Sellout or washout: will the increase in enormous out of doors live shows be sustained after Oasis?

[ad_1] F rom Lana Del Rey to Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar, the UK has already hosted a sequence of gigantic out of doors gigs this yr. Having already performed six Wembley Stadium reveals on their Music of the Spheres tour in 2022, Coldplay are bringing it again for 10 extra later this summer time, plus two extra in Hull. And now, right here come Oasis, enjoying a complete of 17 stadium live shows in Cardiff, Manchester, London and Edinburgh.

These are the form of figures that get the music trade very excited. Final yr, in keeping with UK Music, 23.5m concertgoers spent a complete of £10bn within the UK, supporting 72,000 jobs. “Artists are delivering spectacular performances, and there’s nothing like the sensation of being at a stay present,” says Denis Desmond, UK and Eire chair of the large promoter Dwell Nation. “We’re seeing an actual and sustained increase in out of doors reveals, festivals and stadium live shows”.

Actually, it appears to be like that manner. The Guardian has calculated that in London alone this summer time, there are no less than 100 single-day out of doors reveals with a capability of 15,000 or extra, starting from occasions in native parks to stadium reveals. Festivals and area reveals have all the time been well-liked within the UK, however there have by no means been so many huge out of doors gigs.

Trade insiders put the shift all the way down to buyer demand. That’s undoubtedly a part of it – there are a lot of individuals who take pleasure in standing within the solar with 1000's of others listening to a collection of acts, however haven't any want for it to contain tenting in the course of nowhere. One senior determine within the stay trade says the altering nature of the music trade has pushed the shift, too – social media and streaming imply many artists are well-liked sufficient to play to larger audiences earlier of their careers, and out of doors reveals present the proper alternative.

Immense … Lana Del Rey performs at Hampden Park, Glasgow, June 2025. {Photograph}: Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Photos It’s not simply consumer-led, although. Native councils have been actively courting promoters to placed on reveals in parks, to lift cash for native providers; stadium operators have been making an attempt to draw extra reveals (the Rugby Soccer Union needs to placed on extra reveals every year at Twickenham, up from the three it's at present allowed, to 9 subsequent yr, 12 in 2027 and 15 in 2028).

Both manner, this present glut of reveals is so immense that there are these questioning if it may be sustained. All summer time, there have been tales of low-cost last-minute tickets obtainable on secondary ticketing websites, and Fb-disseminated affords to shift unsold seats. And whereas the demand for Oasis tickets may need been monumental, not everybody may be Oasis. On the time of writing, there are seated tickets obtainable in all areas for Catfish and the Bottlemen’s present at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium firstly of August (and lots for his or her Cardiff Principality Stadium live performance, too). Nor will you've gotten any hassle entering into Put up Malone’s two reveals at Tottenham. Even at reveals billed as bought out, venues don’t seem full – there have been many pockets of empty seats when Dua Lipa performed the primary of two reveals at Wembley Stadium.

That’s not essentially dangerous information for the artists, who're paid a assured payment, however it is rather dangerous information for promoters, as a result of reveals at this scale have a tendency solely to interrupt even when 90% of tickets have been bought. And that's the place some trade figures sound a word of warning. “I believe we’re all shocked on the quantity of large-scale occasions London can maintain,” one says. “Will it proceed at this similar development and to the identical scale? Solely time will inform.” One other says brusquely: “There are actually lots this yr, they usually’re not all doing nicely.”

Artists, too, are unsure: the Guardian is aware of of acts who turned down slots excessive on stadium present payments this summer time, as a result of they have been involved concerning the reputational harm of enjoying to a crowd sparse sufficient to be mocked on social media.

It’s maybe a measure of trade uncertainty that so few individuals inside stay music have been prepared to speak on the report about this yr’s increase, and definitely to not confront the problem of whether or not sellouts or sparsely attended washouts are more likely to form subsequent summer time’s bookings. Desmond, although, stays optimistic. To him, these reveals are an opportunity to construct reminiscences: “We’re seeing generations come collectively – followers who noticed the Beatles or the Rolling Stones within the 60s at the moment are attending reveals with their youngsters and grandchildren. A connection that solely stay music can create.”

However, whether or not these youthful generations will want the older ones to pay for the unimaginable price of a ticket, and whether or not the stay music sector can proceed to function on the scale that it's, stay factors of debate within the trade.