Eras, Oasis, and the never ending one-upmanship of music fandom

I, like one tenth of Ireland’s population, logged onto Ticketmaster this past Saturday morning with a level of optimism that was perhaps, in hindsight, a little overzealous. After sitting patiently in the cyber waiting room for 25 minutes, on the strike of 8am I was informed that I was lucky number 467,982 in the queue. For a gig in Croke Park, which has a capacity of 82,300.

If you somehow missed the news, a klaxon was sounded last week to inform the legions of Oasis fans around the world that their prayers have been answered, and that the brothers have put their differences aside for a reunion tour taking place in Ireland and the UK in August 2025, their first since they split back in 2009.

Naturally, thousands and thousands of fans were left disappointed, and the purported ticket price of €86.50 was driven up to as much as €415.50 for some.

This feeling of frustration is compounded even more so by the fact that Oasis are, quite literally, one of the most popular bands in the world. Yes, some Gen-Z fans came to them later in life than the blokes who were raised on Brit Pop and lager, but that is because they were, in fact, born later.

Yes, trying to get a ticket for a gig in a venue with limited capacity, especially something with the glimmer of once in a lifetime such as this, involves a degree of competition. But when that competition descends into deep seated anger, a feeling that certain fans are more deserving than others, it’s actually just a bit weird?

Noel Gallagher’s daughter, Anais, agrees. In a TikTok posted by a user complaining of the patronising attitude to younger, typically female fans, the 24-year-old commented: “One thing I won’t stand for is the ageism and the misogyny around people getting tickets. Sorry if a 19 year old girl in a pink cowboy hat wants to be there, I will have my friendship bracelets ready.”

I ask this sincerely: Why do you care who else is at the same gig as you? As long as they’re not actively bothering you, and are abiding by good concert etiquette (which has, admittedly, been lacking in some these days), shouldn’t we all just be enjoying the show? Not monitoring the crowd in case someone doesn’t know all the lyrics. Anyway, here’s ‘Wonderwall’.