The Co-op Live arena in Manchester has been billed as the greatest indoor arena for music, comedy and sport ever built outside the United States.

Costing £365million, it is the most expensive and largest purpose-built concert venue in Britain and the jewel in the crown for an American-based firm that owns 300 venues around the world. 

Venue mogul Tim Leiweke, co-founder of its owner Oak View Group, also claimed it is also ‘acoustically the most perfect ever built in the UK’ ahead of some of the biggest music and comedy gigs of 2024. He also said it would be a springboard to building a new arena in the London to finally rival the 02 in Greenwich. 

But today MailOnline can reveal that hundreds of construction workers are desperately working around the clock trying to complete Co-op Live arena – almost two weeks late.

One told MailOnline today, in no uncertain terms, that the arena is a ‘s**t show’.  ‘We have been telling them for weeks that the place wouldn’t be ready but no one listened’, he said. 

Another claimed it will take ‘at least the next two or three [weeks] definitely. It’s because they need to check and recheck because nothing has really been checked. Fire checks, safety checks…they haven’t been checked out.’

Key investors include local boy Harry Styles and Manchester City, who provided land across from their Etihad Stadium. This week Styles sent a video message speaking of his ‘pride’ in being involved and saying the ‘people of Manchester deserve one of the best arenas in the world’. 

So how could the opening of what Mr Leiweke calls a ‘marvel of engineering’, started in 2021, turn into such a disaster? Tens of thousands of tickets worth millions of pounds have been sold to gigs that have been cancelled – even with a few hours to go. 

Officially, a part of the heating and ventilation system coming loose has been blamed. 

In fact it has been claimed that Co-op Live’s first full show was cancelled minutes before it was due to start after part of an air conditioning unit fell from the gantry inside the venue prior to the start of the gig.

It has also been claimed there are no permanent backstage toilets yet.  

And staff there claim that the problems run deeper, and rushing the opening is all about money. 

Safety operators are now being brought in to check all the air conditioning systems to ensure their security. 

In words that will devastate fans of Peter Kay, Rick Astley and Olivia Rodrigo, another worker said: ‘All these concerts should have been postponed weeks ago. There’s still temporary lighting up in parts of the arena. It was never going to pass safety regulations.

‘It’s all about money. The construction firm building this place will have it written into the contracts that it has to be finished on a certain date.

‘If it’s not, they get hit with massive fines. They’ve tried to rush the job to hit the completion dates because they can’t afford to take the hit.’

The state-of-the-art music venue’s car parks were packed with work vans today and exclusive show workers rushing around trying to finish almost two weeks after comedian Peter Kay cancelled its first proper live show on Tuesday, April 23.

One contractor aid : ‘Just look around at the number of work vans still on the car parks. If the building company was ready to complete the handover and was ready to be signed off, there wouldn’t be so many of us still here working. There’s still a lot to do.’

Tim Leiweke  put his arm around an equally excitable BBC Breakfast reporter and promised ‘we’re never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down’ – a nod to Rick Astley who was playing in the first gig that night.

But by the evening those words would come back to haunt the 67-year-old multi-millionaire, whose grand opening has been an unmitigated disaster.

There were chaotic scenes when thousands of fans turned up to watch 80s idol Astley perform only to find out their tickets had been cancelled without notice after the capacity was slashed because of safety fears.

Behind the scenes Leiweke is likely to have been incandescent over the scandal – and despite the horseplay in his BBC interview – there were signs of problems because he stood there with his arms crossed and said with a hint of desperation: ‘I’m just trying to get it open’. After failing to do just that – days later the venue’s general manager quit under a cloud.

Before the problems, Tim said spending £365million on the arena was ‘a bet’ that had gone in his favour.

‘We were fortunate that the bet we made – that we’d see the single greatest live entertainment return and surge in the history of the industry – is what we’ve seen these past few years’, he said.

Discussing Co-op Live, Leiweke said: ‘It’s the largest single investment in the history of our industry internationally. It’s the most expensive arena ever built outside of North America.’

American businessman Tim Leiweke is one of the biggest names in the entertainment business in the US.

Until around ten years ago he was boss of AEG Worldwide, the biggest owner of venues, sport teams, and entertainment businesses.

Leiweke is married to wife Bernadette and have one daughter. Francesca, who is married to a former hockey star and works for her father, made headlines in 2009 when she sat with David Beckham at a LA Lakers game as the England footballer moved to the use.

Becks was playing for LA Galaxy, which was owned by AEG. 

Leiweke also described turning his attention to a new super-venue in London – and an arena in Cardiff.

After leaving AEG, Leiweke co-founded Oak View Group with Irving Azoff, ex-boss of Ticketmaster, with the view of ‘disrupting’ the market – especially his former employer.

OVG owns and operates more than 300 venues worldwide, mostly in the US but with projects planned across Europe, Africa and Asia – bankrolled by investors including private equity firms.

It has big plans for venues ion London and Las Vegas – but until then the jewel in the crown is the Co-op Arena in Manchester – the most expensive venue of its kind outside the US.

However, its opening has been marred by a failure to safely complete it on time.

Manchester is scarred by the suicide bomb attack on its city centre Arena in 2017. 

One survivor tweeted this week that the problems at the new Co-op Arena was causing ‘anxiety’ to her and many others who plan to go.

Since the disastrous Rick Astley gig on Saturday, April 20, Peter Kay has been forced to cancel his show amid continuing safety concerns at the £350million Manchester venue, and rock duo The Black Keys had their show postponed.

Last night door had been scheduled to open at 6.30pm, but as fans queued to see US rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, the venue announced on social media that the concert would not be going ahead.

A part of the heating and ventilation system coming loose during the soundcheck was blamed. 

And today Vampire singer Olivia Rodrigo had been due to perform at the venue on May 3 and 4 as part of her Guts world tour, but those shows have now been postponed.

The venue, built by developer the Oak View Group, was given planning permission in 2020 and boasted an investment from popstar Harry Styles. Harry even helped with some elements of the design.

But headaches for the Co-op Arena became patently clear after capacity for the Rick Astley gig was reduced with just hours’ notice.

The arena had announced on Monday that Kay’s performances would instead take place on April 29 and 30, with Kay saying he was ‘truly gutted’ by the delay but the comedy gigs will now move to May 23 and May 24.

‘Tickets will be transferred, or refunds given if the new dates aren’t suitable,’ Kay said. ‘It’s very disappointing but your safety is important, and I won’t compromise that.’

Rebecca Kane Burton, an ex-boss of London’s O2 Arena, will step in as interim general manager.

The arena’s general manager, Gary Roden, announced his resignation last week following the slew of issues that led to the delays in the venue opening.

Mr Roden was thanked by his former employer for his ‘help bringing the UK’s newest arena to live entertainment fans and wish him the best for the future’.

A spokesman for the arena, which is next door to Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, said: ‘It is critical to ensure we have a consistent total power supply to our fully electric sustainable venue, the completion of which is a few days behind.

‘Rescheduling gives us the extra time we need to continue testing thoroughly.

‘This is vital to satisfy the rigorous set of guidelines and protocols that are necessary for a venue of this size.’

Olivia Rodrigo has become the latest big name to apologise to fans for letting them down – after Manchester’s landmark £350million Co-op Arena postponed its opening show for the third time in weeks.

The 21-year-old says she is ‘sooooo disappointed’ and ‘so bummed’ to postpone the Manchester shows of her UK tour. It prompted anger from fans towards Co-op Arena bosses, who slated their ‘poor management’ of the arena opening.

Good 4 U singer Olivia was due to perform at the new venue on Friday and Saturday before management at the beleaguered concert hall pulled the plug – a fate already suffered by Peter Kay twice as he prepared to perform on his UK tour. 

The triple Grammy winner says her team is ‘doing our best to reschedule the show’, part of the Guts World Tour. It comes after A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s show was cancelled yesterday as fans queued to get in, leaving some stranded for hours.

The American rapper, full name Artist Julius Dubose, said it was ‘crazy’ that his Co-op show was cancelled with no notice whatsoever – to the fury of fans, some of whom had spent hundreds of pounds on travel and accommodation.

Co-op Live says it had to cancel the show after a piece of ventilation equipment ‘separated from the ductwork’ in what it blamed on a ‘factory defect’ related to the piece of kit. Workmen were back on site today patching up the building.

But the cancellations aren’t even the first to hit the troubled venue, which has been beset with delays and last-minute issues for weeks – prompting its boss to stand down after he slated grassroots venues for being ‘poorly run’. 

Did YOU have tickets to a Co-Op show? Email jon.brady@mailonline.co.uk 

In a statement on Instagram, Olivia Rodrigo said: ‘Hello! I’ve been having such a great time in Europe so far and I’m sooooo disappointed that we’re unable to perform in Manchester due to on-going venue-related technical issues.

‘We’re doing our best to schedule the show. You can hold onto your tickets for further info or request a refund at your point of purchase. More info will be sent directly to ticket holders.

‘I’m so bummed and I really hope to see you all soon.’

Hysterical fans have taken to social media to lash out at bosses for failing to get the arena ready for the third time after previously postponing other opening shows.

Issues became clear after the capacity for a ‘soft launch’ test event starring Rick Astley was dramatically cut back with just a few hours’ notice due to power issues.

Comedian Peter Kay’s grandstanding opening gig was then cancelled hours before he was due to take the stage last month, as was his second show at the venue.

Olivia fan Lee Middleton, who had tickets for Saturday’s show, told MailOnline: ‘I cannot believe millions of pounds have been spent on this venue and a bit of an air conditioning unit falls off.’

‘I was so looking forward to it. I never go out at night and this was a big thing for me to do,’ said TikToker Chelsea Salt in a video she posted after the Olivia news broke.

‘We spent so much time planning, talking about it, booking hotels, booking surprises, I booked my make-up online to get done, I bought matching bracelets, spent time talking about outfits.

‘I’m just absolutely gutted. It’s just such a shame and they’ve let so many people down.’

A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, meanwhile, said in remarks reported by Good Morning Britain he had never heard of a show being cancelled on the day it was due to go ahead.

The platinum-selling rapper’s Manchester show had already been postponed twice and fans were lining up outside to get in when arena bosses issued a message telling them the show was off and to leave the area.

‘I just grabbed a glass of wine and started drinking like, damn,’ the star said of learning the show had been canned at the last minute.

‘(I’ve heard of) cancelling a show a week or two weeks, a month ahead of time, but never the day of.

‘This is crazy. (I’ve got) a lot of fans in my DMs (direct messages) going off.’

He said in a statement on social media that ‘something happened with the venue while I was at soundcheck today that caused cancellation of the show’.

Dubose added: ‘I’m heated about the situation too, but safety first Manchester, i got you, just stay tuned for further info.’

Hundreds of fans looked to be in disbelief as they made a quick exit after being told the gig would not be going ahead. 

‘It’s just a bit of a joke,’ one fan told BBC Breakfast. Another said: ‘We have our GCSEs next week – this was our last chance at freedom. We’re really annoyed.’

And one mother fumed online: ‘Are you joking? You knew this wasn’t going ahead. I’ve got three 16 year old giris travelling from Leeds on train and now stranded in Manchester. Any compensation for that?’