Oasis and dynamic pricing

" I detest surge pricing. It means hardly anyone ever pays the actual advertised ticket price. 

It's a legitimised scam and bands who agree to it are complicit." R

UPDATE - 06/09

In the early evening of Wednesday 4th September. 4+ days since the dynamic pricing row erupted, Oasis released the following statement;

"It needs to be made clear that Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management." The band added they had "at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used" in the sale of tickets for the initial dates.

NOTE - No condemnation of dynamic pricing. No statement to say they disagree with dynamic pricing. And absolutely no apology.

Poor show.

Anyway, here is the original blog - 03/09

Tickets for the Oasis 2025 reunion shows went online last weekend. Those with a pre-sale code (myself included) got access on Friday night at 7pm. I logged onto the Ticketmaster app minutes beforehand and was shocked to find that I was immediately at number 56 in the queue just after 7. I'd checked out after buying 3 tickets by 7.04pm. Sorted, nice one, mad for it. God that was easy, I was singing the praises of Ticketmaster for being so smooth and high tech.

Saturday morning was when the real clamour for tickets started. This was like Knebworth x 10. I wonder how many people actually (virtually) queued for tickets? Everyone seemed to be after them.

The Gallagher brothers reunite

Photos by Simon Emmett

Back in 1996 you could either attempt to phone and book tickets, or you could go and queue outside a ticket shop. A reported 2.5 million people tried to get tickets. Oasis could have sold 20 nights, never mind a double header. I'd hazard a guess that more than 2.5 million people were online trying for tickets.

I'm a member of a number of Oasis online groups, including an amazing collectors group, full of passionate fans from around the world that spend small fortunes on Oasis memorabilia. I love seeing some of the unique items people have procured over the years. My own collection of records, tickets, magazines, wrist bands etc just comes from buying them at the time. I wish I had bought extra copies!

The online groups were full of posts about people being 10,000+ in the queue and then this seemed to jump considerably to 200,000+. I couldn't believe I got so lucky the previous night!

People were still getting tickets, it was just taking an age in the online queuing system.

Oasis and Ticketmaster were regularly posting across social channels that tickets can only be resold at face value via Ticketmaster and Twickets. 

By now, you probably know what happened. 

Due to demand, and despite Oasis and Ticketmaster promoting prices in advance, dynamic pricing kicked in, resulting in a completely justified explosion of anger. £150 standing tickets were suddenly closer to £400. Those waiting to buy 4 tickets at a total of £600 (plus booking fee), were now faced with a total price of £1,600 plus fees!!!!

Imagine finding that out after being in an online queue for 5 or 6 hours! People had minutes to decide whether to go ahead and buy them anyway, or whether to ditch it, after waiting all that time .... 

Ticketmaster (and Oasis) completely fucked up on communication and customer care. Not that either will care given the millions that each earned over the weekend. 

Ticketmaster have been getting it in the neck, but in actual fact it is the promoters and the band that decide whether or not dynamic pricing should apply to their shows. 

Oasis - the band of the people! What a joke.

Why were ticket prices not capped? £150 is more than enough for a stadium show. And lets be honest, Oasis are not about the show, they are all about the songs. They don't need a huge catwalk or super dazzling lightshow. 

In comparison; Paul Heaton is doing an arena tour where ticket prices are capped at £35. While Robert Smith from The Cure ensures that dynamic pricing does not apply to any shows his band is playing.

"It's a greedy scam. All artists have the choice not to participate - 

if not artists participated, it would cease to exist." Robert Smith, The Cure

Crowded House found out that dynamic pricing had been applied to some of their shows and kicked up enough fuss to ensure that their fans were reimbursed the difference between 'normal prices' and the 'dynamic price'. 

I would love Noel to come out and apologise and say that Oasis were working with Ticketmaster and the promoters to refund the difference. I doubt it will happen though.

So ... this whole debacle is on Oasis and the promoters; SJM and Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, MCD and DF (the promoters of the Murrayfield shows). 

Fans are uniting in their fury. I love it! We might see change, instead of being ripped off by corporate greed.

Here are a few articles that have already been written;

BBC - by Ian Youngs - Has ticket row taken the shine off Oasis reunion?

BBC - by Ian Youngs - Hundreds lodge complaints over Oasis ticket prices

The Guardian - Failure to warn Oasis fans of dynamic pricing may be consumer law breach

Louder Than War - dynamic pricing needs sorting out

MP's are even getting involved, with many experiencing the issue personally as they joined the scramble for tickets. 

Oasis is still the band of the people .... and the people are making their feelings known.

This whole episode has been an absolute mess. Ticketmaster and Oasis have come out of this looking like they couldn't care less about fans thanks to;

• MIS-COMMUNICATION (AKA double standards) - Ticketmaster and Oasis heavily posted and tweeted that tickets could only be resold at face value. Meanwhile, due to the fact that millions and millions of people were in a virtual queue for tickets, they put the prices up way beyond face value! If you didn't laugh, you'd cry. Many people did. 
• LACK OF CUSTOMER CARE - This resulted in people who has been queuing online for hours, finally getting through to buy standing tickets at £150 per ticket, only to find that thanks to dynamic pricing, they were £400 each. So a couple looking to spend £300 on 2 tickets, were now looking at £800 for 2 tickets. Not surprisingly, some people (wisely in my opinion) decided to switch off and forget it. This complete lack of customer care from Ticketmaster and Oasis is deplorable.

As for the promoters;

• PROMOTERS - It must be nice being a promoter for a show like this. After all, you don't really need to invest much in the way of promotion! These gigs sold themselves. While there will be a high cost in putting these shows on, the profit the promoters will be making is gigantic.
  

Which brings me on to Oasis;

• BAND OF THE PEOPLE - Oasis know their fanbase better than almost any band. They were among the first to get people to sign up to mailing lists and they have hammered merch, limited and exclusive releases to death. The support the Gallagher brothers receive is phenomenal, bordering on religious for some die hards. So why take the piss? Why take £150 tickets and sell them for £400?! Despite Noel's expensive (£20 million allegedly) divorce, they don't really need the money. So why agree to dynamic pricing? It really does leave a sour taste in the mouth.

"It's a greedy scam. All artists have the choice not to participate - 

if not artists participated, it would cease to exist." Robert Smith, The Cure

Golden Canter - the continued rise of Gerry Cinnamon

Congratulations to Gerry Cinnamon, his self-released album Erratic Cinematic had gone gold, a brilliant and very well deserved achievement.

A lot has happened in Gerry's world over the last 12-months and it has been amazing, exciting and enthralling to witness live and to follow his trailblazing adventure. I thought that it might be time to write a follow up to my blog The Rise and Rise of Gerry Cinnamon that I published last summer

Gerry's continued rise isn't being documented by the traditional music or mainstream media, but it is being beautifully documented by the people that matter most - his fans.

Whether is it posts/tweets or pictures of love, Cinnamon lyric tattoo's, murals on walls or the many uploads to YouTube that display the passion, euphoria and utter enjoyment that Cinnamon's live shows bring. Someone should bring them all together in a documentary. This kind of rise to this kind of level in this kind of way hasn't happened before. It is incredible to witness.

Uploaded fan films on YouTube can reach tens of thousands, even over 100,000 views - such is the demand to experience Cinnamon-mania. Just search for Gerry Cinnamon on YouTube and delve in to the joy, mayhem and euphoria this guy is beautifully creating for people.

But if you want to start with some professional BBC footage then let's come bang up to date with the summer of 2019 and Cinnamon's sensational TRNSMT festival performance, hot on the heels of his incredible Glastonbury performance (check it on the iPlayer) where he packed out the John Peel tent. Both are sensational to watch, Gerry just keeps taking things to another level - and so do the fans!

Cinnamon-mania took over TRNSMT - again. Just look at the crowd in the video above! And listen to them!

In glorious sunshine artist and audience became one. The audience could feel it, they sang the guitar riff to Sometimes, jumped, danced and sang every word. And Gerry could feel it; the bit at the end of What Have You Done where Gerry just decided to play his harmonica solo and stamp out a beat again was thrilling to watch. And Gerry's rallying cry to young musicians ahead of Kampfire Vampire was heartfelt and pure soul. Surely he'll be back to headline in 2020?!

You can catch the full set HERE in case the iPlayer link above doesn't work by the time you read this.

Since my last blog on Gerry there have been; bigger shows, bringing in the new year by playing Edinburgh,  more festivals - and higher slots, European shows and festivals, a newly announced winter 2019 arena tour that is sold out with the Aberdeen show set to break the record for the biggest ever indoor crowd in Scotland and there is an ever growing fan base that now includes Mani from Stone Roses and Liam Gallagher.

For the fans - there have been smiles, laughs, sing-songs, flares, dancing, new friendships forged and nights that fans will remember for the rest of their lives as they enjoy falling for the songs, personality and soul of Gerry.

Cinnamon has rallied against ticket touts, promoted fellow singers from Glasgow including young Dylan John Thomas who played a sell-out show at King Tut's at the end of June (look out for a future blog on him), become a silver selling artist after a repressing of his debut went into the shops in March, his album has shot back up the charts (and gone GOLD), and Gerry has influenced young kids to pick up acoustic guitars, play, sing and write.... and go their own way.

Picture by Amelia Ward

Gerry at the Barrowland Ballroom

The last year has been mad. There may have been sell-out shows galore but Gerry has remained true to his beliefs and he hasn't sold out. He is still doing this on his own with his small trusted team, there is no record label and Gerry doesn't do media, he doesn't play the game. Word of mouth is the fuel for this (bon)fire.

The hardest part of playing the game

Is no' even playing the game

It's caring enough to care about the things that you're doing

New music has been teased including Dark Days (played at the end of 2018) , The Bonny (played at TRNSMT to a great response) and Canter , released as a summer single, hitting number 3 in the iTunes chart.

Canter is classic Cinnamon; advice, honesty, a dash of cheekiness and beautifully pieced together into sections, starting with plenty of breathing space before Gerry's rhythm guitar playing drives it along. I love when he brilliantly hollers it's a wee crying shame, here comes the rain and the section that flows beautifully;

They tell you it's not easy, they tell you it's not hard

They tell you it's impossible to mend a broken heart

There will be an album at some point and in one of the very few interviews Gerry has done he answered Radio X's Gordon Smart's question of when will the album be out? with as soon as it's ready. The beauty of working without a label!

With a tour scheduled for November there is every chance it will be out before then.

For fellow fans of Gerry, strap yourself in and enjoy the ride. The bonny is burning brighter than ever.

James and The Charlatans, Glasgow Hydro

It’s been a long time since I left work and immediately headed out to a gig. Too long. Last night I skipped through the streets of Glasgow towards hip and happening Finnieston after leaving work at 6pm, headphones on, feeling like a teenager, giddy with the excitement and the anticipation of two of my favourite bands playing together.

The roads shimmered in the lights from cars and street lights and the buildings looked incredible in the night sky. Always remember to look up in Glasgow.

My teenage-esque giddiness was quite apt, as it was a 15-year old that I discovered both these bands through school common room mixtape. I remember only having enough money in Missing Records on Oswald Street to either by Goldmother by James or Out of Time by R.E.M. I chose James and never regretted it. I thought back to that moment on the walk to the Hydro and again when they played 3-tracks off that album during their sensational set.

And it was as a 15-year old that I fell for The Charlatans and their frontman Tim Burgess in particular. He seemed effortlessly cool, brilliant hair, great style and in his own little creative world. Between 10^th and 11^th was out and songs from that album would mix with songs from their debut as mixtapes were swapped. Along with Teenage Fanclub, The Charlatans are the band I have seen the most – well over 30-times, possibly approaching 40. In fact, maybe I have seen them more than Teenage Fanclub!

The Charlatans kicked off the night. The Hydro looked a little quiet when they came on stage, but I think that was largely due to the weather, traffic and train cancellations. They bravely opened with Totally Eclipsing from their recent EP before really getting into the groove with Let The Good Times Be Never Ending. Burgess patrolled the stage, urging the crowd on, hands in the air, conducting crowd and band. The place had filled and band and audience quickly became one.

Then we had what could easily be described as the holy trinity; One To Another, North Country Boy and Tellin’ Stories from the LP with the same name as the latter. One To Another soared, the energy from that song is incredible. North Country Boy swaggered and sparkled as cheekily as it did upon release and the crowd lapped it up. Tellin’ Stories was beautiful, melancholic and then in your face.

Different Days and Plastic Machinery fitted effortlessly into the set, the latter was the best I have heard it – classic Charlatans with Burgess singing of how at times it is good to be rejected.

And then the Hydro erupted as the band fired up and into The Only One I Know and several thousand middle aged men endulged in a spot of Bez/Dad dancing and reached for the sky singing everyone’s been burned before, everybody knows the pain.

I wasn’t expecting Impossible and it sounded all the better for being a surprise. Nor was I expecting the falsetto funk of You’re So Pretty which grooved superbly before Weirdo took things higher. I wasn’t sure if the band would end with traditional set closer Sproston Green but I was glad they did. The moment the lights turned green set my heart on fire and they slowly but surely built the groove before leading the crowd on a song and dance for a good 10-minutes. The band and Burgess were in brilliant form.

After a quick trip to the bar we were back down the front for James. The 8-piece band entered to a huge ovation and they wasted no time in highlighting they are not and never will be a heritage act by tearing into 2-songs from their 15th album Living In Extraordinary Times that was released this year.

They then took things up a notch with a glorious Waltzing Along and a rip roaring Tomorrow. The band were on fire, they tore into it and the energy they radiated was exceptional.

James don't play Sit Down that often these days, so it was a real treat toes and hear them playing it. It is HUGE and the crowd sang along with all their heart and soul.

Stutter was another song where the band were really on fire, Tim Booth vibed off his band and they responded in return. Out To Get You was tender, beautiful and soulful before the band delivered a stunning version of Just Like Fred Astaire. I'd forgotten about this particular song but I have listened to it a couple of times today after last night.

Leviathan is a particular highlight on the new album for me and the band played it superbly with Booth advising and lecturing f**king love, before they drop the bomb make sure you get enough.

Booth was absolutely sensational last night, dancing his heart out, patrolling the stage, in the audience, standing up on the barriers and generally inspiring every single person in the venue, on stage and off.

As a young teenager I loved How Was It For You for the huge chorus and the way it flows and I felt like a teenager again as I danced and sang my heart out.

The band always seem to find something extra in Sound, its a special song that allows the band to play and explore, Booth again was utterly mesmerising. The opening synth riff from Come Home was embraced warmly and it sounded huge.

I imagine that James could have played for hours, but there was a curfew and we had time for 3-songs in the encore. Many Faces from their new album was beautiful and the crowd sang along with Booth and after he had finished causing him to smile widely and wildly.

Then he was down at the crowd right where we were standing to sing on of my favourite James songs, the brilliant Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) before finishing with yet another of my favourites, the truly soulfully beautiful Sometimes.

Sometimes, when I look deep in your eyes, I swear I can see your soul

I haven't felt so good after a gig in a long, long time. Both bands were in incredible form, I would say that is the best that I have seen James and i have been going to see them for over 20-years.

James have announced a new tour with a Scottish date in Edinburgh. I suspect many of those at the Hydro last night will be trying to get tickets. Better be quick tomorrow.

Nick Cave at the Glasgow Hydro

At the end of September my social media feeds were awash with reports of Nick Cave giving an exceptional performance in Glasgow. I posted and tweeted that I'd be happy to accept a guest review and John Welsh kindly responded...only I didn't notice the email until much later!

Sorry for the delay John, but this is a great blog and you are very welcome to write for Everything Flows again in the future.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Glasgow Hydro 27 September 2017

Photo by Rachel McLean

Let’s cut to the chase. A substandard Nick Cave gig is as rare as hen’s teeth and on this effort the prodigious Antipodean certainly didn’t disappoint.  

Kicking off with a trio of songs from the most recent studio album, Skeleton Tree, it was an understated beginning to the gig, the melodies of Anthrocene, Jesus Alone and Magneto almost muted and ethereal in their delivery.

Any question marks about how the Bad Seeds intricate sound would come across in the huge arena environment were quickly dispelled form the start. Indeed, the wider space and scope worked well, with multi instrumentalist and Cave’s partner in crime, Warren Ellis driving the band forward to increasing heights of musical ingenuity.

Higgs Bosom Blues and From Her To Eternity saw the band and Cave break out, the latter cinematic in its elegance, and at times violently brutal in its delivery. The band approached each song with equal measures of venom and subtlety, resulting in a mesmerising soundscape of riffs and soaring melodies from perhaps the world’s finest (rock) lounge band.

Red Right Hand, against a sleazy, crimson backdrop which wouldn’t have looked out of place in an episode of Twin Peaks was well received, guitarist George Vjestica sliding rhythms shining through. The hunched, menacing spectre of Cave’s lithe shadow, seemingly snaking up and around the Hydro walls merely added to the thrill.

Throughout, Cave was on fine form with quite a bit of humour evident. Leaning into the crowd at one point he commented “this is sexual harassment” as perhaps someone grabbed a bit more than was expected.  

The Weeping Song kicked off the encore, Cave wading through the crowd to deliver his sermon atop a camera gantry, before leading fans to the stage for a tumultuous Stagger Lee and the set closer Push The Sky Away.  

   

A triumph.

JOHN WELSH

@welshjb 

Photo by Rachel McLean