In the wake of an unspeakable tragedy, such as that which occurred on May 22nd 2017, when a suicide bomb was detonated after an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester (UK) killing 23 people, it really is hard to know what to do or say. This must have been especially true for Ariana herself who would have felt an undeniable sense of responsibility. However, in a defiant act against the terrorists who committed this atrocity, Ariana decided to throw a last-minute concert the week after on June 4th, bringing along as many music stars as she could to help spread the love and unity and I think it is an understatement to say that the evening was a huge success…
1. The emotion.
At times such as this it is impossible to hide your emotions but it was one of the very moving aspects of the concert that brought Ariana closer together with her fans.
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2. The strength.
There’s no denying that it would have taken some serious courage, not only for Ariana to hold her head high and perform, but more importantly for people to feel safe enough to attend a concert this big so soon after the tragedy that took place at Manchester Arena. We have to give a big kudos to everyone who made it there – it couldn’t have been easy.
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3. The crowd.
Not only were the crowd brave enough to attend in the first place but they also took the levels of participation to new levels, showing everyone in the world what Manchester is made of.
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4. The money raised.
At times like these, people very much want to be able to help and therefore the ‘We Love Manchester’ fund was set up to help the victims of the devastating attack and their families. The popularity of Ariana Grande’s One Love concert was so much that it actually raised of £2.35 million worth of donations whilst the concert was live and the total amount now stands at over £10 million.
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5. Liam Gallagher.
Despite implying beforehand that he wasn’t able to take part due to work commitments, Liam Gallagher gave his fans a welcome surprise when he showed up at the end of the concert to perform. There was also the added resonance for him that Manchester is his beloved hometown and the Oasis song ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ was soon adopted as a song by mourning locals who felt it perfectly summed up their grief and unified strength.
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6. Coldplay.
Coldplay are never ones to do things by halves and their magical hits – especially ‘Fix You’ – brought people together in an array of coloured lights and emotion.
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7. The Black Eyed Peas (and Ariana Grande).
Another song that strongly echoes the sentiments of this terrible attack is ‘Where is the Love?’ by The Black Eyes Peas and luckily they all made the trip to perform it on the One Love stage, with Ariana stepping in for Fergie who has now parted ways with them.
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8. Robbie Williams.
In a clearly saddened state, Robbie Williams took to the One Love stage in Manchester and won the hearts of the crowd when he performed his single ‘Strong’ with the altered lyrics: “Manchester, we’re strong”.
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9. All artists showing unity.
We don’t quite have enough time to list all of the artists who performed but it stretched all the way from Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams and Miley Cyrus through to Little Mix and Take That. Furthermore, it was abundantly clear that they didn’t want this to be about them but about the message and the crowd seeing them all stand together shoulder to shoulder.
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10. The Bee Tattoo.
Along with the resounding love felt by everyone in attendance, Ariana and her crew all took away a mark of remembrance of the night in the form of a bee tattoo which has become the symbol of the attack, depicting the hardworking strength of the people of Manchester.
Image source: urbannews.co.uk
