Co-op Live  Reviews 278

The venue, staff, parking.. everything was great.. so on all of that id give 5 stars.. BUT what ruined the night for me was the end of the gig. I went to watch Nine Inch Nails.. They are famous for ending their show on one song, its not a long song (hurt) but its a very emotional one and one of the highlights if not the best highlight. The performance from the singer and band 10/10 but the venue ruined the last song because a large line of high vis vested staff with brooms (I saw 20 of them at least) came into the venue as the song started! Bright lights were switched on presumably to allow them to see where they were walking safely and stood there untill the end of the show! WHY?! What was the point.. just wait till the song has ended to bring them in! Instead a lot of people and myself had the ending of the show ruined by this. It took the attention away from the band, it ruined the shows lighting, it ruined te atmosphere.. i would imagine that the singer and band also saw this and was very annoyed! So for this reason I give the venue 1 star! Make sure this doesnt happen again Co-op live. Really bad practice!

OUTSTANDING
Amazing service throughout this venue.
I've been to hundreds of concerts and shows and visited a lot of venues but this has to be one of the very best.
Stewards and all the other staff on site have obviously been trained to an exceptional level.
Amazing 👏

Watch the bar staff! I was overcharged £60 for a drink. When I challenged it I was told to right my email on a bit of paper!!! Not heard a thing since despite complaining. You can’t call anyone!!

Putting profits before people prices terrible for drinks. After a cancelled gig it was almost like the coop arena made sure they had a full capacity of people buying merchandise and drinks before telling us it was cancelled. Organisation going in fine coming out horrendous and unsafe.

Cancelled ELO gig @ Manchester Co-op 10.7.25. Badly handled by ELO management. Only announced once everyone was seated. Terrible way to treat fans, especially those who had travelled long distances. Half hearted apology & told to contact ticket providers for refund. Really hope that the Co-op did the decent thing and paid the stewarding staff for the full evening. They were brilliant.

I can't fault staff, they were so helpful. Issues were £300 per ticket for ELO, that is fine, however the plan on the website for choosing seats shows an aisle, and we had chosen the seats by aisle due to disability (no accessible seating was left when purchasing). When we got there, there is no aisle. Very cramped and uncomfortable as a result. Food is top notch, though you can't buy spirits without mixers, makes no sense when you can buy double pints. Getting taxis is a nightmare, walk for ages down unlit streets to be in a maze of people in the same predicament, and this at almost midnight. Disappointing.

All arenas/venues are expensive these days but this place takes it to another level.
Bizarrely if you buy any cans you are forced to open them before leaving the shop, allegedly to stop them being used at weapons, what utter nonsense.
The seating is truly awful, too narrow with poorly positioned cup holder that force people to sit awkwardly with their arms dangling in front of them.
Walking along the rows to get to your seat can also be a scary experience as the seat back are very low and therefore a real trip hazard, this will cause serious injury in the future, mark my words.
Overall the arena seating is a case of venue income over customer safety and comfort.
Whoever designed this place needs to go back to their previous job of aircraft hanger design

We had an excellent first visit to this new arena on 9/7/25 to see ELO. Arrived early, there was a queue to get in but doors were opened early than scheduled & we got through security etc quickly and efficiently by friendly staff. Drinks & food are expensive, but this is nothing new at a music venue! Free water filling points are available. No queues in the loos which were spotless. We were sat in the floor area in B1 & found the seats comfortable and not a problem. The show was fantastic despite Jeff Lynn having a broken hand & struggling physically a bit towards the end of the show. The sound/ acoustics in particular are brilliant in this new arena.
We decided to drive to the venue. Paid to park on a private drive about 10 mins walk away, which worked out brilliantly. Had no problem getting out of the arena at the end of the show & we were soon on our way home.
We found the Co-op Arena an impressive, clean new music venue & will happily return again!

Not very well designed. No stewards guiding cars out.
Worst thing was the speakers covering the main screens so you couldn't see anything!
When you spend £450 on tickets you expect to see them.
Plus side - ELO were superb :)

Went to see the legend Stevie Wonder and had a great experience. Paid extra for the backstage club and doors opened at 5 30pm and no problem getting in and seated. We got a free drink but drinks are pricey and you need to get there early to get seats! Overall a good experience

I went to see Mary J Blige on the 4th of July. Mary was great and did her thing but I will never go to another concert at coop live. I waited so long to see Mary again. Get to this place and I’m on floor seats and couldn’t see her!! I was shocked. They had this huge screen behind Mary that they did not use to record her performing. They used it for screen saver and a video or two. That stadium is so big so many people and they didn’t use the screen!! That was the worst thing I’ve seen in a long time. I was very disappointed. Seats were tight and cramped too. Was not a great experience.

Dreadful experience at Stevie Wonder concert on 5/7/25, queued over an hour to get in, only just caught the start of the show-many didn't.
Overpriced drinks and food.
No legroom, packed too tightly in, very cramped and uncomfortable.
Will never return!!

Arrived by car. Parking in pre booked blue area all straightforward. Queue to get in moved fast took about 10 minutes to get in so quick. We arrived fie 6.30 even though Stevie not on stage until 8pm. Plenty of space inside and hardly any queues at bars. Drinks price way too much £9 a pint. Good view of stage in block 112. Excellent concert. On leaving massive queue for ladies toilets. 20 mins to get out of car park. Gridlocked traffic all the to M62 took 1 hour to go 4 miles. Probably would not return. A few years ago my daughter could not get a tram so missed train back to Liverpool so had to pay for a taxi.

Went to see Stevie Wonder who was fantastic the coop however was not will never return. Stairs to seats were dark and steep leg room was tight. No escape route when at the top area. Screen way to small lighting was useless sound was good thanks to Stevie. Price not your every day shop £3.50 can of water disgusting food or the lack of it. No thank you. Staff were nice Stevie amazing venue rubbish come on at the prices charged we surely can do better.

Money making machine!!
We were there at Stevie Wonder’s concert yesterday. The show was great. However, there was no public transport at 11 pm, no trams or buses. People were asked to walk all the way into the Manchester which took more then one hour!!

Although they have a long way to go with some changes they need making, I have to say it is one of the safest, securest arenas I have attended, and the staff are all so lovely. Big shout out to Roze who went out of her way to make sure my experience was accessible and enjoyable! A lot of area for improvement generally, that would take me ages to sum up, but already so promising. Had an amazing time.

Once outside the venue it took 30 minutes to enter after joining a very long queue.Stevie Wonder was on stage by the time we were sat down.

Went to see Stevie Wonder, shambles getting in had to queue literally outside the Ethiad Stadium on the otherside! Not easy to get to and no restaurants or bars near by. Inside beers pumps etc not working, too many queues.I'll be sticking to the AO Arena

Had to queue for over an hour to get in to see Stevie Wonder. He started 20 minutes late but people were still probably queuing.
Been to venues as big or bigger and never had the issues this has. Should have been sorted after being open so long!!

I can only pass comment on the reception staff Ellie Johnson I had an issue today and she was the most pleasant helpful amazing person and her customer service was beyond my expectations.Thank you Elle you’re a star I hope your management team appreciates you.