Eighties megastar fans fume over ticket cancellations ‘an hour’ before show-Kitty Chrisp-Entertainment – Metro

Rick Astley performed at the new Co-op live arena in Manchester (Picture: Mark Holloway/Redferns)

Rick Astley fans were fuming after the new Co-op Live Manchester arena cancelled tickets for a free test event featuring the megastar.

11,000 people were set to watch the Never Gonna Give You Up hitmaker, 58, over the weekend, before the venue cancelled a bunch of tickets to reduce capacity.

The 23,500-seater arena – set to have the largest capacity of any indoor arena in the UK – were forced to apologise after making the ‘difficult decision’ short-notice.

‘To enable us to test the spaces effectively, we have made the difficult decision to reduce overall capacity for today’s test event,’ the venue said in a statement, adding: ‘We apologise for the inconvenience this will undoubtedly cause.’

Those affected were contacted by the venue and ticket sellers, who offered them places instead at the Black Keys’ concert this week as a ‘gesture of our appreciation’, the Co-op Live representative said.

Fans weren’t happy, as @ByronEdwards9 took to X and wrote: ‘Invitational tickets to the test event tonight cancelled just 90 minutes before doors open. What kind of s**t show is this?’

It was a test show which was free for attendees, but many were miffed when it was cancelled last minute (Picture: Luke Brennan/Getty Images)

The venue apologised for the inconvenience (Picture: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Alison Stafford-Bentley said: ‘Thanks for cancelling tickets for tonight less than an hour before event is due to start. Absolutely fuming.’

@RogerCrow managed to get his hands on tickets after the initial scare, as he took to X writing: ‘Well #cooplive was an absolute shambles – one of our tickets cancelled 90 mins before the gig, way too late, but eventually found someone who let us in, and the acts did not disappoint. #rickastley was phenomenal and great acoustics.’

Those who attended the event seemed to enjoy themselves, as Lisa Morton wrote, ‘Absolutely brilliant,’ alongside a clip from the night, and attendee Matt Biker shared a video of the pop icon singing Never Gonna Give You Up, commenting: ‘That song has aged well. He was so good last night.’

While the ticket may have been free, some were miffed they’d wasted time and money travelling to the event, as @TasneemSuleman5 commented on X: ‘Why send the email at 16.34 when doors open at 6pm. We were travelling from Leeds and had already set off, what about the money wasted on petrol?’

The venue is officially opening on Tuesday with Peter Kay (Picture: Shutterstock / Bardhok Ndoji)

Jan Fisher agreed, as she wrote: ‘Sending an email at 1634 when we were already on our way, we had 4 tickets and were totally humiliated in the queue, yes sorry, you can’t come in. Spent money on a meal before we travelled & hour to be told no!’

A Co-op Live spokesperson shared a statement which said: ‘We’re busy putting the finishing touches on Co-op Live, and we are looking forward to Co-op Live becoming the pre-eminent arena in the UK upon opening.

‘As a part of the opening process, we are in the midst of an extensive protocol of testing critical procedures. To enable us to test the spaces effectively, we have made the difficult decision to reduce overall capacity for today’s test event. We apologise to affected guests and look forward to welcoming them to the Black Keys.’

Comedian Peter Kay will officially open the arena on Tuesday.

The £365 million venue has had investment from local and pop megastar Harry Styles – who is a minor financial partner – and he’s even been involved in giving advice on certain design elements.

Manchester native Harry Styles is involved in the arena (Picture: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

The venue has been built by City Football Group, which is owned by billionaire Sheikh Mansour, who is an UAE royal and the country’s deputy prime minister.

Oakview Music Group have also played a big role, with the organisation co-founded by music mogul Irving Azoff, whose business partner and son Jeff manages the likes of U2 and Harry Styles himself.

Further backers include SJM and Gaiety, and the venue wants to build on securing this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards with other massive events.

Chatting about the huge venue, set to be the London O2 Arena of the north, Co-op Live executive director and general manager Gary Roden told the BBC: ‘There’s no reason why the Brits can’t come up north.’

‘It’s an innovative space, with modern suites and even an in-house gym for artists, while Harry himself advised on no advertising boards to let performers focus on enjoying the moment.

‘That costs us money not to have advertising in here,’ Gary added. ‘But that’s a decision that we’ve made in order to maximise the connection between artist and fan.’

Olivia Rodrigo, Keane, Take That, Elbow, Eagles, The Smashing Pumpkins, James, Liam Gallagher, Pearl Jam, Megan Thee Stallion, Stevie Nicks, Kings of Leon, Justin Timberlake, Niall Horan, Eric Clapton and others are all set for big shows at the venue in the coming months.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

Entertainment – MetroRead More