Isle Of Wight boss defends Oasis after ticket price controversy: “People vote with their feet”
Isle Of Wight Festival boss John Giddings has defended Oasis over the backlash they received about ticket prices for their 2025 reunion tour.
Speaking at ‘Experience 25’ – an exhibition celebrating the history of the IOW Fest – Giddings explained (via Music News): “I think that they expected a big demand, I don’t think they expected more than 10 million people to apply for over a million tickets.
“What people don’t realise, what the general public don’t appreciate, is that within a ticket price 20 per cent of it goes to the government in VAT before you begin.”
He continued: “It’s 10 times more expensive to put on shows since COVID, since Brexit, since all of that, and artists want to present a show. The back screen, the fireworks and everything going off with it.
“That’s what audiences want because we can see by the number of tickets they’re buying. People vote with their feet – if they don’t want to come then we’re all dead in the water.”
Giddings is a music agent and promotor, and serves as the managing director of Solo Music Agency. He has previously worked for the likes of David Bowie, and represented artists such as Lady Gaga, The Police and Simple Minds.
Despite the Isle Of Wight boss’ comments about Oasis’ ticketing controversy, it is highly unlikely that Liam and Noel Gallagher will be headlining Giddings’ festival in 2025.
In August, the Britpop group shut down reports about a potential slot at Glastonbury, and said they would not be appearing at “any other festivals next year”.
There was unprecedented demand for Oasis’ huge 2025 stadium tour – where the formerly estranged Gallagher brothers will perform together for the first time in 16 years.
A press release later confirmed that over 10million fans from 158 countries attempted to get tickets, meaning the official ticketing platforms struggled to cope.
Hundreds of thousands of fans were held in online queues to access tickets when they went on sale on August 31. Many were then kicked out of the system after being incorrectly identified as ticket-tout bots.
Additionally, there were widespread complaints over price surges due to Ticketmaster’s ‘dynamic pricing’ feature (an automatic increase due to demand). Fans reported this to the Advertising Standards Agency (with investigations suggested by the UK government and the European Commission).
According to experts, not warning fans about ‘dynamic pricing’ prior to the sale may have been a breach of consumer law.
Elsewhere, official resale site Twickets U-turned on its stance – capping its booking fee at a maximum of £25 per ticket – while Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust (MVT), highlighted the struggles faced by grassroots venues.
Oasis subsequently distanced themselves from the price hikes, with a statement reading: “Oasis 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.”
In further response to the furore, Oasis announced two extra reunion shows for Wembley Stadium in London next September. Tickets for those concerts went on sale last weekend via “a special invitation-only ballot” . However, fans were divided by how the new system operated.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer even commented on the controversy in Parliament, calling the surge pricing “depressing”. “I’m committed to putting the fans at the heart of music and end extortionate price resales,” he said. “And we’re starting a consultation to work out how best we can do this.”
In other news, Liam Gallagher has teased that “there could be a few new faces” performing with Oasis as part of their 2025 comeback gigs.
Meanwhile, LG has hinted that a new Oasis album is “already finished” amid rumours and ongoing discussion about the possibility of new music from the Gallaghers.
Oasis’ full upcoming 2025 reunion tour dates are:
JULY 2025
04 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium (SOLD OUT)
05 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium (SOLD OUT)
11 – Manchester, Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
12 – Manchester, Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
16 – Manchester, Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
19 – Manchester, Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
20 – Manchester, Heaton Park (SOLD OUT)
25 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
26 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
30 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
AUGUST 2025
02 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
03 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
08 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
09 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
12 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium (SOLD OUT)
16 – Dublin, Croke Park (SOLD OUT)
17 – Dublin, Croke Park (SOLD OUT)
SEPTEMBER 2025
27 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
28 – London, Wembley Stadium (SOLD OUT)
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Tom Skinner
NME
