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Manchester’s Co-op Live arena postpones The Black Keys and Peter Kay (again)
It's been a bad week...
The Co-op Live has announced it is postponing both The Black Keys gig and Peter Kay’s performance.
Both shows were set to take place this week as the huge arena finally opens in Manchester.
This is the second time Peter Kay has been rescheduled – the show was meant to officially open the venue earlier this week.
Co-op Live went ahead with a test event with Rick Astley last Saturday, albeit with a capacity that was reduced at the eleventh hour.
But the huge venue was hit with ‘power supply issues’ and took the ‘difficult decision’ to postpone Peter Kay.
It’s now gone one step further and pushed back The Black Keys – meant to be their first proper live music event – as well as Peter Kay AGAIN.
In a statement shared today, the Co-op Live said it has been ‘undertaking an extensive protocol of testing critical procedures to ensure all areas are ready for fans’.
It said that the shows are being rescheduled to ensure they can ‘run safely’.
The 23,500-capacity arena said this will give them ‘the extra time we need to continue testing enhanced emergency communications thoroughly’.
The Black Keys will now perform on 15 May, and Peter Kay on 23 and 24 May.
As for the Bolton-born comedian, he sounds somewhat in disbelief himself:
Co-op Live’s statement reads: “Since making the difficult decision to postpone the live shows at Co-op Live due to take place this week, we have been undertaking an extensive protocol of testing critical procedures to ensure all areas are ready for fans.
“To ensure that we can run all shows safely, regretfully we have now had to take the decision to reschedule the planned The Black Keys and Peter Kay shows.
“Both The Black Keys and Peter Kay have graciously agreed to reschedule their shows. The Black Keys will now perform on 15 May 2024, and Peter Kay will now perform on 23 and 24 May 2024.
“All tickets remain valid and ticket holders will be contacted by their point of purchase. Refunds will be available for those who can no longer attend.
“We deeply appreciate the impact this will have on excited fans, and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience that this change will undoubtedly cause.
“Rescheduling Peter Kay and The Black Keys will give us the extra time we need to continue testing enhanced emergency communications thoroughly.
“This is vital to satisfy the rigorous set of guidelines and protocols that are necessary for a venue of this size to ensure that our fans, artists and staff have the safest experience possible.”
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Featured Images — Press Images/The Manc Group
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Liam and Noel spent a wholesome Gallagher Easter together for the first time in years
Danny Jones
We wish you a belated and brilliant Gallagher Easter, courtesy of Noel and Liam, who spent the holiday together, along with family members, for the first time in god knows how many years.
In all seriousness, we do hope you had a lovely long weekend, but we’ll admit we’re far more interested in the Gallagher brothers spending the bank holiday together than anyone else.
No offence.
As far as largely inane celebrity news, this particular brand is the kind we get up for, mainly because we have alerts on for everything Oasis and/or Gallagher-related since the long-awaited reunion was announced. Safe to say the algorithm knows exactly what we want.
Hopping on social media (let’s be honest, he’s never off it) to share the good news, Liam confirmed that he and his big bro spent at least part of the Easter break together, along with some of the Gallagher kids.
Noel’s daughter Anaïs and Liam’s youngest, Molly and Gene, may have been spotted together on multiple occasions recently and look to have buried the feud along with their dads, but to our knowledge this may have been the first time some of these kids have ever met their cousins.
While it wasn’t a complete family reunion, the idea of the Burnage boys sitting with a brew alongside their children is quite a surreal image to picture in our mind’s eye – but then again, so were those first snaps of the brothers together in the same room before the comeback was officially announced.
Donavan Gallagher was just two years old when Oasis split up back in 2009, so there’s the plenty of reason to assume he had at least seen the mini Manc before that point; second son Sonny, however, was only born in 2010, so LG may have never even seen him in the flesh before.
In fact, Noel has insisted in the past that his younger sibling hasn’t met his of his kids bar his eldest daughter, Anaïs. As the kids were present, we’re going to faithfully assume the rider consisted of strictly tea and chocolate.
Given the unprecedented meeting and the fact the communion took place over Easter, for once, Liam describing it as ‘biblical’ feels actually somewhat accurate.
Once again, we’re just glad to see and hear any positive stories about the Manc music icons and we just pray they keep up the families until the reunion world tour is over at the very least.
We were also delighted to see that Radio X once again voted an Oasis track as ‘the greatest British song ever’ – can you guess which one it is?
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Featured Images — BBC Three (screenshot)/Press Shot/@erintheredmc (via Wikimedia Commons)
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Metalcore favourites Motionless in White are heading to Manchester for a massive arena show
Danny Jones
Heavy metal and metalcore band Motionless in White are returning to Manchester for a massive arena show in 2026.
The provocative and Gothic-inspired outfit has been going for more than two decades now, becoming increasing favourites within the passionate sub-culture over the years.
Known for thrashing guitars and drums, striking visuals and plenty of eye makeup, Motionless in White have a die-hard following all over the globe.
Led by charismatic lead singer and frontman Chris ‘Motionless’ Cerulli, the in-your-face five-piece are coming back to Manchester for a huge show
Although you’d be forgiven for mistaking their dark aesthetic for something out of Transylvania, Motionless in White are from Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Close enough.
It’s fair to say their genre is a far cry away from the familiar upbeat jingle of The Office US theme song too, as they mix heavy, industrial and nu-metal influences to create what is sometimes labelled as a contemporary ‘gothcore’ sound.
Best known for tracks such as ‘Another Life’, ‘Thoughts & Prayers’, ‘Masterpiece’ and ‘Sign Of Life’, it’s punchy, raw and aggressive.
You’d expect nothing less from a world-renowned metal artist.
While the band have cycled through various lineups at this point, the current Motionless in White formation is just as ferocious as ever, and fans will get to see them on their biggest stage in Manchester yet as they arrive at the legendary AO Arena early next year.
The band will be playing the iconic Manchester music venue on Saturday, 7 February 2026, with support acts scheduled to be confirmed in June, along with additional UK tour dates.
If you’re a metalhead interested in going along, you’ll have two shots are early access, with Three+ pre-sale tickets going live from 10am this Wednesday, 23 April, with AO’s own pre-sale available from the same time on Thursday (24 April).
As for general admission, they’ll be up for grabs from 10am on Friday, 25 April. You can get ready to secure yours HERE.
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Featured Images — Andreas Lawen (via Wikimedia Commons)/Press Images (supplied)
Daisy Jackson -
26th April 2024 
