Madison Beer at Manchester’s Co-op Arena: A captivating rollercoaster of emotion

Co-op Live, Manchester, 31 May 2026

On 16 January 2026, American singer-songwriter Madison Beer released her third studio album, locket. The subsequent album tour started on 11 May in Krakow and ended in New York City on 13 July. Beer performed twice in the UK, once at the O2 Arena on 30 May and also in Manchester’s Co-op Arena on 31 May, which I had the privilege of attending. 

By 6:30 pm, the arena was full, with about 20,000 fans anticipating Beer’s performance. 

LaRosa’s energetic performance was a delight to experience, and she gave fans a real taste of what her EP has to offer

The opening act is Lulu Simon, an indie-pop singer with a country twang. She performs a few of her own songs as well as covering a classic One Direction song, ‘Night Changes’. Her set is full of personal anecdotes, such as a song she wrote after her dog died. Her plain backdrop and heartfelt songs are a great contrast to the second support act, Isabel LaRosa. LaRosa’s energetic performance was a delight to experience, and she gave fans a real taste of what her EP, Promising Young Woman, has to offer. Her performance of her hit songs, ‘i’m yours’ and ‘older’, is a true masterpiece, with fans singing along to every word.  

Unfortunately for LaRosa, there was a medical emergency in the crowd during her set. Medical emergencies would also be a recurring theme in Beer’s Co-op Arena performance as she had to alert security three times during her set to emergencies in the crowd.   

With the crowd warmed up by the two support acts, Beer is ready to enter the stage. Her stage aesthetic draws comparisons with Sabrina Carpenter’s latest stage set-up. She has stairs up the centre, with a balcony on the left and a rotating heart shaped mechanism on the right. Beer would expertly use her set-up throughout her performance in innovative ways and sometimes would use all the parts of her set during one song, as she did for ‘Baby’, delighting fans.  

Beer began the concert with one of the hit songs off her album, ‘yes baby’, captivating fans who were screaming the lyrics. I was honestly deafened by the group behind me. This high tempo song was to be one of many throughout the show. My personal highlight was ‘Dear Society’, a single from 2019. This song serves as a critique of modern culture and social media toxicity. She plays the song to the crowd, encouraging them to sing the chorus with her and also offers some new, higher vocals. Listening back to my recording of this, I can’t believe how off-key I was! Another high tempo song was the finale, ‘bittersweet’, a song about moving on from a failed relationship. All those sitting down were immediately on their feet from the first word, with fans almost bouncing in unison. 

The way she can hold the crowd and make them go on a rollercoaster of feelings shows the signs of an expert performer

I felt the contrast between Beer’s high-tempo songs and some of her slower ones worked very well in the set. The contrasts were very smooth, like when Beer moves from three back-to-back belters: ‘yes baby’, ‘15 MINUTES’, and ‘BOYSHIT’, to a slow set of songs including ‘Home to Another One’ and ‘bad enough’. The way she is able to hold the crowd and make them go on a rollercoaster of feelings shows the signs of an expert performer, despite this being Beer’s first big arena tour. 

The concert consists of 24 songs from locket as well as from her wider discography. One of these songs is also a surprise song, where a member of the audience got to pick between three different songs for Beer to perform. For the concert I attended in the Co-op Arena, Beer performed ‘Default’ as her surprise song from her debut album Life Support. She also teased fans with a few verses from ‘Dead’, from her debut EP As She Pleases. 

The tour offered exactly what I expected from a Madison Beer concert. The stage set-up matched up with exactly what the locket tour was trying to offer. Beer’s amazing vocal range and stage presence were a wonderful sight to witness. I will definitely be on the lookout for Beer’s next album and tour. 

★★★★★