Co-op Live  Reviews 

WORST VENUE EVER. Rip off high prices, tight seats, audio quality. How can a multimillion pound venue get this so wrong??!! To be honest i can swallow the high prices if the experience is amazing which it is not!!
WORST SOUND EVER muddled deafening sound ears ringing 2 days later…. The band drowned out neyo and akon it was all just a sound left early wont ever return! Been to 100’s of events and this was by far the worst experience. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GO TO LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC OR SHEFFIELD CITY HALL FOR EXCELLENT SOUND QUALITY. Skip the big acts.
WORST SEATS ryan air style cramped seats
HIGHEST PRICES £4 for a 330ml can of pepsi
Its only £2 in MONACO!!

Looking at the other reviews it's probably all been said before but it's still worth repeating. Went to the Alex Warren gig last night. He was good and if anything much better than I hoped, having booked the tickets to take my daughter and friend who are massive fans. The arena experience though was really poor. To have spent so much to open a brand new business like this and to deliver such a poor fan experience beggars belief. We drove there and parked in a pre-booked space on site. Fine. Until you try to leave at the end of the night, then it's an hours' wait before you need to actually start your engine. Nice to hear a selection of all the different car horns though. Really helped with the ambience. Its hard to imagine a more poorly laid out and choked up space with far too few exits for the volume of vehicles. A massive downer at the end of the night when you should be leaving you with a good feeling. However the real fun starts when you arrive on foot to be faced with 20,000 other lost souls all trying to figure out where to go and which of the numerous mile long queues to join. They've really not given much thought to any of the issues around getting so many people into the building and seem to have settled on funnelling everyone into a small number of entry points via queues that snake around the site for mile after mile. If you've not been before you're in for a treat. Think Disney queues and then multiply them by a hundred and add in the Manchester weather for good measure. Hope you took a coat because you're out there for an hour at least. If you don't freeze to death you might finally get to see the inside of this dimly lit mausoleum but if you're a first time visitor maybe grab a ludicrously priced drink because it could take you a while to navigate the interior in the search for your seats. We made the mistake of trying to decipher the directional signage. Hahaha more fool us. Makes no sense whatsoever but does mean you get to see every inch of the front of house and all the merch stands. Method to their madness eh. We asked directions from a lady who was presumably employed as a steward given she had the requisite badges but alas no, the staircase she pointed us toward was out of bounds according to another steward who saw us and almost got us arrested. How we laughed. In the end though we did find our entry point and our designated seats and I swear at one point I did manage to make out the aforementioned Alex Warren on stage about three miles away. Luckily though they had large screens up either side of the stage so I could do like I do at home and watch him on the telly. As I said, he sounded good and put on a show. Shame the show was at the Co-op Live though. I won't be returning.

Great arena, been several times. Parking is over priced but the arena itself is always a good experience.

Firstly must mention the staff at the james concert last night in Manchester that helped with our accessibility seats were very helpful and friendly, but the door steward on entrance D was the opposite, he was unprofessional, rude and bad tempered with everyone entering, we watched severel people going in before us being treated with a horrible bullyish attitude, we are in our 50s had drove from Wales, hadn't been drinking and when it was my partners turn to be scanned he realised he had his phone in his back pocket still which triggered the scanner, my partner apologised and removed it from his pocket, the steward was sarcastic and continued to say " if I smell a whiff of alcohol on your breath I have the power to stop you coming in" my partner just smiled ( ironic as they sell alcohol in there and later in the show there was drunken troubles at the front somewhere,that a band member had to call security and first aid for, twice). We had preboked paid £25 for disabled parking but it was worth it as secure and close to the venue, took about 20 minutes to get out of the car park after the show which isnt bad.Overall a well organised, clean and friendly venue.

Fantastic staff at Co-op live at Prodogy concert.
Nicolette, Amour and Paul are names I can remenber, but all staff at venue and in particular the Ciroc lounge including the big man on the door were excellent, caring and thoughfull.
Was carer for fan with autism, they were wonderfull with him, made his evening. To quote him best night of his life.

OMG seats are a joke. I’m tall at @ 6 foot 5 inches with a recent hip issue so can’t sit comfortably for long. Although the staff did their best to accommodate us we had no choice but to leave missing the concert we’d paid to see as I wasn’t allowed to stand and watch due to venue rules. I won’t be returning to any event as it’s impossible to get a reasonably priced alternative.

Went to see 5 Seconds of Summer in April 2026 and firstly want to say that the performance was stellar and the support acts were really strong.

However the venue is abysmal. The seats were too small and the isles insanely narrow if you are plus sized you will not have a good time. The queues to get in did not feel thought out at all. We had to wait about an hour outside in the cold.
The prices are insane I got a pint and a Coke at the bar and it was £14. I did not buy anymore drinks after that as I felt it was a complete rip off.
There was also technical difficulties during the show due to this both supporting acts were cut short and at the begining of 5Sos's set the sound cut off for a bit. I'm not sure if this was down to the venue or the acts set up but I'm going to assume it was the venues fault.
I'm not sure how Coop Live can improve I think the seats need to be ripped out and completely redone as it was very uncomfortable. The seats have these weird cupholders that are right at your elbow so you will knock your drink over onto the person next to you if you try to use them and they don't lift up or anything.
Another way they could improve is to lower the food & drink prices. I'd struggle to find a bar in the center of town that was charging this much for a pint.
Needless to say the Venue is a joke and I won't be going back. 5Sos and the crowd really saved it as the atmosphere was still good despite the fact you had to risk your life to shuffle past people on tiny isles if you needed the toilet.

Went to the MOBO’s which were brilliant. This review is not in relation to the actual performance/ceremony. The venue is ok, but the customer service is absolutely dreadful.

I left my phone in a disabled toilet at the end of the evening. My friend rang my phone when I realised shortly after we left the venue. A member of staff answered the phone and said my phone had been handed in and to complete the lost property form on the fan site. I completed it that evening. You can not go and collect lost property until they contact you and they say this may take 5 days, and if you don’t hear within 5 days then they don’t have it. You can not speak to anybody, there is no phone number.

Today is the 5 th day and I have not heard a thing despite knowing they have my phone. It is making my life so difficult and stressful.

I have reached out on X and Facebook as well as making the official lost property request.

What away to treat paying fans, in what is supposed to be a fantastic state of the art venue.

PLEASE CONTACT ME ASAP AND ARRANGE FOR ME TO COLLE T MY PHONE ASAP.

Wu-Tang Clan were phenomenal. The stage design, the setlist, the production, - they delivered everything you’d hope for from a group of that significance. Co-op Live is a different matter entirely.

The sound quality was indefensible for a venue of this cost. The bass distortion was so overwhelming it completely obliterated the vocals - at points I could barely make out what was being performed.

The seating was unreasonably narrow and uncomfortable throughout. Not a lot of space to move around, I’m not sure I would feel safe in an emergency situation here given we were packed in so tightly with very little walkway.

The crowd experience was poor. Multiple people stood up at different points through the show to dance and film, blocking the view of everyone seated behind them. Every time the people in front of us got up to go to the toilet/bar our view was blocked, and this happened very frequently throughout the show. Vapes were used inside the venue, I had clouds of vape in my face throughout the night which was unpleasant.

We arrived at 6:30pm. Wu-Tang didn’t take to the stage until nearly 9pm - very long time to sit in these conditions. The £9 Guinness was bad. The merch was good, staff were generally helpful.

We went to see the gorillaz last night who were awesome what let this experience down was the backstage ticket experience. We paid extra for a special experience as we were celebrating a big family birthday our plan was to arrive early and stay for the after party in the backstage space, this was cut dramatically short as apparently the backstage area had run out of water!! We all got kicked out at 11.30 instead of 1am and it felt like we were being ushered out by the angry mob, from the moment we were told we had to leave they gave us minutes to finish our drinks and did not even let the DJ finish playing his song!!! Very dramatic !!! We also had to buy canned water as there was no tap water available to drink, you think as a gesture the would have handed out free water after a gig it is not like they don’t make any money from the already inflated £9.50 a pint drink you have brought! Thanks Co-Op you let yourself down there….maybe you should be more like your advert says…what is it, owned by you, right by you!!! Not sure about that one!

The Gorillaz were great. However, being hurded round like cattle, in particular when coming out having routes planed previously open, now blocked by snearing staff. Horrible venue.

Actually "experiencing" the Gorillaz Mountain Tour Experience at the Coop Live while I write this. What a massive rip off. Some cheap merch, the customisation stations are do it yourself sticky tape and badges, the non crowded merch shopping has a queue and all to get in early for a £13 burger and £9 pint, nobody tells you what is happening....oh what luxury 🙄....don't bother 🤷🏽

Been to watch WuTang Clan at the Co-op and I’ve never experienced such bad sound quality. Could barely make out the songs. For such a new venue this is very disappointing and we’ll be requesting a refund.

Brilliant venue! Been to multiple events and shows at the Co op live and have never been disappointed. The staff & security are so attentive and the organisation of every event has been outstanding. The AO arena in Manchester should take some tips from this place !!!

I bought some Greek-style salad cheese this morning since they didn’t have any real feta. I planned to use it for dinner, but it turned out to be mouldy.

awful place, getting to and away is a nightmare,
we attended on an evening when the football was on,
tried to get a tram back to Manchester, impossible,
so happy it wasn't raining, how can there be so few trams and lines or parking or anyway to get too and from for a concert arena and football stadium,
must be a nightmare for the football supporters doing it every week, ruined what should have been a good night

I visited the Co-op live arena for the young voices concert recently, what a nightmare! We were never informed about having to pre-book for parking cars, there is inadequate parking spaces available, some of the carpark isn't even tarmacked! I parked in the Asda carpark over the road and got £100 fine but had no choice because there isn't enough parking available at the Co-op Live arena! It took an hour for us to collect our children afterwards, my other kids were soaked in the rain waiting for my son who took part. On top of that, I got defrauded as someone tried to purchase something from A.O.Com on my card, I'm not from Manchester and the only place my card details could have been copied was the Co-op live arena? I'll never visit this arena again, why put on gigs with inadequate parking facilities??!

We recently went to see Florence + the Machine and had the most incredible evening at Co-op Live. From the moment we arrived to the moment we left, the experience felt truly special.

We upgraded to the Cîroc Lounge, and it was worth every penny. The staff were exceptionally friendly and welcoming. The host at the entrance greeted us warmly, remembered our names while we were relaxing in the lounge, and even came over to check that everything was perfect. That personal touch made such a difference.

The waiters were equally fantastic — attentive, approachable, and always happy to chat with a smile. The whole atmosphere felt relaxed yet premium, and we genuinely felt looked after throughout the evening.

I would highly recommend anyone visiting the arena to upgrade to the Cîroc Lounge for a first-class experience with outstanding service. It truly made an amazing night even more memorable.

Went to see Raye ( who was fantastic!) the venue looked quite impressive inside and toilet queues were moving quickly despite the large crowds. Drink prices were horrendous so I opted for a free plastic glass and used the water fountains for free which was a nice touch. Its a shame that the end of the night ruined the experience as we sat in the car park ( which cost £25) not moving for an hour as Marshalls did nothing to sort the chaos and people got more and more frustrated and angry. Everyone was complaining, we didn't get home until after 1am and I will never go to an event there again purely due to travel issues.

Terrible place. Queues to get in are ridiculous. Totally spoils the occasion. Plus, this bad management works against them cos we could all be onside speding money!