A popular Manchester city centre gaming bar has suffered a devastating burglary just six months after opening its doors in the city, leaving its owners financially and emotionally bereft.
Thieves broke into Pixel Bar in the Northern Quarter in the early hours of the weekend, getting away with nine high-spec gaming PCs worth an estimated £25,000.
The burglary occurred on Friday morning around 5am, just half an hour after Pixel Bar’s staff had left the premises.
Footage shared by the bar’s co-owner Craig Ryan with The Manc shows three masked men helping themselves to the high-tech gaming computer equipment, which is kept on the basement level of the bar.
The men’s faces are only partially covered and may be recognisable to some.
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Pixel Bar is now working with the police and is appealing for anyone who has any information to come forward.
Posting the heartbreaking news to social media, co-owner Craig Ryan wrote on LinkedIn: “This weekend our Manchester bar was burgled. The thieves got away with 9 of our PCs from our PC Gaming Arena.
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“We’re devastated, financially and emotionally this has really hit us and I don’t know what to say.
“We’re working with the police. If anybody has any information please contact us or the police.
“Needless to say, until we find a way to replace the hardware there will be no PC gaming or tournaments happening at the bar. We’ve no idea how long this will take. Personally this hurts so much. We’d just hosted a great university esports event and had a lot of events lined up.
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“The rest of the bar is open as normal thankfully.
“We’ll be dramatically increasing the level of security throughout our venues so that this doesn’t happen again.
“Please understand that we’ll not be answering any questions about the event at this time.”
The gaming bar, originally launched in Leeds, moved across the Pennines to Manchester in November last year and quickly became a popular haunt amongst gaming enthusiasts.
It also caught the eye of Manchester’s cocktail lovers with its quirky gaming-themed menu, which features choices like ‘Jigglypuff’, ‘Princess Perch’ and the ‘Yoshi’s Island Iced Tea’, plus a selection of ‘magic potion’ shots – promising do deliver ‘full health’ and ‘stamina’ to the drinker.
Co-owner Craig told The Manc that, following the burglary, the downstairs part of the bar is currently off-limits, but he added that the upstairs section with its bar, arcade games and consoles remains open and that anyone wanting to come down, buy a cocktail and support them is very welcome.
He said: “[Downstairs is] off-limits for now, we’re working with our sponsor to try and replace the PCs at cost, hopefully, but until we’ve got all the security in place and fire compliance with the new security measures we can’t open up, even if we had the hardware, so it could be a while yet.”
He added that they are still waiting to find out whether the custom-built gaming computers can now be bought back on insurance, as they were gifted as part of a sponsorship deal with bespoke computer company PC Specialist when Pixel Bar opened.
Pixel Bar is now appealing for anyone who has any information to come forward to them or to Greater Manchester Police.
Feature image – Supplied
News
Manchester’s AO Arena scoop up Take That as Keane’s Co-op Live gig is cancelled in ongoing venue saga
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s existing arena, the AO Arena, has stepped in to host more concerts that have been postponed by Co-op Live, with yet another act being cancelled too.
First it was A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, announced earlier today, and now, in perhaps the most damning twist of fate for the brand-new venue, Take That’s entire five-night run that was set for the Co-op has now been moved to the AO Arena.
The Co-op Live‘s official opening has been hit with several delays, with events like Peter Kay’s double bill, Olivia Rodrigo and The Black Keys all already postponed over the last week or so.
Issuing a statement after Take That’s mini-residency was officially relocated, AO Arena general manager Jen Mitchell, said: “It wouldn’t be a Take That tour without a stop-off in Manchester, so it’s great to welcome the band and their fans back to AO Arena for five nights, in the heart of this wonderful city.”
The venue has naturally welcomed the sudden flood of extra names being added to its already strong lineup for 2024.
As for the group themselves, they also responded to their tens of thousands of fans expecting to see them from this weekend onwards, confessing that they’ve had to make “the difficult decision” to switch venues and although “it’s not one [they’ve taken lightly]”, they wanted to give fans as much notice as possible, adding: “We thank you for your understanding and we’ll see you all soon”.
Meanwhile, Noughties favourites Keane have sadly had to shelve their Manchester show altogether following the continuing “technical issues”.
Announcing the news on their social pages on Thursday evening, they admitted that they were “absolutely gutted” but that the decision was “entirely out of the control”.
Notably, the huge new venue by the Etihad Stadium had to turn away fans who were already queueing for A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie on Monday 1 May, after part of an air conditioning unit fell from the ceiling onto a (thankfully) empty arena floor.
Question marks had already been hanging over whether some upcoming gigs would be able to go ahead and now it seems that they will be taking place – just not at the Co-op Live…
Manchester’s decades-old AO Arena, the largest indoor venue in the UK (until the Co-op Live opens), will be welcoming Keane to its stage instead.
With so many people having been pitting the two venues against one another over the last weeks and months, let’s just say it’s quite clear who’s come out looking better at the minute…
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie moves Manchester gig to AO Arena following Co-op Live cancellation
Danny Jones
Rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie has confirmed that his cancelled Co-op Live gig has now been moved to Manchester’s AO Arena this weekend.
After suddenly being lined up as the venue’s first official gig after the postponement of both Peter Kay and The Black Keys, the American hip-hop artists’ show ended up going the same as the others previously scheduled for the new arena and being pulled at the last minute.
With guests being turned away from the still-yet-to-open Co-op Live Arena just hours before the show was set to start, and Olivia Rodrigo fans being given the same unfortunate news ahead of her gig this Saturday, ABWDH has taken matters into his own hands.
Announcing the rescheduling of his concert on X, the 28-year-old artist confirmed that Wednesday night’s gig has now been relocated to Co-op’s main rival, the AO Arena.
Set to take place on Saturday, the artist – which just so happens to be his first name (yes, seriously) – had a simple message for his fans: “We won’t give up that easy, let’s go!”.
Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped the venue – which is set to become the UK’s biggest indoor entertainment venue and one of the largest in Europe when it finally does open – from announcing more events over the coming months and well into 2025.
Confirming the show on their social pages, the AO simply promised, “It’s going to be a brilliant night and we can’t wait to see you all here.”
The AO Arena has hosted some of the biggest names in the entire world in the course of its existence and recently underwent a £50m refurbishment that included the launch of The Mezz.
Safe to say this presents an interesting twist in events when so many people have been pitting the two venues against one another.
Question marks have been hanging over whether more upcoming gigs, like Keane on Sunday 5 May, and then a five-night run of gigs from Take That will still be able to go ahead.
It remains to be seen whether other artists will follow suit in moving their shows should more cancellations/postponements be announced.
You can recap everything that’s happened so far down below: