Audio

Liam Gallagher says Co-op Live is ‘up there’ with Madison Square Garden

And LG is no stranger to MSG.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 17th June 2024

Manc music legend Liam Gallagher has had his say on Co-op Live after his first two visits to the brand new arena, saying it is on a par with Madison Square Garden.

We had the privilege of going along to review Gallagher’s opening night in Manchester at the newest and biggest music venue and it definitely lived up to the billing – Liam certainly seemed to think so too.

He might have joked that he’d happily play a local Lidl if the building wasn’t ready in time amidst their admittedly chaotic opening week, but now he’s been in there and blown the roof of it, it turns out he was just as blown away by as it we were.

Hopping on social media after night two of his Definitely Maybe 30th-anniversary shows, the 51-year-old is “up there with [New York’s] MSG in my opinion as you were LG x”.

Being mentioned in the same breath as one of the most iconic venues not just in the US but the world is no mean feat, especially having only been open for a month. Quite the glowing review indeed.

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Reacting to the review online as well, the venue said just as much, responding to his post by adding: “High praise from a legend”.

Having now graced both state-of-the-art venues – playing Madison Square Gardens with the band back in the day and now Co-op Live as a solo artist (even if it was basically an Oasis gig minus Noel) – we think it’s fair to say he can speak with some pretty good authority on the subject.

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For context, Madison Square Garden was built all the way back in 1968 and after multiple renovations over the years, it has a max gig capacity of 20,000; in contrast, Co-op Live tops out at roughly 23,500 people and is now the largest indoor entertainment venue in all of Europe.

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As you can see, it really is quite impressive.

Liam Gallagher still has another pair of Manchester shows left to play at Co-op Live later this month and you can find our full gig guide HERE.

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What about you lot: for those of you who’ve had the pleasure of visiting Manchester’s shiny new venue, how was it compared to your favourite all-time gig spaces?

Hey, there’s still time for Lidl to step up their game too…

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Featured Images — The Manc Audio/Warner Music Sweden (via Wikimedia Commons)