Co-op Live
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Really Poor | We were so excited for this concert
We were so excited for this concert – it was the first one my niece had ever been to, and she’s a huge Billie fan. Billie herself was absolutely incredible, no complaints there at all – she gave everything to the crowd. But sadly, the whole experience was let down massively by the state of the venue and the organisation (or lack of it) at Co-op Live. We arrived before 5:30pm and still ended up queueing for over two hours just to get to the queue outside entrance C. There was barely any communication from staff, no clear guidance, and the whole thing felt completely unmanaged. It was a bit chaotic and stressful, not at all what you expect from a venue of this size. To make matters worse, while we stood in that enormous queue for hours, we saw people parking in the on-site car park and just walking straight to the front of the queue without any challenge. Staff to be fair were visibly overwhelmed and there seemed to be not enough members of staff to be able to manage the ticket holders, and as a result didn’t have the capacity to manage and stop the queue jumping or help manage the situation. It felt completely unfair on those of us who had followed the rules and waited patiently. Once we finally made it near the doors for the standing area, things only got worse. The queue snaked through piles of abandoned rubbish, tents, umbrellas, bottles, sleeping bags, clothes, all kinds of rubbish – and the smell of stale urine was genuinely awful. It was clear people had been camping out for hours with no access to proper toilets, and the lack of basic facilities was just inexcusable. We were literally stepping over mess and rubbish to get in – it felt more like a neglected festival site than a brand-new arena. Then, after nearly three hours just getting in, we were hit with sky-high bar prices – over £45 for two pints and two Smirnoff Ice cans. I don’t mind paying more at events, but that felt like a joke. Inside, the venue looked unfinished and poorly maintained, quite dirty, badly signposted, and frankly just disappointing for what’s meant to be a top tier arena. I’m not writing this to have a go or sound like I’m just moaning for the sake of it, but the night was meant to be something really special, and it ended up being stressful, uncomfortable and completely avoidable with better planning and care. It’s a shame, because Billie was outstanding – but Co-op Live let her and her fans down badly. I won’t be returning to CoOp Live, and I’ll definitely be warning others to think twice. The one saving grace was the people in the queue with us, they were kind, patient and really helped keep spirits up. Please, Billie, you were amazing – but don’t come back to Co-op Live. Your fans deserve better