Peter Kay’s huge Co-op Live arena opening concert CANCELED with just 24 hours to go

Peter Kay’s big concert at Manchester’s brand new Co-op Live Arena has been cancelled. The comedian’s second show at the venue, scheduled for Wednesday evening (April 24), was also canceled.

The highly anticipated show was due to take place tomorrow (Tuesday 23 April) at the 23,500 capacity venue and would have been the highlight of the opening of the city’s new flagship venue, the largest in the UK.

But today (Monday), just the day before, it was announced that both shows have been cancelled as work has not yet been completed on the Eastlands venue. The council’s building control department has not yet approved the building.

READ NEXT: What went wrong before Co-op Live’s test event – and the mad rush to complete the venue

This afternoon, Co-op Live confirmed that both shows would be postponed. Peter Kay’s two dates take place next Monday (April 29) and Tuesday (April 30).

A Co-op Live spokesperson said: “Following our first test event on Saturday, we have unfortunately made the difficult decision to postpone our two opening performances of Peter Kay. These dates will be moved from 23 April and Wednesday 24 to Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 April.

“Ensuring full and consistent power supply is critical to our fully electric, sustainable venue, which is several days behind schedule. The delay gives us the additional time we need to continue to conduct extensive testing. This is essential to meet the rigorous set of guidelines and protocols required for a venue of this size.

“Peter Kay has very graciously agreed to perform his record breaking comedy at Co-op Live on April 29th (rescheduled from 23rd) and 30th (rescheduled from 24th) April 2024. All tickets remain valid and ticket holders will be contacted through their point of sale. Refunds will be available for those who can no longer attend. We are truly sorry for the inconvenience this change may cause to some.

“We are delighted to welcome Peter Kay as our opening artist a few days later than planned.”

Peter Kay said: “I’m really gutted because I know how disappointing this will be for everyone who has tickets, but obviously it’s a brand new venue and it’s important that it’s all completed and safe for a full capacity audience.”

“Luckily we were able to reschedule the shows for next week (I’ll have to miss my Bums & Tums class) but hopefully I’ll see you then.”

Co-op Live added: “We look forward to welcoming fans to Co-op Live for our official opening events with Peter Kay and showcasing Co-op Live at its best. We will still welcome The Black Keys on 27 April in the Lower Bowl with 10,000 fans as planned, and we will continue to test the resilience of the venue and its operations.”

The move comes after electricity problems at the site, which are believed to have affected fire safety and emergency services communications systems, led bosses to reduce attendance from around 11,000 to 4,000 people at Saturday evening’s test event – less than two hours before it was scheduled to start. Inside sources claimed “everything was sorted out at the last minute” before the test show with Rick Astley.

Manchester City Council’s building control department cannot issue a completion certificate while work is still underway on the site, which would include corridors and cabling. The site could still operate without the certificate after presenting council officials with a mitigation strategy to manage potential risks, although details of that 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. A Co-op Live spokesperson said: “Opening a venue of this size requires working very closely with multiple stakeholders and responsible authorities to adhere to a rigorous set of guidelines and protocols.

“Before our test event, some systems had limited electrical power, which we were only able to mitigate by reducing capacity. This means we have made the difficult decision to reduce the capacity of our test event and we deeply regret the impact this has had on our guests.

“We recognise that many people were inconvenienced last night at very short notice and we apologise to everyone affected. We are working hard to complete Co-op Live and look forward to welcoming fans and artists back to the venue soon.”

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