Manchester’s struggling new £350 million Co-op Live arena has canceled its opening concert tonight for the third time, with some fans queuing outside.
American rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s concert had already been postponed twice this week and was canceled again at the last minute due to “technical problems”.
Hundreds of fans watched in disbelief as they quickly left after learning the concert would not take place.
Co-op Live had issued instructions on how to obtain the arena hours earlier in an attempt to reassure fans after Peter Kay was last week forced to cancel another show at the lavish arena.
Doors were due to open tonight at 6:30 p.m., but just 10 minutes later the venue embarrassingly posted on its X account asking fans to “leave the area.”
Footage filmed outside the arena today just hours before showed the area resembling a construction site, with an excavator and skip parked outside among the building materials.
Manchester’s struggling new £350 million Co-op Live arena has canceled its opening concert tonight for the third time, with some fans queuing outside.
American rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s concert had already been postponed twice this week and fans reacted with disbelief when they were asked to leave the venue.
A statement from Co-op Live on its X page read: “Due to a technical issue with the venue, tonight’s A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie show will no longer take place.
“We kindly ask fans to leave the area. Ticket holders will receive further information in due course.
“We deeply apologize for the significant inconvenience this will cause to many.”
The venue had reassured fans that performances by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and American singer Olivia Rodrigo would take place this week.
It is not yet known whether this will affect Rodrigo’s planned appearances on May 3 and 4.
The Co-op Live Arena was due to open on April 23 and is set to rival the 02 Arena for some of the biggest sporting and music events in the world.
Ongoing problems saw Gary Roden, the venue’s general manager, resign after a series of problems led to a delay in opening.
Rebecca Kane Burton, former boss of London’s O2 Arena, has taken over as interim chief executive.
Co-op Live embarrassingly had to tell fans to “leave the area” because there were “technical issues with the venue”.
Fans reacted with fury to the news that the concert had been canceled and people were queuing outside.
Footage filmed earlier in the day showed the area still looking like a construction site with an excavator and skip parked outside.
It comes after electricity problems at the site, which are believed to have affected the fire safety and emergency services’ communications systems, led bosses to reduce attendance from around 11,000 to 4,000 people during a test event.
The headaches for the arena, which is next to Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, became evident after capacity for a test event two weeks ago was reduced with just hours’ notice due to electricity problems.
Comedian Peter Kay’s huge gig at Manchester’s brand new Co-op Live arena has been canceled, just hours before he was due to take the stage at the 23,500 capacity venue.
The comedian’s second show scheduled for Wednesday evening was also canceled.
The much-anticipated spectacle would have been the official opening of the city’s new flagship venue, the largest in the UK.
But just a day before the show was scheduled to take place, it was announced that both shows had been canceled because work on the venue had not yet been completed and had not yet been approved by the city’s building control. municipality.
Co-op Live has confirmed that both shows will be postponed and will take place on April 29 and 30.
Mr Kay said in a statement he was “gutted” that the shows had been cancelled.
“I’m really gutted because I know how disappointing this will be for everyone who has tickets, but it’s obviously a brand new venue and it’s important that everything is completed and safe for a full capacity audience,” he said. he declared.
It comes after electricity problems at the site, which are believed to have affected the fire safety and emergency services’ communications systems, led bosses to reduce attendance from around 11,000 to 4,000 people during a test event – less than two hours before the start of it. .
Peter Kay was also forced to cancel another show at Manchester’s new £350million arena amid the ongoing chaos.
Announcing the news in an update, the comedian confirmed: “My apologies once again but unfortunately Co-op Live is still not ready.”
Gary Roden, general manager of the venue, resigned after a series of problems led to a delay in opening
The Co-op Live Arena could rival 02 Arena for the world’s biggest boxing and UFC events (Pictured: Artist’s impressions as plans for the venue were revealed)
Insiders claimed “everything was worked out to the hilt” ahead of the test show featuring Rick Astley.
Manchester City Council’s Building Control Department cannot issue a certificate of completion while work is still underway at the site, which was last week expected to include corridors and cabling.
The site could still operate without this certificate after presenting council bosses with a mitigation strategy to manage potential risks, although details of this plan have not been made public.
Previously, Co-op Live bosses said teams were on site “doing everything possible” to prepare for the venue’s official opening.
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