Elbow are “ready” to open Manchester’s Co-Op Live arena tonight after weeks of chaos: “See you there”

nme.com:

Elbow have said they are “ready” to open the new Co-Op Live arena in Manchester tonight (May 14) following weeks of chaos at the venue.Guy Garvey and co.

are scheduled to perform at the 23,500-capacity arena – which is the UK’s largest indoor venue – as part of their current UK headline tour.

The dates come in support of their latest studio album, ‘Audio Vertigo’.The £365million Co-Op Live was initially due to open with two stand-up shows from Peter Kay on April 23 and 24.

However, these dates – along with numerous others – were postponed as a result of ongoing issues in the building.News of the postponed gigs followed a reduced-capacity test event featuring a performance by Rick Astley on April 20 before arena boss Gary Roden resigned soon afterwards.Other concerts to have been impacted by the problems include those of Olivia Rodrigo, The Black Keys, Take That and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie.The latter event was cancelled at the last minute because of a “venue-related technical issue” – later confirmed to be a part of the air conditioning unit falling from the ceiling (via Manchester Evening News).