One Love Manchester - Healing Music

by Gregg Chadwick

Organizing this benefit is a true act of love and courage. Deep respect to Ariana and all involved  #OneLoveManchester pic.twitter.com/umjYrGnWPG

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) June 4, 2017

The One Love Manchester benefit concert held today was organized by Ariana Grande and others as an act of courageous remembrance in the face of violence and fear-mongering.

Over 50,000 folks of all ages joined together at the Emirates Old Trafford arena to pay homage to the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing on May 22, 2017.  As Ariana Grande's concert ended that day 22 people were killed and over 100 injured. Today, Manchester was filled with brave souls who gathered to sing, to smile, to cry, and to persevere. The gathering opened with a minute of silence for those killed and injured in the senseless attack.

"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here today," Ariana Grande said during the concert. "I want to thank you so much for coming together and being so loving and strong and unified. I love you guys so much and I think that the kind of love and unity you're displaying is the kind of medicine that the world really needs right now."

The all-star line up, included Pharrell Williams, Usher, the Black Eyed Peas, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, and a surprise hometown guest - Liam Gallagher from Oasis.

Liam opened with Rock ’N’ Roll Star. He sang with a snarling presence - daring anyone, especially extremists of any stripe to deny the human power of art.

Next was his solo work Wall Of Glass. Then Coldplay’s Chris Martin accompanied Liam on guitar in an act of conscious coupling for a tear inducing version of Live Forever introduced by Liam "to the beautiful people who were killed and injured in the Manchester terror attack.”

Before the concert Ariana Grande met with many of the injured from the May 22nd bombing. In those meetings and in today's concert Ariana shared the gift of life with so many.

"Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before," Ariana wrote in a response to May 22nd. "Music is meant to heal us, to bring us together, to make us happy. So that is what it will continue to do for us."

💛

A post shared by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on Jun 2, 2017 at 4:48pm PDT

pic.twitter.com/9NE1ggjIuZ

— David Wyllie (@journodave) June 4, 2017

Watched bits of  #OneLoveManchester concert, & obvs that 23yo Ariana Grande & legions of teen girl fans r antidote to masculinity gone mad.

— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) June 5, 2017

00:54