Manchester's AO Arena will host the rescheduled A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie gig after it was cancelled at Co-Op Live due to technical issues. The concert will take place on Saturday, and there are reports that other events may also be relocated to AO Arena due to ongoing problems at Co-Op Live. Fans voiced disappointment over the cancellations and venue issues, expressing concerns about professionalism. The arena has faced challenges since its planned opening, including event rescheduling and the resignation of its boss.

Manchester’s AO Arena is set to host the rescheduled A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie gig, which was abruptly cancelled at the troubled Co-Op Live Arena yesterday.

The concert has been rescheduled for Saturday (4th May), partly confirming reports from earlier today in the Manchester Evening News that the AO Arena would step in to host gigs originally planned for Co-Op Live, following the venue’s recent technical issues.

The rapper confirmed the new date on X/Twitter, stating, “Yesterday’s cancelled Manchester show has been Rescheduled for this Saturday at AO Arena! We won’t give up that easy let’s go!”

Last night, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s show was cancelled just 10 minutes after doors opened due to a “venue-related technical issue”. It was later disclosed that part of an air conditioning unit had fallen from the gantry inside the venue during soundcheck. Subsequently, the venue confirmed the postponement of Olivia Rodrigo’s shows scheduled for Friday and Saturday (3rd-4th May), to which the artist expressed being “so disappointed”.

The Manchester Evening News also reported that Keane’s upcoming show might be relocated to the AO Arena instead of Co-Op Live. However, Keane's show at Co-Op Live, set for Sunday, 5th May, is currently still listed as going ahead on the venue’s website, with no official announcement regarding any change.

NME spoke with several disappointed fans last night who were supposed to attend what was meant to be the venue’s debut show.

“We travelled like two hours… it’s just poor, if you’re gonna cancel it, cancel beforehand, so we don’t spend money on getting here,” one fan told NME. “There’s thousands of people stood outside and you cancel it half an hour after the doors were meant to be open?” added her friend. “It’s stupid.”

“I found it really unprofessional,” said Mair, 18. “I’m supposed to be seeing Take That there next week and if that gets cancelled I don’t think the arena should be open for months. They should cancel all events. It’s just unprofessional.”

The 23,500-capacity arena, situated opposite the Etihad Stadium, has faced numerous issues since its intended opening last month, including controversies and teething problems. Besides a test event featuring Rick Astley, where some tickets were cancelled reducing the audience to 11,000, the venue has yet to successfully run a show on its originally scheduled day.

Initially, it was set to open with performances from Peter Kay on 23rd and 24th April, but these were moved to 29th and 30th April due to power testing at the venue falling behind schedule.

Subsequently, The Black Keys’ gig scheduled for 27th April had to be moved to 15th May, while the Peter Kay shows were rescheduled again to 23rd and 24th May.

Last week, it was confirmed that Gary Roden, the arena's boss, had resigned following the numerous issues.

Roden had faced criticism, particularly for his remarks about grassroots music venues, suggesting that some smaller venues in the UK are “poorly run” and dismissing calls for a £1 ticket levy on all gigs arena-sized and above.

In response, Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, told NME that he believed Roden’s comments were “disrespectful and disingenuous”, while highlighting the irony of making such “ill-judged, unnecessary and misleading” remarks during the week that their own venue was forced to postpone its launch due to logistical problems.

“The launch of the venue follows a licensing dispute between Co-Op Live and the existing AO Arena, which has a capacity of 21,000 in the city. ASM Global, which operates the latter venue, objected over ‘public safety’ concerns and accused the licence application as being ‘simply unlawful’. Despite the row, the venue officially had its licence granted last month.”