When Oasis sold out two nights at Knebworth in 1995 the 250,000 tickets sold in less than 24 hours and that was pre internet sales mostly over the phone, 2.5 million people applied for those 250,000 tickets that was at the time almost 5% of the entire population so if Knebworth held 1.25 million people Oasis could have sold it out for two days, over the phone in 1 day.
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Although threads like this have different subject headings I always think theyâre actually all part of the âMost Over Rated Band/Artistâ thread. They always make me smile.
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Kidâs stuff compared to Led Zeppelin 2008. Lol.
âAccording to Guinness World Records 2009, the concert holds the world record for the âHighest Demand for Tickets for One Music Concertâ as 20 million requests for the reunion show were rendered onlineâ
Iâm no big Oasis fan and to be honest am not a fan of reunion gigs but they where a big part of British pop culture during the 90âs and if itâs given people a few hours of pleasure then whatâs the harm if you donât like them turn it off or turn it down.
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thatâs demand!
Whatâs a bigger music story outside Britain in the last 5 year then? Taylor Swift rerecording her albums?
The original question in this thread was: why is the BBC *promoting* covering this story?
Like Oasis or not, the answer is that itâs because itâs big deal in music. If it wasnât, news outlets around the world wouldnât be reporting on it.
Itâs a big deal in commerce. In music itâs neither here nor there.
Whatâs the difference?
Sigh.
youâre so smart - please enlighten me
All things are subjective.
Slow news day/week?
No point. Playing dumb in order to be passive aggressive is just childish. I made a valid comment. Respond or donât but letâs not have the pretence of being grown up and not understanding. Itâs tedious for everyone.
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Seriously. Whatâs the difference? You made the point - please explain
Lol.
If the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, it seems like Jesus was performing some miracles for Oasis fansâŚ
Anger at âmiracleâ recovery of fans in disabled area at Oasis gig
Latest news & breaking headlines | The Times and The Sunday Times text*
I genuinely despise stories like this. They are vicious poison and people really need to read the agenda a lot better. Apologies for the essay but Iâd like to kill this stone dead.
Locally it has been reported that a number of able bodied people were on the accessible platforms. A number of people allegedly complained to the media about that. Only one has gone public. In the overwhelming majority of cases they were not unsurprisingly, the companion or PA of a person with a disability who was on the platform.
One going public is not the pattern. When thereâs an access issue at an event youâll always have no end of people coming forward. Itâs happening with the Aviva for example right now. Itâs happened at Castlefield Arena.
The Times appear to have picked up on this and run with it as do the Mail and all the usual culprits.
Interesting then to see that itâs based on the testimony of one person and one person alone. He âknowsâ what disability is because heâs âwheelchair boundâ. Been to 100 gigs last year and this one is the only one he had an issue at. Absolute BS.
1 - look carefully at the picture. I see one wheelchair and zero abandoned crutches for starters. The remaining chairs are for companions and some people who will have been using crutches or simply have non obvious physical or other health problems for which a chair will have been a starting point.
I see no way on earth to distinguish between those with a health condition and those without from that picture. You? I think not.
2 - there is no physical way a person without a disability gets onto a platform other than as a PA or companion unless terms apply. I have to book accessible seating or a platform seat or similar for every gig I attend. This was run by Ticketmaster and their process is clear enough. You contact them or the venue on a per gig basis and you are required to provide ID and proof of disability via such things as receipt of PIP, a Nimbus Access card, sight registration, medical evidence etc. In most cases you are required before your first TM purchase to complete a full access form complete with evidence and explanations of what you need and why. More on this in a moment but even tiny venues operate related policies as their seating choices will be even more limited.
Crucially, many larger events and venues will let family members with a non companion role attend in the accessible space if appropriate. Albert Hall in Manchester is a good example. Saw Nathaniel Raetliff there. My wife acted as companion but my then 13 year old offspring could hardly be left at home alone or expected to mosh downstairs at the venue. They were allowed to sit with their parents. Doesnât happen everywhere or even for every event but where they can they do.
3 - the media reporting this are the very media who have a long history of setting workers against the unemployed, the sick against the disabled and so on. I donât want a political discussion triggered so letâs just agree that as hard, easily evidenced fact and move on.
Nothing would suit them better than a useful idiot. They appear to have sadly found one and, as I said at the outset, what BS.
Most people registered severely sight-impaired - âblindâ as it was wrongly termed up until about 25 years ago - have some perception of light or useful vision. The actual figure is about 96%. So thatâs 96% of people with a cane or a guide dog can actually see something. When they then do something that the ignorant donât associate with total blindness they are not âpartially-sightedâ they are a fraud or âfake blindâ. Iâve certainly been called both and Iâm only registered as SI not SSI.
Similarly, most people who use wheelchairs can stand, mobilise and walk. Theyâre called the ambulant disabled. This should not be news to the media. Itâs a conceit as old as disability and a phrase used on many accessibility forms and at many venues. They canât necessarily do it all for as long as other people but hey who needs facts when we can go for the jugular. Hardly news that a person in a chair can stand for 2 hours. Should be pretty obvious that the thing which enabled that was likely being in a chair wheeled across rough terrain rather than having to walk it. Pretty obvious they wonât be walking out and hopefully obvious that the effort of doing that will put some of them in bed for the rest of the day and in some cases longer.
Absolutely remarkable a bloke confined to a wheelchair didnât know any of that and yet heâs been in a chair for ages and been to more than 100 gigs in a year. I find myself asking whether he really came without a PA if thatâs the case. I find myself asking what his PA was doing during the gig. If part of your task is to just get the person there then why should you not dance etc. during the gig. The only issue we should really have with that is if in doing so you block the view of a person who cannot then see and has no choice in the matter. Itâs a bit odd that heâs so disabled and yet got there entirely under his own steam. A bit odd that if he did have a PA the media fail to ask the obvious question of what his PA did during the gig.
4 - a 100 gigs a year? Not unless he has a team around him. Filling out forms, providing different proof for each venue, requesting different things depending on your knowledge of the venue. It can take a week and often longer per gig. I guess 2 gigs a month is just about doable in theory but in practice?
5 - okay, so having said all that, letâs cut to the chase. The process for these gigs at this venue was that you grabbed up to 4 tickets and then had to provide your proof. The bit thatâs been lost here, and this really does suggest our useful idiot has a team around him which meant he personally has likely not engaged with the accessible ticketing process at all, is that for Heaton Park you were allowed to buy 4 tickets per household and could have you, your PA/companion and 2 other household members with you on the platform.
Anyone doubting that should read this.
You will also notice within the page the concept of âaccessible standingâ.
Oh dear.
There is of course an argument that the platform shouldnât have a ratio of one person with disability and up to three without given the demand but the counter to that is that a person with disabilities has an equal right to enjoy the same experience as others and if that means family and friends and youâre okay with that then thatâs fine with me too and most other users of accessible spaces within a venue.
Oh dear.
The story doesnât read quite the same now does it.
When they find a second complainant do let me know. Iâm guessing they wonât.
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Either way, still think they could have found someone better to watch than Oasis.
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Thank you for the essay, Mike: a lot of information there I didnât know.
I hadnât seen the original article, nor do I think I would have taken it at face value if I had, but very interesting nonetheless.
Mark
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Happiness reigns, I realise this wonât please everybody 
My daughters were at Heaton Park on Sunday. They declared the gig a roaring success, one saying it was her best ever gig (sheâs a regular indoor and out door gig goer). The band was brilliant. The warring brothers looked happy. The food concessions were brilliant. There was a zero alcohol bar (a new one on me but a great idea). Queues at the concessions were small. She also commented on the politeness of the audience and how well the whole event was run. The police I notice were also satisfied. My daughters of course are half the age of most folk on here. You gotta roll with it! I almost wish Iâd attended.
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I am distantly acquainted with the ex head of Ticketmaster North America. Her take from ex work colleagues at TM was that each of the Heaton Park gigs contained between 25 and 60% of audience members who had obtained tickets for more than one gig and in many cases for all of them.
One of the by products of this is that by the time you hit the last gig most people have long since purchased their merch.
This was recently borne out when the offspring worked one of the three big merch stalls at the Tons Of Rock festival in Oslo. First day was non-stop. By day two the person in charge of volunteers had them doing the first half hour as people flew in and then after that they could go watch bands all day.
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That may be true for merchandise but wouldnât apply to the food & drink concessions.