Co-op Live  Recensioni 284

We had to queue 50 minutes in the rain just to get in, the price of the drinks is a rip off , a can of tango was £3.40 and then the seats are tiny , I am a small person can only just get in them. We won’t be going back

2 visits Lionel Richie and Simply Red. Both times after the shows it poured down with rain and despite having umbrellas we got soaked WHY you may ask ?. Trying to get transport away from this venue was an absolute nightmare on Both occasions. Taxis and Uber have no dedicated areas to pick up. There are plenty of unused aggregate surfaced areas that could be used. We walked for ages getting soaked . Second visit we were told by Uber to walk to the McDonald’s where Uber would pick up. We tried but had cancellations as the area outside was totally gridlocked to and from. Has NOBODY yes NOBODY had the common sense to appraise this. Signs inside the venue re taxis trams buses etc or advice on line would be, one would think, a sensible way to advise. In addition to being charged £20 YES £20 by a taxi for the 2 mile journey from central Manchester this is a Venue I Very Much intend Never to return to. If they aren’t performing at the AO ARENA I Ain’t going full stop.

Simply Red September 2025

Mick and his band were AMAZING the venue definitely NOT amazing!

Terrible location

Extortionate bar prices - one mediocre bottle of wine, two ‘ok’ small tins of Prosecco and two 2pint cups of beer…. £101!

Far too steep and, God forbid, anyone tripped it would be a major catastrophe. People would fall to their death like dominoes!

Marshals were overwhelmed and couldn’t retain any sort of order for the queues trying to enter the event.

Leaving was even worse!
No cover. Herded like cattle through the barriers with hoards of people trying to push in. Then it was every man for himself getting on the tram. Everyone was drenched and it certainly took the shine off the whole evening 🤬 Outfits, gorgeous blow drys for what should have been a fabulous evening absolutely ruined 🤬

I’d NEVER return no matter how much I wanted to see a concert. It would be a different venue and if necessary a stay over! Everyone around us was saying the same!

Huge venue which definitely NEEDS a couple of big screens. The two they currently have aren’t worth having!

Simply Red …. The gig and the sound quality was exceptional. Entry, exit, transport, drink prices, health & safety NOT GOOD.

People were stood in the seated area for the full gig and wasn't told to sit, policy is to sit in seated area , if want to stand get a stand ticket. Not on for people who can't stand for long. Don't mind last 2 songs but not full hr n half

There is nothing accessable in regards to support for booking tickets for those with disabilities. I followed all the instructions to end up with tickets that they now tell me after a week they can not help me to move. Ticketmaster pa's you to the Co op and Co op pass you Ticketmaster. You can never book tickets at the lower stands they ask you to apply online and register your disabilities which I did and won't help to change them even though they said they good. Discrimination towards those with regsitered disabilities. Rwuested money back through my bank as refund.

i would have rated this 0 if i could. Terrible experience - we paid over £700 for 2 VIP tickets to see drake and we got nothing that was listed in the description, was meant to get in at 4;30pm but we got in 15 minutes before general tickets so there was no time to get a drink before thousands of people was coming in. The waiter was making up random prices for the drinks which we didn't realise until after, we didn't get any of the merch or lanyard and am still trying to follow up on that but doesnt seem like we will get it. the parking and taxis back into the centre was atrocious, waiting hours for one. i spoke to the people next to me and they paid £100 for their ticket and got the same experience as me. in my eyes its all just a big scam and they don't care for VIPS

Encouraged to use the self service drinks area, you scan your bank card choose your drink then apparently the camaras know how much to charge you (according to the staff) !
Didnt sound right to me but im not up with the tech !
Anyway i have got home after only buying 3 drinks!
£27.90 taken out of my account plus 2 £9 out of my account! When I only owe £21 !!!!
How many people are they robbing ! Thankfully we were not drunk or we probably wouldn’t have realised.

Excellent Lewis Capaldi gig but transport back to and from the hotel was abysmal. We were told at the hotel not to book a taxi as they take ages and often just don't turn up. After the gig we were amazed to find there was no taxi rank near the venue and ubers weren't allowed to stop near the venue because of numerous double yellow lines. We ended up walking back to the hotel in the pouring rain. Great venue awful transport links.

The sound was amazing, the organisation was great however we were sat at the back and the curtains completely restricted the view so that we couldn't see the screens at all. It's extremely cramped to where your legs arent even at a 90° angle so my knees started to hurt after a while. The cup holders are also really shallow so it doesn't feel like you can put your drink in and relax without knowing its not going to spill, the seats are that close you're practically touching the person next to you. I couldn't even clap and cheer because I had to hold my drink and our coats as you can't put your coats on the floor in front as theres a gap where it could drop down the seat below you. I wouldn't attend this arena again as it was just so uncomfortable and super expensive... £4.25 for a bag of squashies

I am truly grateful for the absolutely fantastic venue for Tom Grennan’s show last night. After my recent operation, I needed to move seats to keep my leg stretched, and I couldn't have asked for better support from Will in customer service level 3. He was full of energy, incredibly friendly, and went above and beyond to assist us, moving my partner and me without any issues. We had a brilliant experience and can't wait to return. Thank you, Will, for making our night so much more comfortable and enjoyable!

We attended Tom Grennan on 19th September and we would just like to say we cannot fault the staff at Co Op Live. Our daughter is in a wheelchair and each and every one of the staff, particularly Michelle, Vicki and I didnt get the ladies name but she was the accessibility manager went out of their way to help us. Every single member of staff we encountered were extremely helpful and friendly. The are all a credit to the company. We had the best night.
We would also like to give credit to the Co Op Live for making a raised accessible platform near to the stage so that people with dissabilities have the option to be near the stage and be able to see even if people stand infront instead of high in the gods like they are usually put. Our daughter also has a visual impairment so being that close was amazing for her. Would highly recommend.

Overall great experience watching Tom Grennan at this venue. Parking expensive but well organised, easy to find, convenient access and helpful staff members. Location of entrances, blocks, rows and seats were pretty straight forward and easy to locate. Staff served customers quickly and efficiently making the queues move rapidly with minimal waiting times. Ticket system is efficient and effective, again no long waiting times to enter the premises. The venue itself is a good size, however my only complaint would be the last of room between seats which are positioned on steep stairs making it difficult to maneuver past. Overall a positive experience and wouldn't hesitate to return.

Came to watch a concert. People were sat in our seats so had to ask them to move and they were not happy.
Band came on, could hardly see them which wouldn’t have been a problem if they had screens? What kind of venue doesn’t have screens? Weird! £3.50 for a can of coke which they bizarrely make you open at the till? Much prefer AO Arena.
Only good thing about it was the car park I booked down the road, lovely guy on there and straight off after the gig!!

I attended the Billie Eilish concert on 23rd July 2025 with my child. We are both disabled, and I have severe mobility issues, including a broken pelvis, so we booked accessible tickets to ensure we could attend safely.

A few days before the event, our seats were moved. I trusted that they would still be accessible. When we arrived, we were shown to seats down steps — completely unsuitable for my condition. When I explained this, staff accused me of lying until I showed proof of my booking on my phone.

I was told there was only one chair left on the accessible platform. I sat, and my child was forced to sit on the floor. Moments later, another couple arrived and were instantly given chairs. When I questioned this, I was met with rude, dismissive communication and told we couldn’t sit where we’d been placed.

It took 45 minutes after asking for a manager to get another chair. By then, our evening was ruined. We were left feeling humiliated, unwelcome, and discriminated against.

This is not just poor customer service — it’s a blatant breach of disability rights under the Equality Act. I am disgusted by how we were treated and will never return to Co-op Live.

I’m only giving this a 1 star purely based on health and safety of the seating in upper levels. I was in 301 row 5 very tight seating to get to your seat the entire row has to stand up to let someone in or out so your up and down every 2 mins to let someone use the bathroom. the seats are low and if someone fell forwards it would be like domino’s. The seats are so so steep.

This is an accident waiting to happen as it’s dark narrow and a drinking event. It wouldn’t take much for a drunk person to fall over the tier in upper levels because near 301 where I was there was the tiniest metal bar which wasn’t very high and if someone drunk was to look over they could easily fall over it or a tall person. The entire time I was watching the show I just felt so uncomfortable and unsafe.

The venue is amazing and Billie. I did get backstage club and thankfully I didn’t have to queue. I am returning again but I’ve got tickets for lower seating.

I really hope they make it more safe and raise the barrier around the tier in case someone falls. Please just look at what happened at Wembley stadium incident. It does happen! And it can be easily prevented.

Also, getting to the venue is a bit of a treck. Wear comfy shoes because you have a little walk to get to it from the main entrance and be prepared for mega queues !

We went to the Billie Eilish Concert 23rd July excited to see her and see the relatively new venue.

Billie was amazing!!!!

However, the whole experience getting into the venue pretty much ruined the night. We arrived early to park in the blue car park at 4.30pm and to wonder into Manchester for an hour before the concert. We saw lots of people queuing and thinking that was for the standing section - BIG MISTAKE to assume that! We came back at 6.30 to get into the venue to see the support act at 7pm to be told to join the queue for section D - No problem till you turn the corner and realise the queue is over half a mile long wrapping around The Etihad Stadium!!!!!!! 1 hour 30 minutes later we entered the venue everyone stressed they were going to miss the beginning of the concert, never mind completely missing the support act!!!!!

There was no one at the seating section to guide you to the seats, which is needed as there are hardly any signs once you're in the section. You literally have to fumble to your seats (3 different couples of two had to be moved during the concert, as they were all in their wrong seats due to the poor signage).

At this point we were all hot and bothered and basically got hotter and hotter in there making it unbearable to the point I nearly fainted at the end of the concert.

Speaking to the steward they all said that it's always like this at a sell out concert. We would basically have to get there at 5.30pm (Billie on at 8.15pm) just to queue for 1 hour and 30 minutes to see the support act - oh but wait, the doors don't open till 6pm!!!!!!!!

Needless to say will NEVER see anyone at this venue again!

This review is a reflection on my absolute disappointment and frustration after attending the Drake concert last night. Quite frankly, it was the worst live music experience I have ever had, and that is not an exaggeration.

We were seated in Block 304, Row 15, and the sound quality was nothing short of abysmal. The acoustics in the venue were horrific, muffled, distorted, and plagued by echo to the point where it was impossible to make out a single lyric or fully enjoy any part of the performance. For a brand new arena, it is absolutely unacceptable that such fundamental issues with sound quality have clearly not been addressed.

We lasted 30 minutes before we had no choice but to leave. That is how unlistenable and disappointing the experience was. We paid for what was supposed to be a world-class event, but instead were subjected to an amateur-level setup in a multi-million-pound facility. It’s honestly disgraceful.

My advice to anyone else attending, avoid the higher rows unless you want to waste your money and leave incredibly disappointed.

We were so excited for this concert – it was the first one my niece had ever been to, and she’s a huge Billie fan. Billie herself was absolutely incredible, no complaints there at all – she gave everything to the crowd. But sadly, the whole experience was let down massively by the state of the venue and the organisation (or lack of it) at Co-op Live.

We arrived before 5:30pm and still ended up queueing for over two hours just to get to the queue outside entrance C. There was barely any communication from staff, no clear guidance, and the whole thing felt completely unmanaged. It was a bit chaotic and stressful, not at all what you expect from a venue of this size.

To make matters worse, while we stood in that enormous queue for hours, we saw people parking in the on-site car park and just walking straight to the front of the queue without any challenge. Staff to be fair were visibly overwhelmed and there seemed to be not enough members of staff to be able to manage the ticket holders, and as a result didn’t have the capacity to manage and stop the queue jumping or help manage the situation. It felt completely unfair on those of us who had followed the rules and waited patiently.

Once we finally made it near the doors for the standing area, things only got worse. The queue snaked through piles of abandoned rubbish, tents, umbrellas, bottles, sleeping bags, clothes, all kinds of rubbish – and the smell of stale urine was genuinely awful.

It was clear people had been camping out for hours with no access to proper toilets, and the lack of basic facilities was just inexcusable. We were literally stepping over mess and rubbish to get in – it felt more like a neglected festival site than a brand-new arena.

Then, after nearly three hours just getting in, we were hit with sky-high bar prices – over £45 for two pints and two Smirnoff Ice cans. I don’t mind paying more at events, but that felt like a joke. Inside, the venue looked unfinished and poorly maintained, quite dirty, badly signposted, and frankly just disappointing for what’s meant to be a top tier arena.

I’m not writing this to have a go or sound like I’m just moaning for the sake of it, but the night was meant to be something really special, and it ended up being stressful, uncomfortable and completely avoidable with better planning and care.

It’s a shame, because Billie was outstanding – but Co-op Live let her and her fans down badly.

I won’t be returning to CoOp Live, and I’ll definitely be warning others to think twice. The one saving grace was the people in the queue with us, they were kind, patient and really helped keep spirits up.

Please, Billie, you were amazing – but don’t come back to Co-op Live. Your fans deserve better

Well I understand venue's have a massive job to do when organising an event.
Took my granddaughter to see Billie eillish on the 22nd July it was a Christmas present and she has so looked forward to this , we were seated block 312 row 8 seats 301 & 302 all going well, a bit tight are the seats but ok.
As soon as Billie came on everyone decide to stand up so now she can't see telling people to sit down and being verbally abused is rong, plus all the stewards had either gone or wasn't interested,the fact is that if someone fell forward it would be like a domino effect and would probably cause serious injuries to children and adults. I won't be going back to this venue it's a dangerous venue if you're sitting with children and people refusing to sit down shame on you
Co op otherwise Billie was amazing 🤩