Co-op Live boss quits ahead of Manchester arena opening
The world of live music and event planning is hardly an easy ride, but the new Co-op Live arena in Manchester seems to be particularly plagued by bad luck, or bad planning. Located a stone’s throw away from Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, the 23,500-capacity arena was due to open earlier this week, but things did not go to plan.
On April 20th, a test event was held for the arena, in which Rick Astley was meant to perform to 11,000 workers and specially selected audience members. However, 4,000 of those attendees had their tickets cancelled shortly before the event was due to take place, over safety concerns. Things have gone from bad to worse for the arena, as the first official event, in which legendary comedian Peter Kay was due to take to the stage, was postponed.
Now, Co-op Live has suffered another setback, as Gary Roden, the general manager of the arena, has quit. Roden made the decision to leave the project. While the venue looks to find a replacement, Rebecca Kane Burton – who was previously the boss of the O2 Arena – will take over Roden’s duties.
Adding insult to injury, Roden caused some controversy while speaking to the BBC about the state of live music, and struggling grassroots venues. “En masse bills are going up and this, that and the other,” he said, “But ultimately if there are 1,000 venues, one of them is going to be the best-run venue and one of them is going to be the poorly run venue, and where does the money go?”
In response to his comments, the Music Venue Trust refuted claims that grassroots venues were “poorly run”. Talking to NME, the trust shared, “Obviously, the irony of making ill-judged, unnecessary and misleading comments about grassroots music venues on the day that the launch of their new arena has unfortunately fallen into such difficulties is not lost on anyone in the music industry, on artists, or on audiences”.
After numerous missteps, setbacks and failures, the Co-op Live arena is finally set to open on April 27th. The first bands to take to the stage, in an official capacity, will be American garage rockers The Black Keys, supported by Circa Waves. However, the venue has reduced the capacity for this show from its initial estimate of 23,500.
Whether or not that gig will actually go ahead tomorrow remains to be seen, as it would certainly not be the first time Co-op Live has made last-minute cancellations within its short history.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.