Ariana Grande does what Donald Trump can't

For a few hours on Sunday, Ariana Grande, a 23-year-old pop star from Boca Raton, Florida, was the leader of the free world. The position has been open for months. Contestants ranging from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to, improbably, Chinese President Xi Jinping have been auditioning for the job.

Two weeks after 22 people were killed and more than 60 injured in a terrorist attack at her “Dangerous Woman” concert in Manchester in the UK, Grande returned to the city to hallow the ground and soothe the survivors. In the process, she rededicated her generation to the proposition that all men — and women, most definitely women — are created equal.

While US President Donald Trump gutter-tweeted argle-bargle and played another round of golf, Grande delivered what will likely stand as the official American response to the bombing in Manchester and to another terrorist attack, the night before the concert, in London.

Her hastily organised “One Love Manchester” benefit concert rejected fear and bitterness. Time and place, along with a leavening of goodwill, were sufficient to elevate sugary pop songs to public anthems. Watching the concert streaming online, it was obviously more than a good time. Tears flowed. So did joy. Yet it might also be that a good time is among the most powerful collective responses to jihadist nihilism.

Grande didn’t just replace Trump on the world stage for the day, she subtly refuted him, offering a face that was brave and kind in the wake of terror while accomplishing several useful goals — raising money for victims, bolstering courage and making the attacks look both puny and pointless. Whatever the terrorists had hoped to produce in Manchester, it certainly wasn’t this party.

Benefit concerts have a long pedigree. History tells us something. The original, the Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden in New York, was organised by George Harrison in 1971. The performers were all male. Grande’s concert, taking place on the same weekend that the female-directed Wonder Woman broke the $100-million barrier at the box office, was a potent showcase for young women.
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IS hates what Ariana Grande stands for - that's why we should celebrate her

The so-called Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the recent bombing of an Ariane Grande concert in Manchester. Whether it really was involved or not has yet to be verified. What is not in doubt, however, is that IS extremists hate everything the popstar represents. She is an independent young woman with a mind of her own and thousands of loyal followers keen to follow in her footsteps. To IS, Grande lives up to the tagline of her tour: she really is a “dangerous woman”.

Terrorism is a “communicative act” – its targets are not only those who died or were injured – but the wider audiences drawn in by its spectacular violence. Terrorists are frequently defined because they target non-military, non-state infrastructure or people. They do so to generate fear and panic.

Targeting is never accidental. Strategic choices are made to generate that chosen effect. In Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan, market squares, queues for pay cheques, music shops, ice cream stores, beauty parlours, airports, Sufi shrines, schools and political rallies have all fallen victim to terrorist attacks. They were chosen because these are places where everyday living and politics happen.

In Paris, London, Madrid, Bali, Tunisia and now Manchester, everyday living and politics is in the cafes, on the bus, the train, the beach, in nightclubs, shopping malls and music venues. These everyday places are where “politics is at”. They are the ordinary mundane expressions of “togetherness” and worldliness that enable societies to function.

Music epitomises this. It has that ability to unite and connect with people regardless of faith, age, race or gender. There is “collective effervescence” (or karma of the crowd). Music literally brings people into sync.
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Manchester Arena attack: 'No defeat, no pity', city unites against bomber

Thousands of Manchester residents gathered in the centre of the northern English city on Tuesday in a show of defiance against a suspected suicide bomber who killed 22 people, including children, in an attack at a crowded concert hall.

The vigil, held in warm evening sunshine in front of the Town Hall, drew representatives of different religions who, one by one, condemned Monday evening's bombing, which ripped through a crowd leaving a show by US singer Ariana Grande.

Members of the city's Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Sikh communities said they wanted to show that Manchester, while shocked, would not be cowed.

"It was incredibly emotional ... for us especially as Muslim citizens," said Muhammad Khursheed, an imam of a mosque in the Manchester suburb of Hulme. "We will stand together in spite of oppression, terrorism. A strong, powerful message today."

British police on Tuesday identified the suicide bomber as 22-year-old Salman Abedi but gave no further details. US security officials, citing British intelligence officials, said Abedi was born in Manchester to Libyan parents.

After speeches by officials, people attending the vigil gathered in small groups to talk among themselves. Some students took turns to hug a woman dressed in a burka.

"Together. Unified," Daniel Liptrott, a 45 year-old businessman said when asked how the vigil made him feel. "A single act of terrorism isn't going to break that."

After a moment of silence, when many wept, the crowd broke into repeated chants of "Manchester, Manchester."

A placard read: "Hate will never tear us apart", alluding to the song "Love will tear us apart" by Joy Division, one of Manchester's best known music groups.

Fans of the city's rival soccer teams Manchester United and Manchester City stood together at the protest.

A local poet, Tony Walsh, read a poem from the steps of the Town Hall to the crowd which drew loud cheers and applause.

"There's hard times again in these streets of our city, but we won't take defeat and we don't want your pity, because this is the place where we stand strong together with a smile on our face, Mancunians forever," Walsh said.
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UK attack: 19 dead after explosion at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester

At least 19 people have been killed and 50 injured in an explosion which is treated as a "terrorist incident", at a pop concert by US star Ariana Grande in the Manchester city in the UK, police said today.

"Police were called to reports of an explosion at Manchester Arena. So far 19 people have been confirmed dead with around 50 others injured," Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

"This is currently being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise," the statement said.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing a loud "bang" from inside the venue, which was playing host to a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande. Video footage from the scene showed bloodied victims being helped by emergency services.

Grande is safe, her spokesperson said.

"It was one bang and essentially everyone from the other side of the arena where the bang was heard from suddenly came running towards us," an eyewitness said.

The blasts reportedly went off at the end of the concert near the box office area of the venue.

"Some people were screaming they'd seen blood but other people were saying it was balloons busting or a speaker had been popped," said another eyewitness.

The UK's Network Rail said train lines out of Manchester Victoria station, which is close to the concert venue, were blocked.
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