After an embarrassing saga involving delays, concert cancellations and a near miss when part of the ceiling fell off, the new Co-op Live arena finally opened on Tuesday. Is Britain’s biggest arena over its troubles?
Elbow were meant to play the 15th event in the Co-op Live schedule – but the band ended up becoming the opening act by default.
Earlier planned shows by Peter Kay, Olivia Rodrigo, Take That and others have fallen by the wayside over the past few weeks because of overrunning works and other problems.
And some ticket-holders had understandable jitters about whether Elbow’s concert on Tuesday would happen.
So there were big sighs of relief and a few whoops of joy when, yes, the doors did actually open, and fans were finally let in.
Earlier in the day, the sight of dozens of busy workmen in high-vis jackets and hard hats in and around the venue suggested there was still more to do.
But by the evening, the construction workers had been replaced by stewards eager to release their pent-up helpfulness, and the arena looked largely ready.
That’s not to say there weren’t teething problems.
A long queue to get in stretched down one side of the venue, over a bridge, around a few corners and almost back to where it started.
There were grumbles about confusion getting into the car park. And inside, lots of the self-service tills in the food and drink outlets had crashed.
But compared with the issues that had gone before, these were quibbles.
The venue’s boss earlier boasted to the BBC that it was the “greatest arena built outside of the United States”.
Elbow frontman Guy Garvey was enthused. “What do we think of this amazing room?” he asked the crowd about the hall where they were playing.
The audience’s muted cheers in response to his question was perhaps a reflection of some lingering wariness, and the fact it’s simply hard to get really excited about an arena.
Co-op Live’s £450m budget has paid for things like top-notch acoustics and various bars, suites and different areas that make it a bit more interesting than your average arena.
In the toilets, the walls (painted pink for ladies and blue for men) carry large song titles and lyrics – including “You’re So Vain” and “Girl on Fire” for the girls, and “Ready Aim Fire” and “Sh-sh-sh-sh-shake it off” for the boys.
Inside the auditorium itself, its owners boast that the layout feels “big but intimate” and that seats at the back are closer to the stage than at comparable venues.
That’s because while many arenas have a rectangular floor area (apparently because they were built when people thought ice hockey was going to be big in the UK), Co-op Live’s floor is square.
But if that means the back tiers of seats are a bit closer, those down each side are consequently a bit further away from the stage.
Walking on to the floor does give an impressive sense of scale. They have achieved a capacity of 23,500 – to make it the biggest arena in the UK – by having a large standing area, which will no doubt be exhilarating when it becomes a seething sweat-pit.
However, unless you’re the Las Vegas Sphere, there’s not much a venue can do to reinvent the basic arena concept, and this doesn’t. It’s a big shed with a stage at one end, seats around the sides and a concrete floor in the middle.
On Tuesday, some fans also took an unusual interest in the ceiling. The ventilation system wouldn’t normally get much attention, but a recent incident – when a piece of pipework fell on to the standing area – has heightened the nerves surrounding the venue.
That happened two weeks ago, just before a crowd was due to be let in to see rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie.
As Tim Leiweke, chief executive of Co-op Live’s operator Oak View Group put it, it could have been “catastrophic” if the accident had happened 15 minutes later.
No-one was injured and they have “triple checked” all the fittings, he says. But no authorities have since inspected the venue.
The Health and Safety Executive say it’s not their remit, and Manchester City Council say they have received documents from the venue providing reassurance that they have “considered their duties under Health and Safety law”.
We, too, must trust that it’s been fixed.
Garvey said there had been a sense of excitement in the venue before the doors opened on Tuesday.
“There was already electricity in the air before you lot got in,” he told the crowd.
Given the circumstances, that sounded like another potential health and safety hazard.
“Now it’s thoroughly amped up. I hope you can feel it.”
Their status as openers may have been largely accidental, but Elbow turned out to be a fitting act to bring the curtain up on Co-op Live. The band are from Bury in Greater Manchester.
They’re home town heroes, and if anyone can breathe some life and soul into a shiny new space, it’s the rousing Garvey and his band. The fans responded by turning up the wattage.
“You’ve housewarmed this beautiful new venue,” the singer told them.
Co-op Live’s troubles over recent weeks won’t be forgotten quickly. But Elbow and their fans proved the venue can move on – provided the problems are in the past.
