Bought Oasis tickets for husbands birthday and now doubting the date I picked

[boymama55]

So for context I’m only posting this late as we have been at a wedding in London this weekend and I spent most of the car journey home asleep (6 hours as had to detour to pick kids up from my mums) and also I rarely experience hangovers these days due to having 2 toddlers so I think my anxiety levels are through the roof atm (lol).

I tried for Manchester tickets first time round, didn’t get into the pre sale ballot so queued for hours in general sale and no luck so gave up and started looking for alternative birthday present ideas as husbands birthday is on 20th September.

Then by some miracle I got invited to enter the presale ballot for the extra Wembley dates and got sent the code to join for the 8.30an slot yesterday. I was getting ready for the wedding at the same time as waiting in the queue. Ideally I needed Saturday tickets as my husband is a primary school teacher at a private school so the chances of him being allowed to take Monday off is pretty slim if not out of the question (he basically wouldn’t want to ask). Whereas I could take Monday as holiday if I wanted to or just swap my Friday as I don’t work Fridays atm. Anyway annoyingly there was 16,000 people ahead of me and by the time I got to buy tickets standing had gone. I really wanted standing. I then tried seating and at first there was only restricted view seats so I went back and tried again and then there was 2 top tier seats but I knew he wouldn’t want to be that high up so I tried again and there were 2 seats for lower section but for £206 each and I still wasn’t sure they were the best option?! I’ve never been to Wembley so not a clue where to sit as I just assumed I would get standing and I felt very under pressure to be quick - I almost bought them then last minute pressed the back button out of panic and then just couldn’t get back to where I was and had to join the queue again (yes, I know :| ). I then thought right I’ll just see if I can join the Sunday queue instead and low and behold standing tickets were available so I quickly added to basket without hesitation and purchased.

however, now I am thinking that I should have just stuck to the Saturday and just bought the seated tickets (lower section) ?! As we would be staying with my brother in twickenham which is at least 40 mins on a bus on a Sunday late at night and then it’s a 3 hr 20 min drive from his house to where we live so for my husband to be at work for 8am we’d have to leave at 4am in the morning 🙈 or we park at Wembley and drive back to ours after the gig and get home for 2am (if we’re lucky).
I don’t drive so it would be him driving.

So now I’m thinking have I made a huge mistake and will I end up reselling my tickets closer to the date? Or should he just be grateful that I got him standing tickets to a once in a lifetime experience and as a one off he’ll accept the situation as it is?! Also if he doesn’t want to go because logistically he doesn’t think it will work am I being unreasonable to be annoyed?

what would you have done in my/his situation?! Advice appreciated.

What relevance is this?

@boymama55
You’ve got plenty of time to learn to drive. Why don’t you do that? It’s the obvious solution. You learn to drive, get lots of practice then he can enjoy the gig and you drive home while he sleeps. You get the next day off to rest.

@CareerChange24

I very much doubt that your first thought when being able to walk again was that you wanted to go to an Oasis gig. It’s also nothing to do with the OP.

Did I say it had anything to do with the op? And you are very presumptuous to tell me what my own thoughts are. Have you ever been not able to walk after spinal surgery? No so go away and get a life

I’ve been bed bound for over a year. And my first thought after successfully being able to move again was that I’d be able to lift up my children again, and run around playing with them.

If your first thought was an oasis gig… well. Good for you.

And again, nothing to do with OP deciding what to do with her husband’s birthday gift. So what was the point?

Same position here distance/time wise with no option of time off on a Monday, except we didn’t get tickets! My DH would, and has, chosen the drive home every time over missing out. Can you stay the night before? Makes it a weekend away and also spreads the driving out.
I wouldn’t even bother mentioning your initial confusion, you’ve done an amazing job getting tickets!

@MartinCrieffsLemon awesome username

@boymama55 I'd be really pissed off with a present that involved ME having to do up to 8 hours of driving in a day. That's not a present - that's awful!

That makes it one of those presents for him that's actually for YOU!

If you can't swap the dates then let him take a friend instead of you, and a friend that drives. e.g. friend gets a free ticket but has to drive, your DH can sleep on the way back so he isn't tired for work.

Oh I actually think this is a good solution!

@Tiswa I'm aware of how hard it was to get tickets, I tried and failed. Still wouldn't want them as a present for a day where I'd have to drive for 8 hours and work the next day! I know OP was trying to do a really thoughtful thing, but just think it needs to be presented as an option to not go if he's not up for it.

This is the biggest non-problem ever. Your husband is an adult man. Who cares if he is a bit tired at work one day because he did something fun the day before? Surely you just have a lie in before the gig, go and enjoy the gig, he’s a bit tired at work and has an early night when he gets home?

if my husband was so wet he couldn’t cope with that, he would be getting a divorce for his birthday; not oasis tickets. Bloody hell.

Gotta say I'm kinda with you on this. I'd be so deeply disappointed if my DH reacted as OP fears he might & other pp think he should. It's really sad to me.

Teaching all day when tired is horrendous. And as he teaches at a private school where the parents pay a LOT of money for their child's education, teachers have a responsibility to turn up ready to work, and not super tired because they went to a gig and didn't get in until 2am!

And the whole 8 hours of driving is also not fun and would put a huge downer on the experience.

Surely adrenaline gets you through in these situations? DDs (primary aged) got home from TS at Wembley at 1am and were up for school at 6am, and went to their after school activities as usual (and I went to the office..). It's really no big deal

It's done now

tRUe FaNs wOulD gIvE aNyThinG

OP is worrying about choice, considering other factors. Responsibilities etc. Don't belittle and demean their worries and considerations just because you wouldn't consider them.

@TwinklyAmberOrca well yes, that’s why I’m completely doubting that I’ve done the right thing. I panicked and should have got Saturday tickets but I missed that boat and thought Sunday was better than no tickets. However I don’t want him to feel like he has to drive us as that is the only option. His 2 best friends both live abroad atm and most of his other friends are either teachers as well or wouldn’t care enough to pay £150 for a ticket to go. I’m now thinking my options are I either message his teaching assistant and see if she thinks it would be feasible for him to get cover just for that morning as a one off, so we can get the train instead (first train wouldn’t get him to work before 10am/most likely 11am - so 3 hours cover needed?). Then I would at least know if getting the train was an option or a definite no. Or just let him decide nearer the time, he has a year. I might be able to resell our date and get hold of tickets for a more convenient date through ticket master. We rarely get a night out since kids so if it feels like it’s going to be hard work for him then obviously I’d rather he just say and not feel pressured to go.

you are now overthinking this !

he is a grown man, and can decide for himself if he wishes to have a late night on one occasion ! to attend the concert.

yes it is unfortunate you dithered so much with each offer of Sat tickets you had but hey ho what is done is done.

it is a wonderful birthday present for a fan, he can decide for himself if he is able to cope with less sleep than usual.

do not start contacting his colleagues you are not his mother !

Yep you are massively spiralling just give him the tickets and let him decide

It’s one day! I have been a teacher. I have gone to work tired. Get a grip.

edit to add: Does that mean teachers in private schools should never do anything that means they might be tired the next day? no life outside of work? No kids? I hear they keep you up all night sometimes too and might make you tired.

@Sparklefroggle aww thank you! I definitely thought tickets first, logistics later 😅 we would definitely stay the night before so the driving would be broken up. I have since looked up trains again and if we got the first available train from Euston at 6.46am
on the Monday we would be back for him to be in work for 9.30am so he’d only need to miss 1.5 hours if they were happy to provide cover or he just make up an excuse for him being late that day if he doesn’t think they’d accommodate. If he thinks his experience would be compromised by the driving and zero sleep and also not being able to enjoy a few beers then I would have to respect that x

TLDR

@boymama55 if you do decide to get that early train then you would be best to try and get the Travelodge or Premier Inn near Euston rather than travelling in from further away at that early time of the morning

Getting to that part of town is fairly easy from Wembley too after the concert (Met line to Baker St then change to Circle/H&C to Euston Square)

I'm a teacher, I would drive home, get in late and then go to work the next day for a one off event I really wanted to go to. Yes it'd be a tiring day, but I used to teach after being up all night with a toddler and have gone to gigs midweek and hours drive away if that's the only option of seeing the gig.

In terms of driving back from Wembley, drove to the midlands after Taylor Swift in the summer and got back quicker than our friends were able to get to their London hotel. I bought Wembley parking tickets way in advance, left the concert straight away, but not early, and although the first getting out of London was busy it was well organised with lots of stewards directing you one way away from the stadium. So just some reassurance if you decide to drive.

Edited to add no way would I ask to go in late or have time off for this. No school I've worked in would allow that.

He can be tired for one day.
Many people have shit nights sleep / severe lack of sleep for far less fun reasons, and still have to go to work the next day.
Yes... Even teachers!

If you are planning to park at Wembley add an hour to your journey for getting out of the car parks. It's a mare! You may be better off parking near another tube station and tubing it a couple of stops. Where though, I have no idea!

Well done on the tickets - SOOOO jealous!