Thousands of lucky Oasis fans are celebrating after getting their hands on the first tickets to the band’s hotly-anticipated reunion tour.
Those who were successful in this week’s ballot were given access to a pre-sale that opened at 19:00 BST on Friday and is expected to close at 22:00.
Everyone else will have to try to grab tickets when they go on general sale on Saturday morning.
There is expected to be massive demand to see the Gallagher brothers get back on stage for the first time in 15 years.
About 1.4 million tickets are expected to be available for the 17 outdoor concerts in the UK and Ireland next July and August.
Getting through the ballot does not necessarily guarantee tickets, which are expected to be allocated in the pre-sale on a first-come, first-served basis.
The band have said the ballot is intended to “ensure the maximum number of fans have a fair opportunity to access tickets”.
On Thursday, they said there had been “unprecedented demand” for the ballot and added three extra dates to the 14 that were initially announced on Tuesday.
On Friday lunchtime, the band said in a post on X: “All Ticket Ballot codes have now been sent out to fans. Please do NOT buy a code or transfer them to someone else. Codes ONLY work with the registered email address.
“If you didn’t get a code to access the pre-sale, you can join the general sale tomorrow morning.”
Hundreds of people took to X to celebrate securing tickets to one of the shows.
“I’m actually going to see my favourite band of all time! Didn’t think I’d ever see this,” wrote one user.
Another said: “I have 2 very excited daughters. Almost got deafened by the screaming when the purchase was verified.”
One said he had secured tickets to the opening night of the tour and joked: “They should still be together then”.
After the pre-sale, the rest of the tickets for the UK shows will go on general sale at 09:00 on Saturday; while for Dublin, the general sale tickets will be available an hour earlier.
The band will play in Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin, and more dates could be added.
Standard standing tickets will cost about £150, while standard seated tickets range from £73 to about £205. Prices for official premium packages go up to £506.
As anticipation for the gigs builds, sales and streams of the band’s back catalogue have surged, with three albums going back into the UK top five chart on Friday.
Greatest hits collection Time Flies is at number three, 1995’s What’s The Story Morning Glory is at four, and debut Definitely Maybe – released on 29 August 1994 – is in fifth place.
A 30th anniversary edition of Definitely Maybe was released on Friday.
Oasis were formed in Manchester in 1991 – their original line-up comprised of Liam and Noel, guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, bassist Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan and drummer Tony McCarroll.
The band officially split in 2009 after an altercation backstage at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris.
Their music’s popularity has never been in doubt, though, and the Official Chart Company has compiled a list of the band’s top five most-streamed songs, which are:
1. Wonderwall
Released: 1995
Official Chart peak: 2
UK streams: 397,100,000
2. Don’t Look Back In Anger
Released: 1996
Official Chart peak: 1
UK streams: 295,500,000
3. Champagne Supernova
Released: 1995
Official Chart peak: n/a
UK streams: 167,200,000
4. Live Forever
Released: 1994
Official Chart peak: 10
UK streams: 162,000,000
5. Half The World Away
Released: 1994
Official chart peak: 56
UK streams: 119,100,000
