Peter Kay's gigs cancelled again days after shows were postponed

Peter Kay's performances at Co-op Live have been postponed once again, along with a concert by The Black Keys.

The Manchester venue's management confirmed that the opening will not take place this weekend, with both The Black Keys and Peter Kay's shows being rescheduled.

The £365m venue was set to open its doors on Saturday evening with a performance by The Black Keys, but the gig has now been shifted to Wednesday, May 15.

The venue was initially scheduled to open on Tuesday evening (April 23) with Bolton comedian Peter Kay officially inaugurating the landmark entertainment venue. However, both gigs were moved to the following week on Monday.

Now, Peter Kay's two performances are slated for Thursday, May 23 and Friday, May 24, while the first gig at the 23,500 capacity venue will be A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie on Wednesday, May 1.

In a shocking turn of events, Gary Roden, the general manager of Co-op Live, resigned last night after a year in the role. The initial delay in opening was due to unfinished work at the Eastlands venue, located opposite the Manchester City Football ground, reports the Manchester Evening News.

As of Monday morning, the council's building control had yet to approve the building - an issue that continued throughout the week.

Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group, confirmed the rescheduling to Manchester Evening News, stating: "We continue to work with the city, police, fire, council, live safety and there are still systems that we either are working on or had to test in particular. So in an abundance of extra caution, we're making sure that we can reschedule again."

The venue has faced a series of setbacks this week, including last-minute ticket cancellations, rescheduled gigs, and persistent power issues at the £365m complex. On Saturday afternoon (April 20), a test event featuring Rick Astley was thrown into chaos as thousands of tickets were abruptly cancelled just under two hours before the show, slashing the expected attendance from approximately 11,000 to 4,000.

Prior to the abrupt cancellation, police and fire services had already expressed concerns, as reported by M.E.N.

Subsequently, it was announced that Peter Kay's consecutive shows would be delayed by a week due to the venue not being fully operational.

The power troubles at the site are thought to have impacted fire safety measures and emergency communication systems. Sources suggest that preparations for the test event were left until the very last moment.

Co-op Live bosses initially announced that The Black Keys would perform on April 27 in the lower bowl for 10,000 fans as part of the venue's test events. However, this event has now been postponed.

Tim Leiweke, commenting on the rescheduling, said: "Peter Kay has been fantastic. I can vouch, he has a very good sense of humour. God bless him. He's agreed to push back to May 23 and 24. And that gives us a few extra days next week as well."

Leiweke also revealed an unexpected twist: "I never thought A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is going to open the building, but A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is going to open the building. God bless him. They will be the first."

He added that preparations for Olivia Rodrigo's upcoming shows are underway: "Olivia's [Rodrigo] people are here as we speak so you'll see them walking through here doing set ups and a check. She'll move in Thursday and then she's Friday, Saturday next week."

The Black Keys' performance has been rescheduled to May 15, with Leiweke emphasizing that no acts were lost or cancelled, just delayed: "Black Keys have moved to May 15. So we didn't lose anybody, we didn't cancel anything. We just bought ourselves another week. Could we do an event in the building tomorrow? Probably, but we haven't tested everything."

In a shocking development, Co-op Live's general manager, Gary Roden, resigned last night after a tumultuous week. This follows controversial remarks made by Mr Roden to the BBC regarding grassroots music venues, which caused outrage among music enthusiasts in Manchester and further afield.

A spokesperson for Co-op Live confirmed to the Manchester Evening News that "Gary Roden has decided to resign. We'd like to thank Gary for his help bringing the UK's newest arena to live entertainment fans and wish him the best for the future."

"Rebecca Kane Burton has been named interim general manager, effective today. Rebecca is a seasoned veteran of venue management and live entertainment in the UK having served as vice president and general manager of The O2 from 2012-2016 and CEO of LW Theatres from 2016-2021. We are focused on opening Co-op Live."

The role of general manager for the 23,500-capacity arena was granted to Mr Roden last April, having previously worked eight years at Ticketmaster UK.