After a week of horror Ariana Grande bravely announced that she was organising a benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester attack outside her concert.
Once I heard this, before I had even thought I was looking up possible flights and hotels in Manchester for that night – less than a week away. I was initially a little bitapprehensive but I was not about to let evil scare me off from doing something.
Tickets sold out in six minutes and I was unable to get them initially but thankfully more tickets became available and I was lucky enough to land a pair of those, they weren’t cheap but were an increased donation ticket so I really felt that I was having a good impact on the overall benefit fund – albeit a drop in an ocean.
I secured tickets Friday evening and then had to find a travel companion, I decided my little cousin, who missed the London date of the concert would be the perfect choice. After I got the ok from her parents and her that she was in I booked the flights and then had around 30hrs to prepare before I travelled.
Just before I left for the airport unfortunately terror struck once again in London. This followed with a “disagreement” with my mother as to whether or not I should still go. “We” decided that I would still go as planned.
After getting some lunch we got into the Queue and discovered our tickets were VIP tickets, SCORE! Security was tight and the police presence was amazing and honestly I had never felt so safe in my whole life – the entire thing was so well planned.
Ariana Grande – Joined by the likes of Katy Perry and Coldplay among others commanded the stage with such a humble grace that I was crying from the outset, I realised she was there for the same reason as me and probably all of the others – Defiance.
Song after song I got more emotional and my legs and back got more and more sore – by the end of the concert I was a mess and my back was basically broken.
Upon exiting the concert we found that the exit strategy had been just as well thought out as the rest of the night – we managed to get from our seats in the arena back to the car in around 20 minutes.
I went back to London with my family and by the time I finally got to bed i had been up and basically travelling for 23 hours.
I had Planned on going into London city on the remaining days but was too tired and had decided that my poor mammy had been through enough stress for one weekend.
I was so happy to have been in attendance and would have regretted it so much had I been fearful of what if.
If you didn’t manage to see the concert check it out!
If you want to donate to the We Love Manchester Fund click here!
Until Next Time.
Stephen 😛
Fun idea, Complement a stranger today - Just spread love and positive vibes - they are so needed in these times we live in.
