Take That followers fuming at seats change after Co-op Live venue change

Take That fans have been left fuming as they claim they have been given worse seats after the band moved their concerts from the crisis-hit Co-op Live to a rival arena. 

The band decided to move five of their concerts to the AO Arena after ‘technical issues’ at Manchester’s new flagship £365 million venue plagued its opening.

Fans were at first ecstatic at the change having last week seen a spate of embarrassing postponements to high-profile acts – including Olivia Rodrigo and Keane.

Take That said the decision was one they hadn’t taken lightly but they wanted to give ‘our fans as much notice as possible’.

But now some people who forked out £250 on front stage VIP tickets say they have been bumped ’38 rows back’. 

Lifelong fan Anita Morrissey-Booth, 43, saves up to ‘see them everywhere’ but says it has ‘burst the whole bubble of it’. 

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She was looking forward to sitting in her row 2 seat, but has been moved back 38 rows because of the venue change. 

Ms Morrissey-Booth told ITV: ‘I would have rather it be cancelled and rescheduled and we kept the tickets we brought, rather than being moved.

‘It’s not a nice feeling – you look forward to it, and it’s absolutely burst the whole bubble of it all – it’s making people not want to go.’

Another fuming fan, Ryan, told the Mirror on Sunday he was ‘outraged’ after being pushed further back than he would have been had the concert gone ahead at the Co-op Live. 

He said the whole fiasco had made him never want to book a gig in Manchester again. 

‘We bought tickets months back for the side of the stage – paid extra, the lot,’ he said. 

‘Of course with the arena change, it was going to come with difficulties so didn’t expect to be in the exact same seats, but we certainly didn’t expect to be at the back of the arena either.’

Another fan paid out for the expensive tickets so his disabled mother could be eight rows from the front. 

But he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he was ‘extremely disappointed’ when the rescheduled concert saw him be placed 25 rows back. 

‘How is that a fair swap?,’ he said. ‘I got them close to the stage for my disabled mum.’ 

Others described the handling of the venue swap as ‘disgusting’ and believed Co-op Live ‘owe everyone money back’. 

‘If mine get moved I’m honestly gonna be so angry considering what I paid for them!’ one fan wrote. ‘It’s so unfair!’ 

A Ticketmaster spokesperson said: ‘With Take That’s shows moving to a new venue with a different layout, our team has worked with the event promoter to move fans to a location as similar to their original booking as possible. However, some seating locations will vary.

‘We appreciate fans’ understanding, and reiterate that refunds are available through their Ticketmaster account. Everyone who booked VIP floor seats remains in VIP floor seats after the relocation.’

AO Arena general manager Jen Mitchell said: ‘We completely sympathise with the fans over the past few weeks.

‘Ticketing providers are working incredibly hard to do what they can to allocate appropriate equivalent seats for upcoming shows, and to make sure fans are as well located as they can be, based on original bookings.

‘As a venue we don’t manage ticketing. Our responsibility is to make sure everyone gets in and has a great, safe time on the night.’ 

Co-op Live have paused events due to ongoing fiasco ‘to ensure the safety and security of fans and artists visiting the venue’.

In a statement last week posted on its X page, a spokesperson said: ‘We are aware our actions have frustrated and angered ticket holders.

‘We know you’ve incurred significant disruption, and are finding a way to help make it right.’

Tim Leiweke, Chairman and CEO of the Oak View Group, said: ‘On behalf of all of us at Oak View Group, I’d like to express my sincere apologies to all those that have been affected.’

A spokesperson for the Co-op Group said: ‘Co-op is a sponsor and does not own or run the venue, and we have made it clear to Oak View Group, who are responsible for the building, that the impact on ticket-holders must be addressed as a priority.’

They added: ‘Co-op members and other ticket holders can be reassured that the venue has the very highest levels of security and safety measures.’

US rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie already shifted his concert to the nearby venue last Saturday after his gig was cancelled at the eleventh hour with fans queuing up outside the building told to leave. 

Many had already arrived at the venue and were left puzzled at what had gone wrong.

Officially the show was cancelled after part of an air conditioning unit fell from the gantry inside the venue prior to the start of the gig.

But a staff member who was hired as a ‘premium host’ in the venue’s VIP rooms has now revealed the truth about the state of the building fewer than 24 hours before A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie was due to begin.

She told the BBC the venue ‘did not look ready at all’, describing the scenes as ‘chaotic’.

The rooms were full of cardboard boxes and the building was filled with workmen doing ‘random checks’, she claimed.

She said ‘there were loads of wires hanging down’ with exposed lighting on the floor which looked ‘very messy’. 

The woman, who has been employed on a casual contract, said staff members were still paid part of their wage if their shift was cancelled at short notice.

A spokesperson for the venue said staff who are on site when a shift is cancelled are paid in full.

Another staff member who was working in an operations role at the venue said the root cause of all the problems came from the building, not the operations.

They said there was relief among her colleagues thousands of fans would not be coming to the venue after the piece of ventilation equipment fell from the ceiling on Wednesday night during a sound check.

They said: ‘Yesterday I went home and couldn’t stop crying. It’s not just me, it’s the same for a lot of the team, we’ve put in so much effort.’

Although most public-facing areas of the building are complete, the staff member revealed some offices on the top floor and some premium areas remain unfinished.

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