concert venue from 1986 to 1995. Its position as a concert venue diminished after the opening of the Manchester (then NYNEX) Arena in 1995. Manchester Central In January 2007, the venue was renamed Manchester Central, evoking the memory of the former station and converted into an exhibition and conference centre. The building was renovated at a cost of £30 million in 2008 by Manchester-based architects, Stephenson Bell. The first phase to create a foyer took from February to November 2008. The second phase, completed towards the end of 2009, included an extended foyer to the Grade II listed Central Hall. The old smoked-glass structure was demolished and replaced by a flat-roofed, clear-glazed structure exposing more of the original architecture. The final phase, completed in September 2010, focused on the rear of the building. New event spaces were built and rooms refurbished to increase the venue's range and size of meeting and banqueting spaces. Events During its days as the GMEX Centre, the venue was used for hosting rock concerts. Not long after its official opening, Factory Records used the venue for their Festival of the Tenth Summer in July 1986 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of punk in the city, and included appearances by the Smiths, and Factory Records stalwarts New Order. James appeared in 1990, U2 in June 1992, Metallica in November 1992 on their The Black Album tour and the Cure in November 1992. G-Mex had a seating capacity of 9,500 for end stage concerts and 12,500 for standing events and stopped hosting concerts in 1997, with the last gig by Oasis in December. G-Mex was also the 2002 Commonwealth Games venue for gymnastics, weightlifting, judo and wrestling. After a nine-year break, it was again used for concerts by Snow Patrol in December 2006 with Morrissey, the Verve. Marilyn Manson, Franz Ferdinand, Manic Street Preachers, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party and Hard-Fi holding concerts in 2007. Status Quo have performed there multiple times. The venue hosted concerts by Placebo in December 2009, Arcade Fire, Biffy Clyro, Thirty Seconds to Mars, the Taste of Chaos Tour 2010, deadmau5, Pendulum in December 2010 and the Eighth Plague Tour. In 2011, it hosted the Girls' Day Out Show. In 2009 and 2010, it played host to the Manchester audition stages of the ITV programme The X Factor. In December 2012, it hosted the finals of series 9 of The X Factor. In