in the 1980s before becoming a pop mega star, has had hits throughout the decades ever since – from I Should Be So Lucky, Hand On Your Heart and Better The Devil You Know, to Confide In Me, Spinning Around and Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.

Padam Padam, released in 2023, marked another reinvention with a move into electronic dance, and became a viral hit.

Earlier this year, she was named a global icon at the Brit Awards, and won the Grammy for best pop dance recording for the single.

Entertainment

Geoff Hinsliff: Star who played Coronation Street villain Don Brennan has died

Published

9 hours ago

September 19, 2024

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Geoff Hinsliff: Star who played Coronation Street villain Don Brennan has died

Coronation Street star Geoff Hinsliff has died aged 87, ITV has said.

The actor was best known for playing Don Brennan on the soap from 1987 to 1997. He died last weekend.

Helen Worth, who plays Gail Platt in the show, paid tribute to Hinsliff on behalf of Coronation Street and ITV, saying: “Geoff was a lovely, quiet man who will be sadly missed by us all.

“His partnership with Lynne Perrie was something rather special and they gave the viewers huge pleasure for many years.”

Born in Leeds, Hinsliff studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and initially appeared on Coronation Street in 1963 and 1977 as different characters.

He joined the cast as taxi driver Don in 1987.

His 10-year stint on the cobbles saw him commit kidnap and attempted murder after several business deals went wrong before his character died when he crashed his car into a viaduct.

Hinsliff made his television debut in an episode of Z-Cars and also appeared in Doctor Who, Brass and the film A Bridge Too Far.

He made his last TV appearance in Heartbeat in 2003.

Entertainment

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs refused bail a second time as he faces sex trafficking charges

Published

12 hours ago

September 19, 2024

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs refused bail a second time as he faces sex trafficking charges

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been refused bail a second time as he faces several charges including sex trafficking, drug possession and firearms offences.

US district judge Andrew L Carter said the government had proved “by clear and convincing evidence that there is no condition or set of conditions” that will ensure the safety of the community and that the rapper and music mogul will not tamper with witnesses.

The 54-year-old pleaded not guilty after he was first arrested by officers at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, New York, on Monday.

He was originally denied bail and told he would be detained after pleading not guilty to three felony counts during an initial court appearance on Tuesday.

Lawyers representing Combs asked a judge on Wednesday to let him await his trial at his luxury home on an island near Miami Beach, as opposed to in jail in Brooklyn.

But prosecutors argued against the proposal, saying there was too great a risk that Combs could threaten or harm witnesses.

Combs’s lawyers offered a $50m (£37.8m) bail package in exchange for his release to home detention with GPS monitoring and strict limitations on who could visit him.

Arguing to keep him behind bars, prosecutor Emily Johnson told the judge that Combs had a long history of intimidating both accusers and witnesses to his alleged abuse.

Ms Johnson cited text messages from women who said Combs forced them into “Freak Offs” and then threatened to leak explicit videos of them engaging in sexual acts.

She also said that Combs’s own defence team was “minimising and horrifically understating” his propensity for violence.

The defence and prosecution were wrangling over the request before the judge passed his ruling.

“I am feeling confident. We’re going to go get Mr Combs out of jail,” Combs’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo said on his way into court on Wednesday, before the judge decided Combs would spend his time before the trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

A legal indictment released after Combs’s arrest detailed allegations dating to 2008, accusing him of abusing, threatening, and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.

He allegedly induced female victims and male sex workers into drug-fuelled sexual performances, dubbed “Freak Offs”, according to the report.

Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, was once one of the most influential figures in hip-hop – famous as a producer and manager of the late Notorious BIG, as well as a rapper in his own right for hits including I’ll Be Missing You, Come With Me, and Bad Boy For Life.

However, in November, his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, filed a lawsuit accusing him of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fuelled settings.

The suit was settled in one day, but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her to the floor.

He apologised after the video aired, saying: “I was disgusted when I did it.”