CityLife

Timber! Justin to fell Arena records

POP sensation Justin Timberlake could break box-office records at the Manchester Evening News Arena.

The American heartthrob announced this week he is to perform two extra dates at the venue in January.

This will take the number of concerts he has performed at the arena to seven - the highest for any solo artist. And if tickets for the shows sell out Justin will have played to more people at the arena than any other pop act.

John Knight, the general manager of the M.E.N. Arena, said: "We were very keen to bring Justin back to the arena because many fans were disappointed not to get tickets for his shows in December. We expect these two dates will be sold out again."

If the two concerts do sell out, Justin will have performed to 100,000 people in Manchester. That beats the record set by Kylie Minogue last year when 84,000 people saw her Fever tour.

The only act to have played more concerts at the arena is Manchester boy band Take That. They performed at the venue 10 times in 1995.

The former NSYNC singer has had four top 10 singles. His debut album has sold over a million copies in the UK alone. In April, he beat David Beckham to top a poll to find the world's sexiest man.

The England captain became friends with Justin in March.

They met when the singer was in Manchester for the first leg of his tour.

Mr Knight

Over 45,000 tickets for Justin's December shows were sold in one morning. Mr Knight said: "When you're hot, you're hot."

Other major stars to perform at the Arena include Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams and U2. In the coming months Elton John, the Rolling Stones, and Mariah Carey will all be taking to the stage.

Reputation

Mr Knight said: "This is yet another major concert here. The M.E.N. Arena is now on the must playlist of every major star because we have a reputation as a great venue. We are the biggest arena of our kind in Europe.

"Last year we were second only to Madison Square Gardens in New York as a music venue in terms of attendance figures. We provide world class entertainment in a world class venue."

Tickets for the shows on Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25 go on sale at 9am on June 28. They are available from the Arena box office on 0870 190 8000 or from the tour operator on 0870 602 1101.