KISS’ Gene Simmons has weighed in his thoughts on the Oasis reunion ticket scandal, and said that fans unhappy with dynamic pricing are “entitled to fuck off”.
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The debate arose as news broke that Oasis’ Liam and Noel Gallagher had reconciled, and would be getting back together for their first shows in 16 years.
Tickets went on sale at the end of last month and officially sold out within a few hours. However, the entire process was far from smooth, with millions flocking to try to grab tickets and many – including Louis Tomlinson – being left disappointed after several issues cropped up. Another sore point came as dynamic pricing was used; a process which sees prices hiked up due to high demand.
Now, following the whole debacle, various other figures from the music industry have weighed in on the situation, and shared whether or not they support the idea of ‘dynamic pricing’ being used for live music events.
The latest one is KISS icon Gene Simmons, who took part in a new interview with Forbes and was asked about the “ethics” of the Oasis ticket sale.
“They’re entitled to fuck off. You have the ultimate power, supply and demand,” he began, referring to disappointed fans. “Whatever the pricing is, is all academic. Somebody sits in a room and tries to figure out how far the rubber band can stretch. And if you’re not selling tickets, guess what happens? The price goes down. Capitalism!”
He continued: “If you don’t want to pay that amount, don’t go. I’m sure it’ll be streamed someplace and you figure out a way and you’ll complain. But social media has opened up the pathways of expressing yourself and there are no traffic cops. It’s like traffic in Italy and France, just people just go right by each other. It’s just insane.
Liam Gallagher performing with Oasis in 1996. (Photo by Brian Rasic/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
“Also it’s a way to get attention, but ultimately the quiet people, the ones that don’t really use social media, vote with their money. You don’t like the ticket pricing? Don’t buy a ticket.”
The complaints about the Oasis reunion ticket sale arose even before the sale commenced at 9am, when Ticketmaster crashed and giant queues meant many were left unable to even browse ticket options in the first place. Many complained about being kicked out of the queue after hours of waiting due to being mistaken for bots, and those attempting to purchase accessible tickets were unable to get through to the phone lines – despite some fans calling the designated number over 400 times.
Some who did eventually manage to get through the queues were then disappointed to see the cost of remaining tickets had increased due to Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing policy.
The ‘dynamic pricing’ soon led to widespread backlash. As well as countless fans, politicians like Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also weighed in, calling for a review of the policy and secondary ticket sites. Similarly, Twickets announced a U-turn on their stance – capping their booking fee at a maximum of £25 per ticket.
Hundreds of fans then launched complaints to the Advertising Standards Association (ASA) over surge ticket pricing, debate arose about whether the lack of warning may have been a breach of consumer law, and fans celebrated Robert Smith for fighting Ticketmaster to keep The Cure ticket prices affordable.
Eventually, Oasis addressed the controversy – distancing themselves from the price hikes and announcing that they would be playing two extra shows at Wembley, but this time with much stricter rules in place for the ticket sales.
Gene Simmons of KISS performs in 2023 (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)
Earlier in the interview, the KISS bassist was asked about his thoughts on the Britpop legends, having previously been “a bit wishy-washy on them” in the past.
“Big fan! Oh, it’s brilliant marketing, whether by hook or by crook, whether it’s by accident or plan,” he said. “All the great pairings: [John] Lennon and [Paul] McCartney, [Mick] Jagger and [Keith] Richards, they all turn on each other after a while, then they get back together again! It always works [out] good for them because, again, people want to hear those songs!
“They’ve got lots of fans and they’ll do great. Good luck! More power to them.”
While Simmons seems to be on board with the idea of dynamic pricing, his stance differs from that of Pink Floyd icon David Gilmour, who recently said that he thinks the band should have “put a price on tickets and stick to it”.
In more recent Oasis news, the tickets for the band’s two extra shows at Wembley went on sale over the weekend, and once again sparked a mixed response from fans eager to get a spot at the shows.
As for KISS, the band performed the final show of their farewell tour in New York last December, and told fans that they were looking at designing an ABBA Voyage-style live show that would see them take to the stage as avatars.
As for more recent news around Gene Simmons, it was recently confirmed that the rock legend has recorded a cover of ‘Stormy Weather’ for the upcoming Ronald Reagan biopic, Reagan, and has also been honoured with the keys to Niagara Falls city and North Tonawanda in New York.
Back in April, the global entertainment and music investment firm Pophouse announced that it had concluded an agreement with KISS to acquire their music catalogue, brand name, trademarks and likeness, which includes their signature face paint designs.
The post KISS’ Gene Simmons says Oasis fans are “entitled to fuck off”: “You don’t like the ticket pricing? Don’t buy a ticket” appeared first on NME.
