There aren’t many bands who can sell out SEVEN arena shows in Manchester – but Take That is clearly one of them.
Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald were set to perform a staggering run of shows across May and June at the Co-op Live – but we all know what happened there.
Their first five gigs have now been moved to the AO Arena instead, and will officially kick off on Tuesday 7 May.
It’s a huge homecoming gig for the trio, who’ll be performing hits from their whopping nine studio albums.
Ever since their comeback in 2006 they’ve become one of the biggest and best-selling pop groups on the planet, with almost every album topping the charts and reaching Platinum status.
But change of venue for Take That has meant thousands of tickets have been reallocated, and there is a date change in the mix too.
If you’re one of the lucky ones to bag tickets for Take That’s This Life On Tour tour in Manchester, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know.
What dates are Take That performing in Manchester?
Take That’s first batch of Manchester gigs have moved from the Co-op Live (right) to the AO Arena. Credit: The Manc Group
At AO Arena
Tuesday 7 May
Thursday 9 May (rescheduled from Wednesday 8 May)
Friday 10 May
Saturday 11 May
Sunday 12 May
At Co-op Live
Tuesday 11 June
Wednesday 12 June
How to get your new tickets after venue change from Co-op Live
If you had tickets for the group’s original planned shows at the new Co-op Live arena, you’re probably wondering how the venue change will work.
Any tickets that were purchased through Ticketmaster will automatically change in your account in the next few days (if they haven’t already).
If you have any queries about your ticket, contact your point of purchase.
What if your new seats for Take That are worse than your original booking?
Take That will bring their huge 2024 tour to Manchester this week. Credit: Publicity picture
Ooh yeah, this has been a bit of a sore subject for Take That fans, some of whom have found themselves in much worse seats than they initially paid for.
That’s down to the different layouts of the two arenas, and the fact that the AO Arena is slightly smaller than Co-op Live.
The AO Arena has asked ticketing providers to reallocate seats as fairly as possible, keeping seats as close to the original booking as they can.
The arena said in a statement to one disgruntled fan: “We appreciate your frustration and advise you contact your provider to discuss further.”
On their FAQ page, it states: “The transfer process takes into account the position of previous tickets, and the number of tickets in the individual booking.
:However, each venue is different in their block row and seat configuration, which will undoubtedly mean that some fans won’t get exactly what they had for the original show.”
If you’re one of the affected people who’s not happy with your new seat, you need to contact your ticket provider directly for help and advice.
What to do if you can’t make the rescheduled date
Most of the Take That shows have remained on their original dates, simply switching from Co-op Live arena to the AO Arena.
But the show originally scheduled for Wednesday 8 May has unfortunately had to be rearranged to Thursday 9 May.
If the new date doesn’t work for you, refunds are available from your point of purchase.
Seating plan at the AO Arena for Take That’s Manchester gigs
The exact venue layout for Take That at the AO Arena hasn’t actually been released by Ticketmaster at the time of writing.
But after decades hosting some of the biggest acts in the world, the venue is pretty familiar to most of us at this point.
The below chart is the one for Girls Aloud, which is also being staged as a fully seated concert.
Take That have been making use of a B Stage in the heart of the floor audience too, which will likely be added to their Manchester gig.
Who is supporting Take That at their Manchester shows?
In an effort to create the most chart-friendly, crowd-pleasing, middle-of-the-road pop night of all time, Take That have recruited Olly Murs as their support act.
The former X Factor alumni headlined arenas across the UK in 2023 with his Marry Me tour, and now he’s back to warm up the crowds for Take That.
You can expect to hear some of the 39-year-old’s biggest hits, including Please Don’t Let Me Go, Heart Skips a Beat, and Dear Darlin.
What is Take That’s expected setlist?
Take That have already performed multiple dates on this tour, so we’ve got a good idea of what their setlist in Manchester will look like.
Keep Your Head Up
Windows
Giants
Days I Hate Myself
Everything Changes
Sure
Shine
A Million Love Songs
I Found Heaven
Pray
Forever Love (Gary Barlow song)
Clementine (Mark Owen song)
Speak Without Words (unreleased Howard Donald song)
Patience
The Flood
Get Ready for It
March of the Hopeful
The Champion
This Life
Greatest Day
These Days
Time and Time Again
Relight My Fire
One More Word
Hold Up a Light
Back for Good
Never Forget
Rule the World
What will the stage times be for Take That at the AO Arena Manchester?
Doors – 6pm
Olly Murs – 7.20pm
Take That – 8.35pm
Curfew – 11pm
*Stage times are often subject to change so allow plenty of time to get into the arena.
At the minute, tickets have been taken off sale for Take That, presumably while the AO Arena and Ticketmaster deal with transferring tickets from one arena to the other.
But given that Co-op Live was completely sold out, and the AO Arena is smaller, there are unlikely to be any tickets remaining.
Your one remaining chance may be some re-released tickets from those who can no longer make the rearranged date, or reliable re-sale sites.
Is tram travel included with your gig ticket?
As part of Co-op Live’s huge opening season, they announced free tram travel for gig-goers in a partnership with TfGM.
Thankfully, this is being honoured for the shows that have switched to the AO Arena.
Tram travel around Greater Manchester is included with event tickets for four hours before and after Take That on Tuesday 7, Thursday 9, Friday 10, Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May.
ENHYPEN at AO Arena, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for UK tour
Thomas Melia
It’s time to ‘Scream’ as K-pop boyband ENHYPEN are about to land in the UK as they embark on their European leg of the ‘Walk The Line’ tour.
Global superstars ENHYPEN are visiting Manchester for the first time ever, trading ‘Highway 1009’ for the Mancunian Way as they play out in the highly acclaimed 21,000 seater, AO Arena, this bank holiday.
ENHYPEN consists of seven members, including Sunghoon, Heeseung, Jungwon, Sunoo, Jake and Ni-ki – all of whom have stayed loyal to the group since they formed back in 2020.
This very ‘Walk The Line’ tour kicked off almost one year ago with two sold-out stadium shows in Korea before making its way across America, and now the boys are sinking their ‘Teeth’ into the UK and Europe.
Expect this Manchester live music venue to feel like a living runway as these K-pop idols are known for their stylish looks and designer brand partnerships, such as Italian fashion house Prada.
Anyone after some ‘Sweet Venom’, also known as precious tickets to ENHYPEN’s upcoming Manchester show, will be pleased to know that they aren’t in ‘Fatal Trouble’; there are still a few options left if you act fast enough.
You’ll have to act fast, as we’re sure you’re aware these K-pop nobles have given everyone a serious case of boyband ‘Fever’, and there is absolutely ‘No Doubt’ you’ll have a fabulous night when you grab your tickets HERE.
ENHYPEN setlist
Brought the Heat Back
Fever
ParadoXXX Invasion
Future Perfect (Pass the MIC)
Given-Taken
Lucifer
Teeth
Blessed-Cursed
Fatal Trouble
Bite Me
Your Eyes Only
Loose
Scream
Tamed-Dashed
Sweet Venom
Go Big or Go Home
Moonstruck
XO (Only If You Say Yes)
No Doubt
Bad Desire
Helium
Paranormal
Drunk-Dazed
Go Big or Go Home
We’d like to hear and, more importantly, see this one.
What are the stage times for ENHYPEN in Manchester?
AO Arena has a curfew of 11pm, meaning you can ‘Go Big or Go Home’ and still make sure you get your beauty sleep.
There is no confirmed support act as of yet, however, it looks like this will remain as they have fronted this tour independently across the globe.
Doors for this event are opening from 6pm, and this huge K-pop concert is expected to kick off at 7:30pm when this group reminds you that they ‘Brought the Heat Back’.
For those of you heading to AO Arena, luckily, it’s connected to Manchester Victoria Station, and it has an integrated Metrolink stop to make your life even easier.
Head along the pink, light blue or yellow lines directly to the Victoria stop, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Train
Considering this live entertainment venue is situated right in the middle of one of Manchester’s most frequented stations, concertgoers should find no problem getting to the arena, wherever they are.
Bus
A variety of buses cover AO Arena andVictoria Station on their route, such as the 2 bus, which stops just a one-minute walk away from the venue.
A full list of buses and their routes can be found HERE.
Getting there by car and parking
The Arena has its own official CitiPark, with 958 car parking spaces, including 40 Blue Badge parking bays, which can be booked in advance.
Alternatively, anyone attending a gig can park at their nearest train station and jump on a train service or the various Metrolink park and ride facilities.
Walk/cycle
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app.
Featured Images – Publicity Pictures (supplied)/The Manc Group
Audio
Rising pop favourite CMAT announces huge headline show in Manchester
Danny Jones
Fast-rising alt-pop favourite CMAT has announced a new show here in Manchester, and as she’s pretty much an honorary Manc at this point, you can expect the tickets to be snapped up in no time.
The Irish singer – real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (erm, duh?) – relocated to 0161 as a 17-year-old back in 2013 to pursue her career in music, and it’s fair to say the move turned out to be a positive one.
First arriving with her old duo Bad Sea, it didn’t take the teenager too long to find a following among her Manchester cousins, and soon, CMAT was considered among the best and up-and-coming artists our city had to offer.
In fact, little else has changed in that respect besides the fact that more and more of the country and, indeed, the world knows about her now, so you can guarantee there’ll be plenty of demand for this new headline concert.
Announcing the big gig at O2 Victoria Warehouse on social media this Friday, 22 August, the Dublin-born ‘Dunboyne Diana’ from County Meath by way of Manchester, CMAT is set for multiple Northern shows over the next six or seven months alone.
The show over in Trafford is one of just half a dozen new shows confirmed in support of her upcoming new LP, Euro-Country, which debuts at the end of the month.
Dropping on Friday, 29 August, her third album follows undoubtedly the biggest year of her career yet, having supported the likes of Sam Fender and having played massive festival slots like Glastonbury this summer.
Other gigs include nights at ‘Ally Pally’ in London, Cork, Edinburgh and more. Commenting on social media amid the new additions, CMAT simply wrote: “Come and see me, CMAT, and The Very Sexy CMAT Band, play our BIGGEST SHOWS EVER next year!”
She actually has a healthy run of live performances coming up this autumn, including one at Manchester Academy One on 4 October – though, as we’ve already warned with this latest date, tickets disappeared faster than you could say, ‘I wanna be a cowboy, baby’.
Admittedly, more than half of those shows have already sold out, but that’s why we’re getting an extra show for our trouble.
If you pre-order my new album from my official store between now and 10pm next Wednesday, you’ll get a code for the artist pre-sale, which opens at 10am on Tuesday August 26.
With new singles ‘Running/Planning’, ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’, ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’ and even the title track, ‘Euro-Country’, all having already been released since this past March, we’ve already got a decent taste of what’s to come next from Ireland’s finest.
Speaking as long-time listeners ourselves, we can assure you that these songs have gone down as instant hits among the fan base.
Arriving on Thursday, 12 March 2026, you can enjoy the pre-sale window via O2 Priority Access or by pre-ordering her new record, and general admission goes live at 10am next Thursday, 28 August.
Daisy Jackson -
6th May 2024 
