The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Music fans gather again, with message of unity and defiance
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND — Ariana Grande returned to the city to pay tribute with an energetic, allstar concert featuring Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry nearly two weeks after a suicide bombing killed 22 of her fans and injured dozens of others in Manchester, England.
Grande was emotional and teary-eyed throughout the One Love Manchester concert Sunday, which the British Red Cross said raised more than $13 million for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, created for those affected by the attack at Grande’s May 22 show.
She closed the three-hour-plus event with a cover of “Over the Rainbow,” crying onstage at the song’s end as the audience cheered her on.
“Manchester, I love you with all of my heart,” Grande said before the performance, and just after singing “One Last Time” with Miley Cyrus, Pharrell and more of the show’s performers standing behind her in solidarity.
One of the most powerful moments was when the Parrs Wood High School Choir performed Grande’s “My Everything” with the singer. The 23-year-old pop star held the young lead performer’s hand, both with tears in their eyes, as the rest of the singers joined in.
Perry also left a mark with her resilient performance: She sang a stripped down version of her hit, “Part of Me.” Backed by two singers and a guitarist, she delivered the song wearing all white,
singing, “Throw your sticks and your stones, throw your bombs and your blows, but you’re not gonna break my soul.”
“I encourage you to choose love even when it’s difficult. Let no one take that away from you,” she said.
Amid heavy, almost omnipresent security at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground, hordes of girls wearing hot pants and bunny ears gathered on the grounds. Police on horseback moved through the throng, as did officers with sniffer dogs. More than 14,000 tickets to Sunday’s concert were set aside for those who attended the original May 22 show.
Keavy Smith, 17, was there that fateful night and remembers calling her mother, Angie, screaming after the bomb went off. Then her phone went dead for 20 minutes amid the crush of people trying to call their loved ones.
Angie Smith recalled her terror that night as their calls failed to go through but said she thinks Sunday’s concert will help them overcome their fears. The younger of the two was wearing Ariana Grande-inspired makeup and a “We Stand Together” sticker, while her mother wore the “bee badge” that has come to signify solidarity in Manchester.
“Her life is in Manchester,” Smith said. “Everybody is behind the concert, to raise money for the people that need it.”
The crowd at Old Trafford exuded a sense of togetherness. Almost everyone seemed to be holding someone else’s hand. And the “bee badges” and bee tattoos were everywhere. The bee has been a symbol of Manchester’s since the city’s pivotal role in the Industrial Revolution, when worker “bees” transformed the city into an economic powerhouse.
Teaching assistant Georgie Ratcliffe, 22, was one of thousands who had a bee tattoo. Parlors in and around Manchester began advertising them and donating the proceeds to charity.
“Even my parents, who hate tattoos, love it,” she said. She was seeing the show with Tom Styles, 27, who said they were there to prove that “you can’t let these people stop you living your life.”