BBC News, Manchester
EPABruce Springsteen fans have flocked to Manchester from across the world for his only arena shows of the year at a venue which was “influenced” by The Boss himself.
The first of Springsteen’s three shows at Co-op Live later coincides with the one-year anniversary of the venue’s opening.
Tim Leiweke, the president and chief executive of Oakview Group – which owns Co-op Live and venues across the world – said it was acoustically engineered based on feedback he received from Springsteen after the musician’s performance at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.
He said: “[Springsteen] has literally influenced every building I’ve designed with my company since then.”
“He’s been running around my head for 20 years because of his dislike of the acoustics at Staples,” he added.
Mr Leiweke said Springsteen agreed to play the shows in Manchester after he encouraged him to check out what he described as “the most acoustically perfect arena ever built”.
Reuters“I think he’s the most admired and respected artist in the industry,” he said.
“We wanted to make sure we learnt from that experience.”
Springsteen is next scheduled for Saturday and Tuesday nights at the arena.
After a rocky start, involving delays, concert cancellations and part of the ceiling falling off, Mr Leiweke said 105 events had been held at Co-op Live since its opening, with 1.5 million people coming through the doors.
Fans have also gathered outside Springsteen’s hotel in central Manchester with the hopes of getting to meet the singer.
Two fans, who had travelled to Manchester from Sweden for the shows, showed off their fresh tattoos of Springsteen’s signature on their arms after meeting him.
“It was fantastic, the best thing in life,” the fan said.
Another fan, who also met Springsteen in the city, said he was “the coolest dude”.
He added: “[Springsteen] just walked around the corner whistling like a normal person would.
“We had a bit of a joke about why I’m not going to all three shows – you’re a bit expensive, Bruce.”
