By Angelika Santaniello
Is the Oasis reunion one to look back at in anger, or is it simply a reflection of the UK’s live music scene? This is the question the Britpop band Oasis now faces following their anticipated reunion tour. The Oasis-Ticketmaster dynamic pricing scandal dangerously separated the band from what it has been known to be: for everyone.
The artists behind renowned tracks like Wonderwall pioneered alternative music by reshaping the sounds of rock and 1960s British pop to envelope a more introspective, raw, subject matter. What separated Britpop bands from their musical predecessors was an authentic appearance; live music was no longer about bold performances but about the livelier atmosphere generated by a crowd.
It was this sensitivity to listeners that allowed Oasis to dominate Britpop. Their music is both ordinary and unconventional, clearly for a community. Taking the group’s debut album, Definitely Maybe, listeners experience the reality of working-class life masked in a memorable rock rhythm. Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, the opening track, presents a harsher truth about pursuing one’s dreams. The line ‘they’re not concerned about the way we are’ is captivating and poignant, serving as a counterweight to the idealised lifestyle of a rockstar. We hear an ambitious speaker who refuses to be constrained by a city with ‘no easy way out,’ which becomes a recurring theme throughout the album.
What we grasp from Oasis’s pieces is a departure from glamourised rock and pop – with these genres being vessels to provide a wider social commentary. While it may be dangerous to tie an artist’s music to a wider social context, with Oasis it is almost inescapable. We hear the voices of the lead singers raised in Thatcherite Manchester, an area characterised by economic deprivation rooted in politics. Even with the band’s persona, Oasis lacked the quintessential stage presence categorising British rock at the time. Their relaxed appearance, with the Gallagher brothers wearing casual sports attire on a minimalist stage, attracted more listeners desiring the raw music experience Britpop promised.
Oasis therefore portrays a “working-class” band defined by their concerts’ atmosphere and music their crowds resonate with. But how does this translate to a contemporary live music scene?
At the height of their fame, Oasis exhibited their emphasis on creating a music community in their more accessible concerts. The Knebworth Park (1996) concert hosted a crowd of 125,000 people per night, with standing tickets costing £22.50. Similarly, the July 2009 Wembley performance cost fans £38.10 per floor standing ticket. However, it is unlikely that Oasis can continue its legacy as a “working-class” band accessible to all music fans as the 2025 reunion tour sparked a resurgence in the Ticketmaster dynamic pricing controversy. In the case of concert ticket sales, dynamic pricing usually takes the form of increasing ticket prices with a surge in demand almost instantaneously. Ticketmaster, through which Oasis sold tickets to their 2025 tour, introduced this to allow artists to increase the financial benefits of their tours.
Yet on 31 August 2024, when Oasis fans were purchasing tickets through Ticketmaster, they were faced not only with queues of up to six hours, but an incongruous use of dynamic pricing too. For example, standing tickets at the Wembley shows were initially priced at £151.25 but surged to over £350 a mere two hours later. This inevitably leads to Oasis’ live music becoming more out of reach with fans’ expectations and losing its purpose. What propelled Oasis’ music was the predominantly working-class crowd’s immersion in it, echoing British 1990s working-class culture. But this dissipates with inaccessible concerts as significantly fewer fans can access Oasis’ live music and only those willing to spend more on tickets can attend. This compromises the atmosphere defining the community Oasis’ music inspired, not only undermining the group’s legacy, but also the purpose of their music – to be for everyone.
It is “definitely maybe” the case that music is becoming more elitist by the moment. Definitely, this will lead to music being most accessible on online streaming platforms. But, only maybe, can listeners truly experience what music was intended for.
Illustrated by Sylvain Chan
