It’s happened again, guys – fans have managed to crash the O2 Priority website in their scramble to buy tickets, and this time it’s Beyonce who’s thrown a spanner in the works.
The star, who announced her Renaissance tour yesterday, has lured hundreds of thousands of music-lovers into the online pre-sale queues.
And the O2 Priority website hasn’t coped well at all, leading to ‘Peter Kay‘ suddenly trending on Twitter again.
The Bolton comic also managed to crash the pre-sale site with his massive return to the stage last year.
Beyonce has now been labelled the ‘Peter Kay of pop’, which is a title that would probably go way over her head.
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O2 Priority has apologised for all the issues fans are experiencing, saying they’re ‘doing everything they can behind the scenes’ to cope with the phenomenal demand.
It looks like standing tickets will cost £106.80, while seated tickets are priced between £56.25 and £199.
Then the VIP packages are WILDLY expensive, priced all the way up to £2400.
One person tweeted: “what an absolute joke yet again from O2 #priority same with Peter Kay and now @Beyonce tickets – App has issues and the website sends you a code only to tell you its invalid. You knew this was coming and you failed again. A nightmare.”
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Credit: Instagram, @beyoncePeter Kay. Credit: BBC
Another said about the pre-sale: “The only other person that’s crashed o2 priority is peter kay would’ve never called beyonce ‘the female peter kay’ but here we are x.”
Presented Andy Goulding posted, alongside a screenshot of an error message: “What do Beyoncé, Peter Kay and a free Greggs sausage roll on a Friday, all have in common?”
Someone else said to O2: “App not working. You would think you would learn after the Peter Kay fiasco.”
It’s also caused another weird issue, because the O2 Priority app also has a promotion on for a free Greggs mocha – one person tweeted: “You lot fully crashed the O2 priority app, I can’t even get my free greggs mocha!! Get off the damn app!! Beyoncé can wait, I need my mocha now!!”
A statement from O2 Priority said: “We apologise to anyone experiencing difficulties trying to get Beyoncé tickets through Priority. Tickets are selling and we’re seeing huge demand. We’re doing everything we can behind the scenes to help keep the app running smoothly.”
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Fans were also fuming yesterday when Beyonce announced her UK tour dates – and shunned Manchester.
The 41-year-old megastar is instead going to performing three nights in London at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, plus shows in Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Sunderland.
Featured image: BBC / Instagram, @beyonce
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Olivia Rodrigo says ‘very inspiring’ Manchester is one of her favourite places in the UK
Emily Sergeant
Olivia Rodrigo has named some of her favourite places in the UK… and it’s good news for Manchester.
If you weren’t aware, the global pop superstar has a bit of an affinity for the UK, having spent a lot of time over here in recent years – particularly in London – and developing a love for some of our nation’s finest delicacies in the process, like M&S fan-favourite sweet treats Percy Pigs and Colin the Caterpillar, as well as Jaffa Cakes, Cadbury, sausage rolls, and plenty more.
And it’s fair to say that she’s once again proven herself to be a somewhat of an honorary Brit during the recent promotional tour for her third studio album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love – which released to the world last Friday (12 June).
In a recent interview with Hits Radio UK, Olivia was asked where some of her favourite places in the UK are, other than London… and it was good news for our city.
I mean, not that ‘good’… she’s still not chosen to bring her upcoming ‘The Unraveled Tour’ over to us this next time around in 2027, opting to just stay in London for more than a dozen nights instead, but it seems she’s keen to show Manchester some love regardless.
When asked if she has a favourite area of the UK, Olivia said: “I spent some time in Manchester which was really nice. Very inspiring, so many great bands from there. I spent some time in Wales too, which was fun. I’ve been around but I need to go and see more things.”
She then went on to add: “I really want to go to Leeds this year. I think that’ll be fun. Just like as a spectator, I think that’ll be cool.”
It’s not the first time Olivia has publicly spoken about Manchester either, as in another recent interview with Dazed Magazine, she claimed she’s the ‘best version of [herself]’ in the UK.
“Maybe it’s because it rains so much that all you want to do is be inside with the guitar and write. I spent some time in Manchester a few years ago and it was so rainy I was like, ‘No wonder so many great bands come out of Manchester’,” she concluded.
Featured Image – Hits Radio UK
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Much-loved Manc music shop Tasty Records goes up for sale as owners calls on next custodians to take over local favourite
Danny Jones
Much-loved Greater Manchester record and music store Tasty Records has officially closed, and the current custodian is putting the Trafford institution up for sale in hopes that someone will take over as worthy successors.
What an opportunity for any budding entrepreneurs.
The Alty record shop in its current brick-and-mortar form has stood for some time now, but popular owner Ben Molesworth has been selling physical media from 2012 onwards, and now his time at the helm of the hailed south Manchester spot has come to a somewhat bittersweet end.
A bit of a local legend with regulars who frequent and flick through his coveted vinyl collection, not just on Record Store Day but throughout the year, the area will be sad to see him go – and so will we – but it doesn’t mean this has to be the end.
“The shop deserves more than I can give it, and I have sold records in Altrincham for 14 years”, he explains, before going on to add that “It’s time for me to concentrate on different things.
“What happens now?” he continues, “Keep following! I’m not sure yet. I have closed the doors, but everything is still there… A busy website, Discogs, socials, a strong set of accounts and £ks of great vinyl stock.”
You’d think with a sales pitch like that, it would be a no-brainer for audiophiles who’ve ever dreamt of spending their days cataloguing their favourite tunes and artists, whilst providing a still criminally unsung public service: delivering printed music to the masses.
With more than a decade and a half of experience to his name, we’re sure Ben has plenty of wisdom to impart about how to take good care of his baby moving forward – he just needs some to set up to the plate/turntable.
As saturated as the Manc music market and record store scene is, it was also comfortably on this list pretty much since day one.
All that being said, part of the challenge for any independent business is getting the word out, hence why we thought we’d help do our bit by shouting about it.
He signed off by adding: “Thank you to all of my wonderful customers, friends and supporters. Tasty Recordsisn’t dead, only sleeping. Lots of love, Ben.”
For anyone who might fancy taking over this “awesome little record shop” (his words AND ours), you can express your interest/table an offer over email via [email protected].
What an honour it would be to carry on this place’s legacy – here’s hoping someone takes up the mantle soon.
Daisy Jackson -
2nd February 2023 
