Co-op Live  Avis 279

We went to watch War of the Worlds on 6th Apr 2025 and, based on other reviews, I had some concerns but everything went really smoothly. We used the official Blue car park. At £25 very pricey but events like this always are. Parking was easy and well sign-posted from Alan Turing way. Plenty of stewards to help. We arrived at 16:30 for doors open at 18:30 and drove straight on to the car park. We then went for some food, returning to the Co-Op Live at about 18:50. The lines were long but always moving. Perhaps took 10 minutes to get in but nothing excessive for a venue of this size. I had all three tickets on my phone so scanned my wife and son in first. Scanning the bar code from my phone was easy and plenty of stewards to help out in the event of any problems. We were in Section 108, Row 13. The view was good. Seats on a par with a football stadium. I am 177cm tall and could sit quite comfortably for the duration of the 2 hour concert. There were queues for food and drinks and, again, these were very pricey; £11 for a hot dog. However, I'm afraid that is the world we live in. We left the arena approx 22:35 and it appeared to me that there were still trams running but for how long I could not say. Once again, plenty of stewards available to help out and give advice. Coming off the car park was not too bad. The lanes were coned and stewards present to help keep things flowing. The only issue was turning right on to Alan Turing Way. There was a lot of congestion. On reflection, I wished I had just turned left and gone around the block but we managed OK, and were back in Sandbach before midnight Would have been earlier if our exit off the M56 had not been closed! War of the Worlds itself was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Overall a good experience and a lot smoother than I expected it to be. If you plan on going early and then going for food as we did, I recommend booking a table. There is a great Indian/Thai restaurant 5 minutes walk way. Not the cheapest but both the food and service was great. If I had a criticism, it would only be turning right on to Alan Turing Way when we left the venue. I certainly would not hesitate going again for the right event.

Lack of helpers in getting disabled to seats not all of us are able to do so many steps no grab rail etc asked for assessable seat but it was a block booking Went on Thur 3 April

Only offering 1 star as unable to post without a rating.
Absolutely disgraceful experience on 3rd April.
Booked official parking that we found out in the night wasn’t available but no email or notifications to let us know.
Try g to find help and support, no one at venue willing to help.
Massive impact on an existing medical condition.
Eventually arrived having missed half of the event. Again no one at the venue to speak with, general response we can’t help or it’s not us. Even trying to find a lift got answered by don’t know layout of building to go around that side to then be told lifts were back where we came from.
Worst experience ever at a venue. Will never visit Coop live again. Spent second half of event is excruciating agony after being stuck in their traffic tailback for almost 2 hours.
No customer service. Cannot even find a way to make a complaint, fans forum had limited characters so cannot give full details.

Went to Andre Rieu last night. Did not get a WOW factor from this new arena. £4 for a can of pop is mad, a false economy, as you only buy 1, or none at all. Dont rip us off
The biggest issues is allowing late comers both at the start and after the interval to go to their seats when a song was on. It was rude and inconsiderate. All the staff need to do is keep them at the door for a few more minutes until song ends. Its not hard, the noise they made going down the steps was a disgrace. The lady after the interval was a beautiful singer, ruined by people walking down the steps. Wrong Wrong Wrong

Our first visit and it was superb. The venue is excellent with probably the most friendly and helpful staff I have ever come across. Everything worked really well, we didn’t have a queue to get in and even the bar / catering was very good.
Andre Rieu’s show was an absolute joy with everyone coming out uplifted. Music is indeed the food of life .

Co-op live presale for Lady Gaga, got an email offering me presale tickets as a member, attempted to log on numerous times have done this successfully before, but this time nothing complete waste of time.

Absolutely ridiculous prices on food and drinks and once the show has finished ushered out like cattle

Went to see Teddy Swims tonight.
Awful sound. Drowned out vocals. Far to loud and distorted. Totally unenjoyable. Section D row 21. A sound engineer needs to sit there. I'm sure Teddy will be disappointed.

My friend and I attended Teddy Swims this evening and I have to say the experience was second to none.
I had emailed the arena after going through major surgery very recently which was for a Spinal cord Stimulator which has a charger and remote control. This stops me from going through any sort of body scanner.
We were emailed back to go to Gate B. We arrived and I explained that I could not be scanned and was carrying equipment as well as a specific card for security.
A female security was called for and she searched me.
We then went through doors and were unsure about where to go, however a very nice security guard spoke to us and went and got a host for us.
I really don’t remember her name , but she guided us to fan base. She was so supportive . At fan base they were amazing and we were able to get seats as I had originally bought standing before my surgery.
Honestly I can not thank the Co Op Live enough.
Thank you

Absolutely totally agree with this review I thought it was just me but no.
It was a shame I was so looking forward to it.

This was the review I 100% agree with.

I went to see Teddy Swims last night and the sound was awful. Not sure if the venue is badly designed or the sound engineer was on work experience, but it was very badly mixed and far too loud. It was so loud that the bottom end was distorting and there seemed to be loads of reverb, which makes me think that the venue just isn’t suitable for live music. At times it was impossible to hear Teddy above the band. When the female backing vocalists stepped forward to sing with him they were inaudible. Even some of the guitar solos were hard to make out. Incidentally, the camera operator for the big screen concentrated on one of the two guitarists, every time there was a solo, as they should. Unfortunately, they picked the wrong one, virtually every time, which looked incredibly unprofessional. I resorted to stuffing bits of tissue in my ears to protect my hearing. There was auto tune on the vocals, giving them a tinny, electronic sound, which was awful. Overall an unpleasant evening. Probably quite a good band, but impossible to tell in that venue. I haven’t seen anything else at Coop live, so I can’t tell whether that’s normal or I was unlucky, but my feeling is this venue is completely unsuitable for live music. Given the prices, I certainly won’t risk going again. It was an evening ruined.

Apart from the extortionate parking, £25 for an unmade, unfinished car park, totally disorganised…..
I went to see Teddy Swims last night and the sound was awful. Not sure if the venue is badly designed or the sound engineer was on work experience, but it was very badly mixed and far too loud. It was so loud that the bottom end was distorting and there seemed to be loads of reverb, which makes me think that the venue just isn’t suitable for live music. At times it was impossible to hear Teddy above the band. When the female backing vocalists stepped forward to sing with him they were inaudible. Even some of the guitar solos were hard to make out. Incidentally, the camera operator for the big screen concentrated on one of the two guitarists, every time there was a solo, as they should. Unfortunately, they picked the wrong one, virtually every time, which looked incredibly unprofessional. I resorted to stuffing bits of tissue in my ears to protect my hearing. There was auto tune on the vocals, giving them a tinny, electronic sound, which was awful. Overall an unpleasant evening. Probably quite a good band, but impossible to tell in that venue. I haven’t seen anything else at Coop live, so I can’t tell whether that’s normal or I was unlucky, but my feeling is this venue is completely unsuitable for live music. Given the prices, I certainly won’t risk going again. It was an evening ruined.

Translation results
I will never visit co- op live again. I was there tonight for the Tedde Swims concert, I paid £25 (the most expensive car park in the city) I wanted to get out of the car but there was a queue behind me and the staff were very unpleasant, the security guard said I either pay f25 or I will be stuck in a queue for an hour to leave

AVOID AVOID AVOID

We haven't even been yet but my friend bought the tickets and we are coming from opposite sides of the country. There is apparently no way of sending the tickets on as it is only downloadable to Google wallet or Apple equivalent but once there it's in their wallet and you can't screen shot it. So we have to meet, if we are late they will miss it too. Every step of the way up till now has been a nightmare.

I would blame ticket master but no such problems at the AO arena!!!

Every person i know who has been to Co Op arena has said it's horrendous.

I took my teenage kids to see Craig David and was given wristbands to check out their backstage club.
The experience was amazing—we even got to attend the after-party! Huge thanks to Nina for arranging everything and taking such great care of us.

We were dreading our visit after reading the reviews.
Straight forward getting to the venue, parking at the venue fine (bit pricey but so are most arenas we have visited).
Entry to the venue was organised with plenty of stewards directing people. The seats were small but the arm rest lifter up for those of us with more ample bodies.
The lighting for the Craig David show was brilliant and the whole show ran smoothly, amazing show with music from 7 pm through to 11pm non-stop. Best show we have seen in a long time. All in all we were very happy with the whole experience.

I have tickets to go through see Teddy Swims on the 16th March and have been trying to sort out a Disabled Parking Space otherwise it is almost certain that we cannot go. However despite several emails and attempts to reach out to them they either ignore the mail or tell me that check the site daily. I do that but no release and it is clear that parking has to be done four weeks before. Super stressful and spoiling the event for us before we have even got there. Deb Cosgrove Still not sorted and the clock is really ticking. This has been going on since January.

Absolutely shocking. No organisation and very little signage for the arena parking. Went to watch Young voices, we were stuck in traffic for this venue for 1 1/2 hours. A 20 minute journey took 2hours and 10 minutes due to queuing traffic. We missed 45 minutes of this. We were sent right around the arena to get in. Once inside the ticket code wouldn’t work and had to wait for a supervisor to come and sort it out. We then had to walk right around the arena to our seating, on the way passing a door that we were guided away from and told to walk around. The children’s voices were drowned out by the music. I will never go to anything here again. Young voices please go back to the Manchester Arena, much better organised, easier access and the voices of the children sound wonderful there.

Went to see the Eagles last year. The most awful venue I have ever had the displeasure of visiting. Getting there and home was a nightmare.I will never visit again. Daylight robbery when it comes to food and drink. The seating is the most uncomfortable ever. I was 2 rows from front, so I paid good money and it saddens me that the venue put a black cloud over a fantastic band. Never again!

We were looking forward to seeing Cyndi Laupa at your venue on 9 January. Not previously visited before we have attended live performances for over 50 years. Looking forward to your arena Im afraid to say. Ticketmaster moved our seats from.an elevated position near to the stage to the floor seated area at the rear. We will.not be attending and sorry to say we are so disappointed thst we will.never visit your arena. Not a very pleasant start.

The best venue I've been to. It was a pleasure to visit for my first experience. Staff very friendly.