Tickets for Oasis reunion tour to go on general sale

Tickets for next year's Oasis reunion tour are set to sell out within minutes of going on sale early Saturday, as fans vie to see the British legends live for the first time since 2009.

The in-demand tickets for 15 UK concerts next July and August -- kicking off what has been billed as a worldwide tour -- go on general sale at 9:00 am (0800 GMT).

Two mid-August gigs in the Irish capital Dublin will also go on general sale an hour earlier.

Some lucky fans were able to snag a small number of tickets for some of the concerts in a Friday evening pre-sale, after they won the chance in a heavily oversubscribed ballot.

The scramble for tickets follows the announcement Tuesday that brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher had ended their infamous 15-year feud and were reuniting the 1990s-founded band for the tour.

The group behind hit songs including "Wonderwall", "Don't Look Back In Anger" and "Champagne Supernova" will stage 17 gigs in Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin.

The much-anticipated Tuesday announcement also promised concerts in "continents outside of Europe later next year".

Tickets for their UK events start at around o75 ($98), rising to around o150 for standing on the field in front of the stage.

The most expensive at London's Wembley stadium -- which include extras such as a pre-show party -- will cost buyers more than o500.

- 'Spark' -

Formed in Manchester, northwest England, in 1991, Oasis are credited with helping create the Britpop era of that decade, enjoying a fierce rivalry with London band Blur.

The Gallagher brothers became notorious for their public fights, which eventually came to a head at a 2009 Paris festival, when Liam broke one of Noel's guitars.

That was the last time they played together, although each has regularly performed the group's hits to sold-out crowds.

The reunion tour will take place 30 years after Oasis's 1995 album "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?", which received international critical and commercial acclaim.

It will kick off over two nights at the Principality Stadium in the Welsh capital Cardiff from July 4, 2025, followed a week later by five gigs at Heaton Park in their hometown, Manchester.

Oasis will then play Wembley -- on July 25, 26 and 30 as well as August 2 and 3 -- before three nights at Murrayfield Stadium in the Scottish capital Edinburgh, on August 8, 9 and 12.
 
Two more performances at Dublin's Croke Park in mid-August are scheduled.

The band has promised sets "full of wall-to-wall classics", showcasing the "charisma, spark and intensity that only comes when Liam and Noel Gallagher are on-stage together".

British hoteliers and pub owners are among those hoping for a boom in business, akin to the economic boost in numerous places prompted by Taylor Swift's recent tour.

Ticket sales, merchandise and possible film licensing could generate a o400 million profit, Matt Grimes, a music industry researcher at Birmingham City University, has estimated.

After accounting for expenses and paying their teams, the Gallagher brothers could come away with o50 million each, he told AFP.