Peter Kay’s huge performance at Manchester’s brand new Co-op Live arena has been canceled just hours before the comedian was due to take the stage.
The comedian’s second show at the venue on Wednesday evening has also been cancelled.
The highly anticipated show was due to take place on Tuesday at the 23,500 capacity venue and would have been the showpiece opening for the city’s new flagship venue, the largest in Britain.
But just a day before the show was due to take place, it was announced that both shows have been canceled as work on the Eastlands venue has not yet been completed. The municipality’s building supervisor also still has to sign off on the building.
Co-op Live has confirmed that both shows will be rescheduled and will instead take place on April 29 and 30.
Peter Kay’s huge performance at Manchester’s brand new Co-op Live arena has been canceled just hours before the comedian was due to take the stage
A spokesperson for Co-op Live said: ‘Following our first test event on Saturday, we have unfortunately made the difficult decision to reschedule our two opening Peter Kay performances.
These dates will shift from April 23 and Wednesday 24 to Monday April 29 and Tuesday April 30.
‘It is critical to ensure we have a consistent total power supply for our all-electric, sustainable site, which is several days behind schedule for completion. Rescheduling gives us the extra time we need to continue thorough testing.
‘This is essential to meet the strict 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 29 (rescheduled from 23) and 30 (rescheduled from 24) April 2024.
‘All tickets remain valid and ticket holders will be contacted by their point of sale. Refunds are available for those who can no longer attend.
“We are very sorry for any inconvenience this change will undoubtedly cause to some.
“We are pleased to welcome Peter Kay as our grand opening act a few days later than planned.”
Peter Kay said: ‘I’m really gutted because I know how disappointing this will be for everyone with tickets, but it’s obviously a brand new venue and it’s important that everything is ready and safe for the public at full capacity.’
“Luckily we were able to move the shows to next week (I’ll have to miss my Bums & Tums class) but hopefully I’ll see you then.”
Co-op Live added: ‘We can’t wait to welcome fans to Co-op Live for our official grand opening events with Peter Kay, and to showcase Co-op Live at its best.
‘We will still host The Black Keys on April 27 in the lower bowl with 10,000 fans as planned, and will continue to test the resilience of the venue and its operations.’
It comes after power issues at the site, which are believed to have affected the fire safety and emergency services communications systems, led to bosses reducing the number of attendees at Saturday night’s testing event from around 11,000 to 4,000 – less than two hours before it would happen. get started.
Insiders claimed that ‘everything had been arranged down to the last detail’ ahead of the test show starring Rick Astley.
Manchester City Council’s Building Control Department cannot issue a completion certificate while work is still taking place on the site, including corridors and wiring.
The site could still operate without this certificate after council bosses presented a mitigation strategy to manage potential risks, although details of this plan have not been made public.
Previously, bosses at Co-op Live said teams on site were doing ‘everything they could’ to prepare for the venue’s grand opening.
A spokesperson for Co-op Live said: ‘Opening a venue of this size requires very close collaboration with multiple stakeholders and responsible authorities to adhere to a strict set of guidelines and protocols.
‘In the run-up to our test event, some systems had limited electrical power, which we could only reduce by reducing capacity.
This meant we made the difficult decision to reduce the capacity of our test event and deeply regret the impact this had on our guests.
‘We recognize that many people were inconvenienced at very short notice last night and apologize to all those affected.
“We are working hard to complete Co-op Live and look forward to welcoming fans and artists to the venue soon.”