‘We’ve been having such a beautiful, wonderful time’

Nicki Minaj has thanked fans in Manchester after performing two sold-out shows at Co-op Live.

The American rapper had been originally set to perform at Manchester’s newest arena last Saturday (May 25), but the show was cancelled at short notice after Nicki was detained at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. She said she spent around six hours in custody before leaving the Netherlands for the UK.

Her second originally cancelled show for Manchester, held at the venue on Thursday (May 30), went ahead as planned and saw thousands of fans turn up in pink bedazzled outfits to see the star sing her classic hits, including Starships and Chun-Li.

The original May 25 show was rescheduled to take place on Monday evening (June 3) and saw special appearances from Manchester rappers Aitch and Nemzzz during the gig. Sharing a video on Instagram from a fan at the show, Aitch said: “Shout out @NickiMinaj”.

Following the two gigs in Manchester, Nicki took to Instagram herself to interact with her fans and to thank them for coming out to her ‘amazing’ show in the city. The singer said: “So, anyway, y’all, I just wanna say thank you for all of the sold out shows all around the world.”

She added: “Today was such an amazing show. This marks number two for Manchester. And my number two show technically for London will be Wireless fest, which is coming up soon. I’ll be in Germany tomorrow. I just want to thank everyone that’s been coming out because we’ve been having such a beautiful, wonderful time.”

Replying to the video, one fan said: “Nicki was just live on IG appreciating #gagcityManchester for the love. Sold Out Nicki congrats on your tour creating history!” Another said: “I love her so much.”

Ahead of the first show in Manchester last week, fans also shared their excitement for seeing the singer live. Touré Jobson, who had already seen Nicki days earlier in London, said: “She was insane. She brought me my life. She’s my girl.”

Lewis Caldwell, who travelled from Glasgow for the show, said it was his first ever gig. “We’ve been looking forward to this for ages,” he explained. “I’ve loved her since I was a kid, such a huge fan of hers.”

Last week, Nicki cancelled a second scheduled gig in Amsterdam following the incident. The show, set for the Ziggo Dome on Sunday (June 2), was pulled after concert promoters said she was no longer performing in the city ‘due to the events of last week’.