Venue:
Co-Op Live, Manchester
Date: 14/05/2024
Not by design, we happened to be at the first proper gig at the newly opened Co-Op Live in Manchester, the new arena which is the biggest in Europe (or so I am told).
You will likely have read in the press the numerous problems with this place & although it was a bit slow getting in, there were no signs of the many reported issues (Building work still taking place, Aircon units falling from the roof etc.) from where we were in the standing area.
I will admit to being against the building of this new venue & I still think it seems unnecessary in Manchester. Location wise it is terrible! It’s a 25 min walk to the city & although parking is available, it is £25 so we parked nearer the centre & walked in. Trams are available but rammed so it is not really worth it. When the football coincides with a gig as it inevitably will, I am sure we will read about the chaos in the press as the infrastructure does not exist yet & it will be bad when it happens.
The first impressions were that the space is unsurprisingly huge, but due to the floor being square rather than the normal rectangle, you still felt close to the stage. I am not a big fan of an arena, but this was definitely at the top end of the ones I have visited & the sound was much better than most. I should point out that this just meant it was ‘good’ as opposed to terrible!
First up we had the new Graham Coxon & Rose Elinor Dougall band The WAEVE who were pleasant, but nothing more. I must confess that after reading his recent biography I have concluded he is a bit of a bellend & I admit this may have coloured my judgement somewhat.
Elbow came onstage about 9:00 & launched straight into Things I’ve Been Telling Myself For Years from the latest album. Guy Garvey immediately had the crowd singing along & directed all & sundry in waving their arms. With the addition of strings, brass & backing singers it sounded very powerful indeed & they were on typically good form. This was my 12th time seeing them & they are always solid & it seemed a fitting way to christen the new venue. They understandably finished on the anthemic One Day Like This, but it was the newer songs which stood out for me, particularly Balu & Good Blood Mexico City which seemed written for a big crowd & fit into the Elbow canon rather nicely. I was a bit gutted they did not play Great Expectations, which has always been a staple of theirs, but when the new ones are this good it is a minor quibble.
Overall it was a good gig. I was impressed with the venue, but I don’t drink at gigs so did not have to fork out £9 for a pint as others I was with did! I am sure if I had done so, my opinion may differ!! As good as the venue is, I am keen to see a levy introduced to support the smaller venues in town. None of this means anything if the Night & Day Cafe (where all original members of Elbow have worked at some point) or any of the other great venues (Band On The Wall, Yes, New Century Hall etc.) close their doors.
The audience:
Mainly middle aged & happy. Not surprising as Elbow have now been going for a very long time & are on their 10th album now – it was 22 years ago I saw them for the first time.
It made me think..
They are a great live band & Guy Garvey has a wonderful knack of getting the crowd onside immediately
A link to the petition for the ticket levy if this is something you support
https://www.change.org/p/introduce-ticket-levy-on-sponsors-of-large-music-venues-to-support-grassroots-music-venues
Sounds good. I’m enjoying the new album – some robust drumming, guitar is loud and the addition of proper brass on some tracks beefs up their sound a good bit. That Balu song is excellent…
Saw them last Friday in Brum at the NEC (other names are available) where a pint is £8.50 so better value for money lol.
I thought they were excellent and agree that the new numbers were excellent and the brass section fitted in nicely. Glad they played Station approach and Puncture repair but really wanted Starlings.
Have to say Grounds for divorce is fabulous in a live settings.
It seems a concerted effort on energise their repertoire a bit – and I approve. Will always have a soft spoilt for Elbow, one of the few bands who can make a space like that seem intimate. However, what really drew my attention was £9 a pint in Manchester! One pleasant side effect of rampant inflation has been the fact that drinking at gigs and football matches in London, even Wembley, is now around the same price that it is in pubs. We can’t have the venues tearing that up and racing ahead again.
It sounds as if it and the NEC have been sharing notes: massive, miles from the centre, exorbitant parking and pisstaking prices for plastic cups of piss. No ta.
Mancs Odeon was hard enough to get to as it was!
Well, a 25 minute walk from city centre isn’t bad. At some enormous venues you almost have to walk that far from the car park!
Sounds a nasty venue. Incidentally, I had an email pushing reduced tickets for the Eagles/ steely Dan shows there; looks like the last 3 nights are not selling so well. Seats all over the arena available.
https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/eagles-tickets/artist/734977?j=3651054&l=20473_HTML&u=197548997&mid=1314420&jb=8061&et_mid=3651054&et_rid=622039994&sfmc_sub=622039994&utm_source=eml-tm_nl02_24_05_09_national-concert-week_mu&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1314420_3651054_5/9/2024
Still not going. Bad venue, mad facilities, corporate extortion, and I’m only interested in the support. I smell another ‘Docklands Arena’. Maybe it was a money laundering exercise. It was Dubai funded and cash can be washed there pretty easily.
I’m not a big fan of arena shows let alone stadiums. I think you have to be an exceptional artist or bring a lot of tech to make it work. However, much as I like and support smaller venues, they struggle to put decent original acts on. There are plenty in Brighton but the line ups are pretty uninspiring. Kids just don’t seem to get involved in bands like they used to.
Exactly. Even arena shows are formulaic now. I like a theatre gig. Doubt there is the talent there once was, as the culture and demographics of the music makers has changed. Too many posh kids and stage school types, plus the return of light entertainment rather than neurotic outsiders putting their pathology into pop art.