Grace Crilly
Getting tickets to see your favorite band or favorite singer is exciting. In the excitement, you may not realize little things such as the location of the concert if it's considered a safe or dangerous area, including the people who live in the area of the venue, could be considered dangerous. Ariana Grande and her fans didn't expect an attack would happen at the end of her concert. May 22nd, 2017 at the end of the concert of her Dangerous Woman Tour, a suicide bomb attack happened that killed 22 people. This led Ariana Grande to cancel the rest of her tour, but on May 26th she announced that she would hold a benefit concert One Love Manchester in Manchester, England for the victims of the attack. Approximately 14,000 people attended her concert on the night of the attack, who attended One Love Manchester at no cost. In this essay, I'll be discussing the highlights of the One Love Manchester benefit concert involving Ariana Grande and the artists that show the empowerment of love in music.
One Love Machester's purpose was to spread cheer, love, and support to the people who were involved in the attack. Ariana Grande, Simon Moran, Melvin Benn, and Scooter Braun put the concert together. Ariana invited many performers to spread the love she wanted to give back to the people who were affected by the attack, including Marcus Mumford, Robbie Williams, Pharrell Williams, Take That, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan, Stevie Wonder, Little Mix, Victoria Monét, The Black-Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Imogen Heap, Parrs Wood High School Choir, Coldplay, Liam Gallagher, and the late Mac Miller. One Love Manchester was broadcasted live on BBC 1 on June 4th, 2017, from 6:55 to 10:00 at night. This concert was based on giving love and courage to one another, even when it's hard you can still come through it.
The message all of the performers expressed to the audience, is that music is what makes us strong. This concert displayed how powerful music is when it comes to emotion. The emotion this concert wanted to provide was to uplift everyone about being able to move forward from traumatizing moments. In those moments is when we need to lean on each other the most, Ariana stated herself that the music they displayed is what united them to bring that message, "The kind of love, the unity that we're displaying is what the world really needs right now." (06/04/17). Personally, I overall enjoyed this concert, however, the only performance I didn't enjoy as much was, "Happy" performed by Pharrell Williams. Often, when I listen to this song it brings up bad memories from middle school, which is why I don't enjoy it. However, the theme of the song spreads happiness and cheer, which is what the message of this concert is about. One Love Manchester's goal was to raise money for the families of the victims of the Manchester terror attack. People made donations by composing a text message to the number 70507 and write 'Love' as the message. The British Red Cross reported One Love Manchester had raised 2.35 million dollars, adding the ticket sales in the United Kingdom money it came to 10 million pounds, in American money it came out almost to 13 million dollars. Ariana Grande and the various artists she invited showed the love and courage they supported the ones who came to One Love Manchester.
Before Katy Perry performed her popular hits 'Part of Me' and 'Roar,' in the middle of the concert Katy took the stage with a short speech about the evening, she was very honored and humbled to be at the event to share and spread the love. "Love conquers fear and love conquers hate. The love that you choose will give you strength, and it's our greatest power." (06/04/17). She followed up by performing her songs. Katy was wearing a white dress with a feather coat. In her performance of 'Roar,' she took off her feather coat, revealing the back of her dress was made up of pictures of the 22 victims who sadly lost their lives in the attack. Katy embodied the message of the concert is to have courage when it comes to facing hard times.
In this essay, I discussed the attack that led to One Love Manchester, showing how artists can come together to spread the empowerment of music. Which makes us strong when it comes to facing hard moments in your life. This concert showed the unity that brings people together, to remind one another there's always a shoulder to lean on.
Sources Cited
Ariana Grande quote, "The kind of love, the unity that we're displaying is what the world really needs right now." (06/04/17) - One Love Manchester June 4th, 2017
Katy Perry quote, "Love conquers fear and love conquers hate. The love that you choose will give you strength, and it's our greatest power." (06/04/17). - One Love Manchester June 4th, 2017
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