Co-op Live  Recensioni 284

Visited for the first time tonight the seating spoiled the experience tbh far too cramped and poorly designed
It's very dark in the arena and the seat numbers are on the lower half of the seat lost count on the ammount of people struggling to find them
When you do find your seat they are tiny very uncomfortable and narrow and once in a seated position you can't move your legs at all there's no where to put them sideways or forwards it feels like you are sitting on the person next to you for the whole show you are touching them all the time packed in like a cheap coach or airline
You can't both sit up one has to lean forward and there are cup holders but no room for a cup or anyone's arm

And if you do get up to go to the toilet there is no concrete to walk on between the person standing up for you to get past and the massive holes down the back of the seats infront especially the corners its very dark and dangerous even more so with people drinking alcohol if there is ever a fire you aint getting out everyone would just pile over each other and burn it,s so steep
A total profit first over peoples comfort and safety design

*** i would advise people not to bring old people with poor vision or ballance to the seated areas there's a high chance they will fall and get get hurt ***

Absolutely awful venue and I’m gutted that acts are choosing here now instead of the AO arena which is so easy for access and travel.

Every time I arrive at venues such as the First Direct Arena or AO arena, you barely have to queue, but here you are queueing for so long, they need to open doors earlier and manage it better. When we went to see JLS I was really looking forward to seeing Example too, however the long queue made it impossible. We arrived at 6:45pm and the queue was HUGE! We were supposed to go in entrance D but ended up going through C, by the time we got in and got a drink, it was 8pm and we caught the last song by Example! I was absolutely fuming. Never have I missed an opening act before with other venues.

Inside is ok but the layout for choosing tickets is terrible so bare that in mind when buying. I could have swore I ordered aisle seats like I always do but turns out they weren’t and we were cramped into a corner. If you get AMP tickets, be aware that it is very high and not much feet/leg room. Again, I thought we had aisle seats but they weren’t and when we had to get up to move, it was so hard to walk past everyone as there’s barely any room on the floor for your feet, I honestly felt like I was going to fall.

Inside the arena it’s very awkward to navigate. On floor one the places to eat are all at one side and then odd drinks places scattered around. The AMP Club is good but there’s not enough seating and they could definitely add more and better seats. It reminds me of a Wetherspoons though (except the price) as women's toilets are once again placed a million miles away compared to men’s which is just ridiculous. I wanted to use the accessible toilet and was told I couldn’t, it was men’s only and I had to head to the women’s toilets and use the one there. My reply “not very accessible though is it making people walk all that way”. For me, all accessible toilets should be within a short distance. Gender bias regarding toilets is real, even at ‘State of the art’ arenas! At the AO arena they are placed everywhere!

The location of the arena is terrible, having to travel on extremely cramped trams, esp on match days and desperately trying to make it back to Victoria for your train home, it’s just pure stress. And don’t even think about ordering an Uber as the traffic is horrendous!

I was really looking forward to going to this arena once it was complete but it’s not that great. The staff are lovely though which is the one saving grace. And I cannot thank fan services enough for changing my ticket to floor seats for Five as my AMP Club seats were too high.

Health and safety nightmare.

For some reason Coop provide hard plastic cups, which unfortunately get thrown around.

A lot of people were cut and were bleeding from their heads/faces as a result. Others couldn't actually watch the gig as they were too scared of getting hit.

We visited the Coop Live arena for the first time for the JLS/Example concert.
I cannot believe how bad the queues were. We parked offsite and did a 15 minute walk in, and arrived at 6.30. We were meant to be going in at entrance D, the queue was that long we had to walk past the building to the tram station and were near the road to start off. The queues were that long, we didnt get into the venue until 7.45 - and the show started at 7.30. (To note, there were hundreds of people still queuing behind us - it was still back to the tram station). They made us enter at entrance F rather than D, which meant when we got in we were even further away from our seats. By the time we got to them it was 8pm, Example had already done most of his set and we saw him for 20 minutes.

Absolutely furious at how bad the system is for getting in. We couldnt have gotten there any earlier. I have never had this problem at any other venue. People were still being shown in at 8.30.

The drinks pricing were ridiculous also, our first pint was £7.20, and the next one we bought an hour later was £9.

On a positive note, the venue was smart and modern. The sound and lighting were good. But whats the use of that when you miss half the show for bad queue management..

Went to see Tom Grennan on the 19th September. To be honest I wasnt looking forward to it. Myself, my daughter and grandson had been the year before and it had been a horrendous experience.
However this time was so much better. As far as I could see, all the entrances were open, so there was very little queueing. The concert was amazing, including the supporting act Tom Walker!. The sound was perfect (was very bad last year).
I only have 2 negatives.
1. The drinks were astronomical
2. We were on an upper tier, and the wall at the bottom was extremely low, it would take very little for someone to trip, or be pushed over the wall, onto the crowd below.
Overall though, we had a great time

Attended the Richard Ashcroft gig on Saturday, first time I’ve been to the Coop arena. Ridiculous queues to get in - I have never had to queue so long to get into an arena. Awful sound quality - I’ve been in some high up seating right at the side of a stage before and never experienced sound quality this bad (this may be down to the sound mixing team?).
How have they got a brand new venue so wrong!!

Appalling! We booked seated in section 304,row 9.Dont waste yoir money at this place. The seats were so narrow and uncomfortable. I am a size 10 and could hardly move my arms! Two drunk men stood up half of the performance, so everyone behind them had to stand the rest of the night. Unable to see a majority of the show as with their arms in the air blocked our view! Everybody was complaining about the seating. Some leaving their seats to stand elsewhere. There were standing room tickets so it's really annoying when people pick seated when is all they want to do us stand. £13.95 for a dried up small chicken burger. £8.50 for small tin of wine. £3.90 for a thin tin of water! Only booze at the bars, no soft drinks at all so you gave to queue seperately. So expensive. Concert was on the night of a football match so trams were so hectic and crammed to get there. Been here before on lower level to left side of stage and the seating was not that narrow! I have a health condition, this concert venue has left me in alot of pain today. Allocated pick up spot on the map takes you on a 20 minute round trip to back where you came from. If you need to be collected - just head towards the taxi area and find Edwin road.

Having booked wheelchair access tickets to see Simply Red on my partners birthday (27.09.25) I was unfortunately taken ill and unable to attend with him.

Our daughter is also registered with Co-Op as disabled, thankfully though she is ambulant. As I didn't want there to potentially be any issues when they arrived I attempted to contact Co-Op arena Manchester prior to the concert to make sure everything would be OK.

Trying to find a contact number for Co-Op is impossible. Trying to find any contact with either them or Ticketmaster is a bad joke.

Eventually I stumbled upon an agent, who explained as she is ambulant and not in need of a wheelchair she would not be allowed to sit in my seat.

I was advised they could refund my ticket, which I could then purchase the correct ticket for her (and her carer).

Great you would think.

Except the conversation dropped before the refund went through.

Nothing I tried could get me back to the agent. Time was ticking away. I couldn't get a replacement ticket without the refund from the original.

Much to everyone's disappointment, especially my partner as it was meant to be his birthday gift on his actual birthday, that he had looked forward to for a considerable length of time. He missed out.

Since then I have spent time emailing both Co-Op and Ticketmaster. They have found the conversation regarding the refund, but as it wasn't processed prior to the event, through absolutely no fault of mine, they have now said refunds can't be made after events.

All of this could have been prevented had there been a human being on the end of a telephone who could have amended the seats from wheelchair accessible to ambulant.

Everything about this has left a rather bitter taste towards potentially booking events in the future, knowing there is no point of contact whatsoever.

Asking for the refund of the ticket that was unable to be used or exchanged is a mere drop in the ocean for an organisation the size of Co-Op. Yet it had taken me, unable to work through my long term health issues, quite some time to save for what should have been a birthday gift to remember. A huge amount for me, made possible as I was only required to purchase a single seat as he was attending as my carer. That meant that without a disabled person going with him, he wouldn't be able to attend either.

Despite the fact that he would have only been using one seat. I had paid for one seat, but no, this wasn't permitted either.

Co-Op really need to review the way they treat the disabled patrons. I was never attempting to sell the tickets or transfer them to anyone other than a different family member, our daughter.

This should never have been an issue. Exchanging seat numbers shouldn't have been an issue if required as stated. Refunding to then repurchase should have been fulfilled easily. But no. None of it was done and not only was the concert then completely missed, but now because it wasn't completed before the concert, again not my fault, I am not to get a refund.

This is how the rich get richer and those of use unfortunate to be at the bottom of the ladder, will always stay there.

In future I will think twice before using Co-Op. Hopefully any events will be at alternative locations we can attend at rather than risk going again.

As a disabled person in a wheelchair, the disabled platform was brilliant , staff were excellent, great view of the stage , would highly recommend it , only thing that lets it down is getting out of the blue car park , took an hour to get out, absolute nightmare but benson Boone was so good it was worth it , lovely and cool so didn’t get overheated , all round a fabulous experience

First visit to the Coop Live and the actual venue itself is impressive - massive, decent seats and well stocked foyer shops / bars.
That’s about it for good stuff though.

The parking was horrendous. £25 for the privilege, the access was really poor pre-event and we missed the first act (took us over an hour to park and we live 25mins away), and then leaving was even worse. No idea why they have so many car park attendants, they did naff all to help or direct, utterly useless.

Then the prices in the venue were ridiculous. Can’t even describe them as expensive - they were disproportionately off the scale

Been to a couple of events here and it gets worse every time I go Accessibility cue was let in 20to 30 minutes after general admission. Once you are in venue staff really don’t care want you do, accessibility is not their problem. Staff are unhelpful cues for everything for huge

The event we went to was fabulous, however, the drinks prices were ridiculous. To buy a can of Pepsi it was £3.90 and to buy a can of Smirnoff Ice it was £9.80! They don't even let you take your own in, very disappointed given that its the Co-op and their ethos "is caring for others and contributing positively to the community" how is charging that caring for others?

I've been to Co-Op live twice for gigs (Sleep Token in November 2024, and now Architects in October 2025), and overall I don't think its too bad as a venue.

There's quite a few bars and food places, as well as a co-op shop on the ground floor. But the prices are a bit much, especially for the drinks. The sound quality/acoustics also sounded very good for both events. Queuing for both events wasn't too bad either as I got in quickly, and with time to visit merchandise, bars and have a look around. Leaving also was pretty alright too as there are regular trams to and from the venue.

I do think the pricing of food and drinks coukd be improved upon though. It could also have improved signage.

Used the seat unique suite for the first time tonight as the accessible part was sold out so booked with seat unique so I could sit at the bar. I have a crutch and the normal seats aren’t good for me at the min. All the way through I had someone standing straight infront of me asked him to politely move so I can see and staff member was very rude said we should be in our seats but he was ok to stand. Very bad for disabled people will not use again

I have never had more fun at an arena than the CoOp. Maybe it was the crowd itself, but it felt so safe. Backstage Club was such a blessing. I would go back in a heartbeat. The staff were LOVELY - both me and my husband had separate floors and it really stood out how helpful they were.

I couldn’t complain about one thing for my own experience but I will say something - those wires from ceiling to the mixer- they block views and I don’t think it’s acceptable those seats are sold at the same cost, and I definitely don’t think hospitality/box seats should be sold as such behind them either. I would be gutted.

This is the second time ive been to this venue. The first time was ridiculous, the queuing went on for well over an hour and it was a warm evening in summer. This last time we weren't queuing for as long. The venue have good security were everyone's bags are checked and your body scanned which is a good thing.
The food is extortionate, we got a chicken burger that was already cooked but kept warm and it was bloody awful, the fillet was nice but the filling had fallen to the bottom of the carton and the bread was soggy yack £13 the carbon of chips were nice but again nearly £6. I bought 3 cans of captain morgans with coke in the shop to take to the hotel for £6.50 they were £9.50 for one there. A bag of Maltesers £4.50 can of pop £3.50 30 quid down the pan.
The seating is the worst I've ever sat in, like sardines. You are that close you are touching legs and shoulders with a complete stranger. They have cupholders on the chairs 😂 are you kidding me.
I hate going when your second row from the front of the balcony and the people in front with the best view are dancing and waving their arms around and blocking your view, no consideration for us smaller people. T**ts!

Awful venue. Queued for nearly an hour just to get in. Nearly missed start of show. No time to get a drink. It was so busy we were herded to a different gate (total opposite corner of venue) as our gate was too busy apparently.
Seats inside tiny with very little space in front of you. Very tricky to get out if you need the loo. I popped out for drinks and bars were closed! Nearest one open miles away so grabbed water from the water fountain instead. Toilets disgusting. When we came out, biggest queue ever for the tram. Managed to find random taxi and paid £35 to get back to deansgate! Would not recommend this venue…..

We attended the John Bishop gig on Sunday 5th October and while we loved his show we have mixed comments about Co-op Live.

Getting there by tram was okay but we went early and we got the first tram back to Manchester post gig BUT we had to almost run to catch it. Had we missed it we would not have caught our last tram home from Manchester. A shuttle bus service could be an option to avoid such a problem. Better still an arrangement should be made with Metrolink to have trams queuing at Etihad Campus to get concert goers back to Manchester centre speedily.

Our seats inside the venue were in C2, which when booking appeared to be on a raised level but we found ourselves on a flat level with poor visibility of the stage. This is a poor design issue. Why was the venue not constructed with a slope towards the rear of the ground level so as to avoid poor sight lines?

Food and drink prices within the venue are very expensive so we declined the option to purchase. Lots of others though were happy to purchase food and drink in the venue but this resulted in almost constant toing and froing to the toilets and kiosks further hampering our view and interrupting our enjoyment.

Positive aspects at the venue were the large number of staff around to help customers along with an adequate number of male and female toilets helping to keep queues to a minimum.

Would we go to Co-op Live again? We think yes but considering our issues this visit we'll be more wary about when to go and who to see.

Great John Bishop Gig. However car park charge of £25 excessive and unbelievably painful experience to vacate the car park. This surely can be improved took in excess of 40 minutes to get out of the car park with no supervisory or signage direction. For an iconic UK national indoor venue this is not good enough.

Something needs to be sorted with transport links. Queued for an hour + to get on the metro link for it then to stop at Trafford bar because it goes past cut off. If an event is on run the trams the full track slightly later than a normal evening.
To be told you can walk into Manchester for 25 minutes by stewards is an insult. Shuttle buses could be provided into Manchester to help disperse the crowd and take the pressure off the metro station at the venue. 2 concerts Iv attended there and twice it’s been awful to get away from. Wouldn’t book again.