Marcus Mumford took the stage as he opened the benefit concert hosted by Ariana Grande and the British Red Cross. After what he seemed to be him tuning his guitar, he commenced the benefit concert with "Let's not be afraid." The crowd cheered. He sang a very emotional song that left us in tears. Thanking the crowd, he then introduced Take That. He would return to the stage to join Pharrell a little later in the evening. We have to say, Mumford left us in tears.
Robbie Williams began with "Manchester we're strong, we're strong. We're singing our song, our song, our song!" Twitter had gone mad.
The audience could be heard singing along with Williams as he sang "Angels." Their voices were so loud it could be heard clearly.He seemed to have gotten a little emotional as he sang. After he walked off stage, the audience could still be heard chanting "Manchester, We're Strong!"
Pharrell walked onto the stage, and sang the familiar hit we released with Daft Punk, "Lucky." It really got us feeling very uplifted. The line "We've come to far to give up who we are" was very fitting during the present time. Miley Cyrus joined Pharrell to perform a duet of his song "Happy." Still we felt very optimistic. Not an ounce of sadness in our eyes. Miley gave a heartfelt speech about embracing one another and her foundation Happy Hippie. Miley began her solo performance with debuting a new song entitled, "Inspired." The powerful and emotional song reminiscent of her 2009 single, "The Climb." It was the only song Miley sang on her own at the time, and while we were thinking that would be the only number she would sing today, we felt the message and the power in the song made up for only taking part in only two numbers, but before we knew it she came out to join Ariana later to duet the familiar duet the two queens sang some time ago for Cyrus's Happy Hippie foundation, "Don't Dream It's Over" The crowd went crazy when One Directioner, Niall Horan walked out. He to only two performed two songs, No words were spoken before he took the mic, simply a sincere smile before he started his performance. He then ended his set with an emotional acoustic version of "This Town," and Twitter spoke volumes of their new reception of the single.
We had to stop our note-taking to watch Ariana Grande's performance. But we know that her vocals were even more strong than they have ever been before. We loved her performance of "Be Alright" and we tweeted #WereGonnaBeAlright to show our support to the singer and the victims of the attack. A video recorded message from Stevie Wonder played on our screen and he spoke about love, no matter our race or color. We felt the love and we heard the message. Message of love and support from public figures such as; David Beckham, Little Mix, Twenty One Pilots, Demi Lovato, Chance the Rapper, and even The Beatles', Paul McCartney were also displayed. We were surprised to see that Little Mix made an appearance, as they were not listed on the posts that possessed the official line up, but we were happy just the same to see them on the stage. The girl group sang an acapella intro of "Wings" and then went into the live version with the band playing behind them.
Ariana skipped the next song that was on the set list we had seen on Twitter just a few moments ago, and went straight to the duet of "Better Days" with Victoria Monet. After their duet, she walked Monet off the stage and introduced the next act. "Ladies and gentle make some noise for The Black Eyed Peas." Fergie did not join her band mates. We had to admit that our emotions took over as Ariana joined wil.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo to sing the song that was to send a message of loving one another during the troubling times of the early 2000's, "Where is the Love?" Ariana then introduced her "idol since she was 11 years old, Imogen Heap." We completely lost all control of our imogen's (emotions) as she sang her hit, "Hide and Seek" as the indie singer has been such a big part of our youth during high school. And speaking of high school, The Parrs Wood High School Choir was invited to sing with Ariana Grande and opened the performance of "My Everything" and it was all things emotional as clearly seen in the audience and here at home, especially the embrace between her and the little girl who sang the first verse. We were relieved when Mac Miller joined his love, Ari to perform their song, "The Way" and we have to say we were happy, we needed the happy. All of the emotions were glistening from our eyes at a fast rate of speed. Ari then sang a string of her hits, and stopped after her duet with Miley Cyrus to speak about one of the victims and her "mommy." And choking back the tears expressing how Olivia's mother told her "not to cry, because Olivia would have wanted to hear the hits." She followed her speech with one of her latest singles featuring New York rapper, Nicki Minaj, "Side to Side."
Katy Perry sent out a message of love, telling everyone to express it to the person next to them, even though sometimes it is hard to during such times. She sang an acoustic version of "Part of Me" which is normally a powerful Pop/Dance track, and her song, "Roar." Justin Bieber also delivered messages of love and sang along with playing his acoustic guitar. In the middle of his speech, Police officers could be seen spinning in a joyous circle with children and we felt in our hearts that perhaps the world is going to get better. Ariana returned to the stage to singer the song, "Love Me Harder," that features The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye). We had to take a break during Coldplay's performance, because, while we love and respect them, it is just to hard for us to listen to their music for personal reasons known to us. We still have gained a world of respect for the band for being a part of this benefit. Liam Gallagher from the band, Oasis, made a surprise performance and the audience was ecstatic to say the least. While it took a moment or two, finally Ariana was joined by some of the members of the line up to sing "One Last Time" for the 22 angels, then concluded the night with a final number, a cover of the late and great Judy Garland's famous song from The Wizard of Oz ,"Over The Rainbow, which we are sure made her smile in heaven above.
We enjoyed this event so much, despite the fact that it should not have had to happen in the first place; Ariana in our eyes should be Woman of the Year, for her strength and courage an selfless act upon hosting this benefit concert. We feel the entire world was watching with us, and we hope that EVERYONE else out there was also filled with the love we now possess in our hearts will spread and PROMOTE that LOVE, PEACE and ACCEPTANCE.
#ArianaGrande #OneLoveManchester #OneLoveManchester #OneLoveManchester #MileyCyrus #NickiMinaj #MarcusMumford #TakeThat #RobbieWilliams #PharrellWilliams #NiallHoran #OneDirection #LittleMix #VictoriaMonet #BlackEyesPeas #ImogenHeap #MacMiller #JustinBieber #TheParrsWoodHighSchoolChoir #TheWeeknd #AbelTesfaye #JudyGarland