Disastrous opening of £365m 'Co-Flop' arena is mocked online as 'Manchester's ... trends now
The delayed opening of Manchester's fiasco-laden £365million Co-op Live Arena has been mercilessly mocked on social media - with memes comparing it to the viral Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow.
Fans of Take That and alternative rock outfit Keane have slammed the venue for its 'embarrassing' launch, which has seen three opening gigs featuring Peter Kay and Olivia Rodrigo delayed amid a flurry of technical and safety issues.
Last night, the venue confirmed Take That's shows had been shifted to the rival AO Arena - which Co-op Live CEO Gary Roden, who quit his job last month, previously slated as an 'arena that is 30 years old'.
And Keane fans have been left reeling after the band said it had been unable to make alternative arrangements for its show on Sunday, forcing it to postpone the Manchester date of its UK tour indefinitely.
While many fans have turned their ire to bosses at the venue and onto the Co-op itself - which is equally furious with the delays - some have tried to see the funny side by creating and sharing brutally funny memes about the snowballing disaster.
The Co-op Live arena was heralded as Britain's largest and most spectacular indoor event space - but its disastrous launch has seen the £365m complex subjected to merciless mockery
The memes have flowed thick and fast following the fiasco-ridden launch of Manchester's £365million Co-op Live arena - with some comparing it to the viral Willy Wonka Experience
One Twitter user referenced Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway hidden camera pranks after a show was cancelled while fans queued outside
Anyone for a cut-price arena? Some pranksters riffed on the complex's supermarket title sponsor as they made memes
Others referenced the disastrous Fyre Festival in the US, sharing a picture of event producer Andy King
The memes have referenced Bob the Builder (left) and even the Apprentice because of the problems plaguing the huge project
'Welcome to the Co-op Live,' one social media user said, sharing the now-infamous picture of a tired-looking Kirsty Paterson as an Oompa Loompa at Glasgow's ill-fated Willy Wonka Experience.
'My choice of headwear if the Keane concert goes ahead on Sunday,' wrote one woman on X, formerly Twitter, sharing by a GIF of a woman putting on a hard hat.
Another compared a GIF of footballer Thierry Henry appearing to hold back a smug smile to 'the AO Arena... seeing cancelled acts come running'.
Elsewhere, another joker captioned an image of Ant and Dec from one of their secret prank segments on Saturday Night Takeaway: 'Tell them the arena is open... now tell them it's closed and to go home'.
Others riffed on the fact the arena's title sponsor is a supermarket - with one photoshopping a clearance sticker onto the side marking it down from £365million to 64 pence.
'There's only one man for the job now,' joked Manchester charity chief Duncan Craig, sharing a picture of Andy King, a producer of the disastrous Fyre Festival.
'Brand new act just announced for this weekend,' said another tweeter, posting a picture of Bob the Builder.
And even Liam Gallagher joined in on the fun, joking that he would play a show at a local Lidl supermarket if the arena cancels a run of four shows he is set to play next month.
It prompted Lidl to issue a pun-laden setlist of Oasis songs with appropriate supermarket twists, such as Some Might Save and Lidl by Lidl.
Indie band Keane, Grammy winner Olivia Rodrigo, and US rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie have all seen their shows axed this week because of ongoing 'technical issues' at the arena - after part of an aircon unit fell from the ceiling.
Simon Waite, 51, told the PA news agency he was 'really frustrated' that the Keane concert on Sunday would not be going ahead as his carer has booked time off work and he has paid for a hotel and a kennel for his dog.
Mr Waite said: 'As I am disabled person, I go up with my friend who is my carer, so when we go somewhere we have to plan it so that she is not working or can get the day off as a holiday, so she's losing out.
'I've paid for our hotel well in advance as
