Manchester’s AO Arena named better than Wembley and O2 Arena as hosts reschedule Co-op Live gigs

Just days after hosting the first of six rescheduled Co-op Live concerts, Manchester’s AO Arena has been named one of the best music venues in the country.

Last week, the £365m Co-op Live music venue in Eastlands announced a number of shows would be rescheduled following construction delays and “technical difficulties”.

The latest in the ongoing Co-op Live saga involved a piece of an air conditioning unit falling from the ceiling during a sound check last Wednesday (May 1) just moments before attendees hoped to see American rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie enter the venue. . The show was postponed and later moved to the AO Arena on Saturday night.

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As a result, two shows of Olivia Rodrigo were also postponed, fans are still waiting for new dates. Take That’s huge five-show run this week has also been moved to the AO Arena, with the first show on Tuesday night to rave reviews. The band will continue their shows at the AO Arena tonight until Sunday.

A recent study based on Google and Facebook reviews found that AO Arena ranked as one of the top rated music venues in the country. While the top position went to the Wales International Convention Center in Newport with an average score of 4.6 out of 5, the Manchester venue came joint fourth out of all 27 UK indoor arenas.

Joint second place went to First Direct Arena in Leeds and Emirates Arena in Glasgow for their score of 4.5. They were joined by the AO Arena in fourth place, Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro and Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena with a score of 4.4 out of 5.

The 21,000-capacity AO Arena had almost 21,000 reviews on Google, which averaged a score of 4.5. Among the reviews, some music fans described the venue as offering a “great experience” with “very friendly and helpful” staff. Others also praised the food and drinks on offer, as well as the venue being “very organised”.

On Wednesday night (May 8), the venue played host to Jack Black-fronted Tenacious D. Other acts lined up for the arena include the return of Peter Kay on May 17 and 18, as well as upcoming performances from Nickelback, Girls Aloud, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Troye Sivan, Heart and Romesh Ranganathan.

AO Arena also recently opened its exclusive bar and restaurant, The Mezz, which features a luxury setting within the venue where people can enjoy the “ultimate VIP experience”. The restaurant’s menu includes dishes prepared by acclaimed chefs Simon Rogan and Tom Barnes.

The location ranking on the list, which was compiled by QR code generator website, means it beats Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena (4.3 score, 11th), OVO Arena Wembley (4.3, joint 12th) and London’s The O2 Arena, which came in 25th with a score of 3.75.

Perhaps unfairly, Co-op Live came last on the list with a score of 1.75 based on 25 Google reviews and 38 Facebook reviews. However, the venue has yet to officially open, so reviews are mostly based on concerts that didn’t go as planned. It is currently scheduled to open on May 14 with a show at the Elbow.