Opera House Manchester

Reviews

• JS

  Justine Sargent

  Oct 3, 2026
  1.0
  We had an appalling experience at the Opera House Manchester during a date night to see Chris Ramsey. After a stressful journey involving a near-miss car accident, we arrived with 10 minutes left of the warm-up act. Rather than disturbing other seated guests, we thoughtfully stayed in the foyer to grab drinks for the main show. When the bottle of Malbec we purchased proved unpalatable for my partner, we went to another bar inside the venue to buy gin and tonics instead. Shortly after, a member of staff aggressively confronted us and demanded we hand back our drinks, claiming we weren't allowed them simply because we had bought wine earlier. The sheer hostility, suspicion, and power-tripping attitude from this staff member was humiliating. Being treated like criminals after spending our money at the venue ruined the evening entirely. We felt so uncomfortable and unwelcome that we walked out before Chris Ramsey even came on stage. Extremely poor customer service—we will be pursuing a full refund.
• MV

  Mavis Varley

  Oct 2, 2026
  2.0
  Some of the staff were lovely, however went to watch Daz & Will (off the hook aka unhooked) & honestly I felt so bad for them, the lightning person wasn't doing it properly or on time, the ones who was meant to help them was lacking, could see that they were getting very stressed out & frustrated as they were doing their show, it probably didnt help that the fog was way too much to the point you could almost hardly see Daz at one point. Was ashame as I've seen their performances elsewhere & they were spot on with everything. One staff in particular was trying to get someone to stop recording that was a few seats behind us but instead of going up to them they stood right in our view so we couldnt even see the act until they finally moved out the way which the staff shouldve been at least near the person, (who was recording) seat than 2 rows in front of them. The drinks were very pricey especially for a small cup, cost £20 just for a tiny cup. Definitely wouldnt rush back there in a hurry or for another show. Very disappointed.
• SW

  Sue Warwick

  Sep 26, 2026
  2.0
  Nice venue but not ideal for a rock show. Stuck outside for a while as there was a build up of people in the merch area by the doors. Can't be helped I suppose. At least it wasn't raining and the friendly staff informed us of what the hold up was On entering, there's a sign telling us to "leave the singing to the professionals" There is also a very strict policy on taking photos. A man swooped down with his torch the second a phone is whipped out. Surely a couple of pics to remember the event isn't asking too much? Don't tell them about the ones on here!😜 The general feeling amongst those around me was he was far more distracting than the occasional photo. Also, the bar prices! I go to quite a few gigs around the country, albeit in smaller venues, and water is freely available. Here, £3.50 for a bottle 😱 Getting out the venue was quick and easy. My main gripe, and this is of no fault of the venue, it's really not a place for rock music. Sat in seats over three levels with your opera glasses. It took until the last song for the audience to get on their feet. Shame, it was a great show otherwise. I'd seen this particular artist at other venues and always had a great time. Tonight, it felt a bit of a let down. There was none of the energy you normally get at these sorts of gigs.
• ES

  Ebony Sparrow

  Sep 19, 2026
  3.0
  The venue is lovely and very spacious but there is a no photos or recording policy. I went to see a comedy show of 2 YouTubers and they were strict with this rule. I find it really unfair for those who do want to take a few photos or videos to keep as memories. Yes they say live in the moment but I wanted to take photos and videos as my little keepsake, one of the staff members shone a bright light in my face in a dark theatre causing more of an interference than me. I understand she was doing her job but that wasn’t right nor was it fair on me, I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was seated in the stalls where obviously most staff were but people in the upper tiers were recording and they didn’t say anything to them. So yes maybe I broke the policy but I was entitled to what I wanted from it such as photos and videos. So yes the venue is lovely and most staff are helpful, but they are extremely strict on that rule which I find unfair because in my opinion they are robbing people of memories.
• PG

  Poppy green

  Sep 18, 2026
  2.0
  Not great experience, the toliets were stocked and clean and that was about it. The organisation of everyone was bad, it's like nobody has talked to each other or don't have a good management. The price are horrifically overpriced at £4.70 for a bottle of Diet Coke. Then Hayden R has the audacity to charge an extra £3.80 for a plastic cup that they didn't give earlier on as they don't want you to have the glass bottle. When asked why I had been charged £8.50 for a Diet Coke, his straight dismal and attitude was disgusting. He said I could have a water instead, managed to get a J20 as that's the only thing he had left. The staff are friendly enough however it was just far too unorganised and overpriced. The seats are what seem to be original so you're tightly crammed into such small, musty seats which have seen better days. You're soon ushered out the door after the show has finished and I ended up losing my partner after heading to the toilet and being spoken to rudely when I said that I was trying to find my partner. The show was brilliant however management need to be better.