The highly anticipated Oasis reunion tour is officially confirmed for 2025, with founding member Andy Bell announcing his plans to rejoin the iconic band. Bell, who served as bassist for Oasis between 1999 and 2009 and later played in Liam Gallagher’s post-Oasis project, Beady Eye, brings a wealth of experience in managing the dynamic between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. In an interview with Austrian newspaper Oe24, Bell stated, “I’m in and I’m really looking forward to it. We’ll see each other on tour.”

Bell is expected to be joined by several other long-time collaborators for the live performances. His Beady Eye bandmate and fellow musician Gem Archer, who also featured on Bell’s recent solo album 'Pinball Wanderer', is anticipated to be part of the lineup. Additionally, Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs on guitar and drummer Joey Waronker are rumoured to complete the live band, bringing together a roster familiar to Oasis fans.

The reunion tour is set to be extensive, with 41 dates booked for 2025. It will kick off at stadiums across the UK and Ireland in July before extending to multiple continents. High-profile support acts including Cast, Richard Ashcroft, Cage The Elephant, and Ball Park Music will accompany the band. Notably, Oasis will play three sold-out shows at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on August 8, 9, and 12. Tickets for these dates, and indeed the entire tour, saw unprecedented demand, with 10 million people from over 100 countries attempting to purchase them, leading to a record-breaking sell-out.

However, fans should temper expectations regarding new material. Oasis's manager, Alec McKinlay, has firmly ruled out the release of any new music from the band, contradicting earlier social media hints from Liam Gallagher that a new album was “already finished.” McKinlay also put an end to rumors of additional tour dates, stating, “This is very much the last time around, as Noel’s made clear in the press.” He explained the elaborate process of keeping the comeback tour plans under wraps, citing a limited group of trusted individuals and expressing astonishment at the “phenomenal” public reaction.

The excitement surrounding the tour has been somewhat overshadowed by controversy regarding ticket sales. The UK competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has threatened legal action against Ticketmaster for “misleading” methods used during the sale of Oasis reunion tour tickets. The CMA had previously warned in March that Ticketmaster had “breached the law” and “misled fans” during the initial ticket sale last summer, which resulted in thousands of fans paying significantly over face value, with some tickets surging to over £350 for an initial £150 face value.

The CMA’s primary concerns involve two key areas. Firstly, Ticketmaster labeled certain seated tickets as ‘platinum,’ selling them for up to 2.5 times the price of equivalent standard tickets, without clearly explaining that these offered no additional benefits and were often located in the same stadium areas. This practice, the CMA claims, misled customers into believing ‘platinum’ tickets were superior. Secondly, Ticketmaster allegedly failed to inform consumers about the existence of two distinct categories of standing tickets at different price points, selling all the cheaper tickets first before releasing the more expensive ones, leaving customers waiting without understanding the price differential.

In response to the complaints, Oasis issued a statement shortly after the sale, clarifying their position. The band asserted that they leave ticketing and pricing decisions entirely to their promoters and management and were “at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used.” While acknowledging that prior meetings between promoters, Ticketmaster, and the band’s management aimed for a “fair experience for fans, including dynamic ticketing to help keep general ticket prices down as well as reduce touting,” they admitted that “the execution of the plan failed to meet expectations” due to “unprecedented demand.” Many Scottish fans, in particular, voiced their frustration over paying considerably more than planned due to these dynamic pricing tactics.