Every artist dreams of blowing the roof off a venue with their performance, but perhaps not quite so literally as this.
The first official event set to take place at Manchester, England's new, £365m Co-op Live arena has been cancelled after a component of an air conditioning unit fell from the roof during a soundcheck, Manchester Evening News reports. (Fortunately, nobody was hurt.)
One observer told the publication that he saw "a steel bar fall from the ceiling into the bowl" at around 5:30, and the evening's concert was declared cancelled at 6:40pm due to a "venue-related technical issue", shortly before doors were due to open to the evening's A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie show.
"Something happened with the venue while I was at soundcheck today that caused cancellation of the show," said the artist on Twitter/X. "We are working on rescheduling in the next few days. I’m heated about the situation too but safety first. Manchester, I got you. Just stay tuned for further info."
Fans were incensed by the venue's decision to cancel the performance last-minute. On the Co-op Live Facebook page, Kate Duckworth commented: "Save your apologies. To cancel an event whilst people are queuing to get in is an absolute disgrace!"
Today, a spokesperson for the arena announced that Olivia Rodrigo's concerts on 3 and 4 May have also been postponed, leaving ticketholders sorely disappointed.
Leanne Diggory commented: "Co-op Live what an absolute disgrace! I've got a heartbroken 10 year old that has counted down the days for months [...] Thousands of people have made plans, spent money, booked travel and accommodation for it to be cancelled 48 hours before."
The launch of the 23,500-capacity Co-op Live arena has been plagued by problems, with thousands of tickets cancelled for a test event with Rick Astley on 20 April mere hours before doors were due to open. A spokesperson for Co-op Live said that capacity was reduced to allow for "critical procedures" to be tested effectively during the event.
In the days that followed, more events were postponed, including shows by the Black Keys and UK comedian Peter Kay, before the arena's general manager Gary Roden resigned on 26 April.
Eric Clapton, Take That and The Killers are all scheduled to perform at Co-op Live over the coming months.
