Ariana Grande - Summer Festival Guide

Ariana Grande is returning to Manchester to headline a special One Love Manchester benefit concert on Sunday 4 June to honour and raise vital funds for the victims and families who were tragically affected by the Manchester attack after her show last week. The concert will take place at the Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground. General admission and hospitality tickets will be on sale through Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.co.uk/arianagrandemanchester) from Thursday 1 June 2017 at 10:00AM BST.

Ariana Grande has called on the biggest international names in music to join her for this unforgettable evening, including Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, Usher, Take That, Niall Horan, and others. The concert will be broadcast on BBC Television, and on BBC Radio and Capital Radio Networks. The BBC will be the host broadcaster for international television networks. The show will also be streamed with a digital partner worldwide, to be announced soon.

All net ticket proceeds of the show will go directly to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund which was set up by the Manchester City Council in partnership with the British Red Cross, in aid of grieving families and victims of the horrific attack.

Ariana is offering fans who were at the Manchester show on Monday free tickets to this benefit concert. Customers who would like to attend will need to follow this link (http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/arianagrandemanchester) and register before Wednesday 31 May 2017 at 4:00PM BST. Ticketmaster will be in touch via email within 36 hours of registrations with instructions on how to process your free ticket.

Ariana Grande said, in an open letter posted on her social media accounts:

“My heart, prayers and condolences are with the victims of the Manchester Attack and their loved ones. There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better. However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I possibly can give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way.”

She continued: “We will not quit or operate in fear. We won’t let this divide us. We won’t let hate win… 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.”

“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. We will continue to honour the ones we lost, their loved ones, my fans and all affected by this tragedy. They will be on my mind and in my heart everyday and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life.”

The attack – which took place after Ariana’s Dangerous Woman concert at Manchester Arena on Monday 22 May – killed 22 people, seven of whom were children, and injured hundreds of others.

ONE LOVE MANCHESTER

LOCATION: Emirates Old Trafford, Talbot Road, Stretford, Old Trafford M16 0PX

For speed of entry, we are requesting that concert-goers do not attend with bags.

For more information on travel and arrival – please visit: http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/arianagrandemanchester

So here’s the thing. Festivals are continually criticised for their headline act choices, it’s always going to be the case. They’re damned for getting big name legends on repeat every few years, but also for giving newer bands the slot when they aren’t established or dramatic enough to be considered headline material. So what to do?

Well, most other festivals stick to the tried and tested, big act = big sales. But where does it end? The top drawer artist pool is rapidly drying due to either retirement or worse, death (2016 really has been a cursed year) and it just can’t go on. New blood has to flow.

This year, Rob Da Bank and co. have taken the far riskier, and frankly braver option of booking Major Lazer as their Friday night headliner. After a stellar daytime performance in 2014 they’ve been bumped into the top spot with good cause. The two year gap has seen Major Lazer release some huge anthems such as Lean On, Light It Up and Powerful (featuring Ellie Goulding), not forgetting the brand new Cold Water with Justin Bieber and All My Love with Ariana Grande. Tonight the rapidly filling arena is more than enough proof that newer bands can and will fill a top spot.

With bursts of streamers, flurries of confetti and smoke cannon blasts it’s unsurprising to see Diplo and pals take to the stage with a bang, Major Lazer are exactly the kind of high energy act that the Bestival crowd deserves. Wearing all-white outfits, flanked by dancers in sparkly black leotards, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire run around throwing tour tshirts out into the crowd to a frenzied crowd, whilst Diplo reminds us that Bestival is home turf for him – Rob booked him for the first time as a DJ back in 2004.

Despite a bit of dodgy sound (we do miss the much bigger speaker stacks of last year’s colossally huge main stage, sorry guys) it’s a great atmosphere and the Skrillex/Damien Marley collab Make It Bun Dem has the whole crowd attempting to wind. We British aren’t renowned for our sexy dancing skills but there are some serious shapes being thrown tonight, good job it’s dark.

Joined by Danish firecracker vocalist MØ, they tear it up with last year’s summer smash Lean On, and there’s something in Light It Up that just feels so… Bestival. Whenever I hear it I think of sundrenched fields of glitter-clad, neon-painted, carefree souls. Accompanied by a toasty array of on stage pyrotechnics and a considerable amount of jumping up and down, this is exactly what we came here for – wild abandon, and freedom from everything else in life.

We join in with the shirt-twirling, the dancehall steps, and duck as Diplo runs above the crowd in his giant hamster ball (okay okay, zorb…). It’s over far too soon. The only slight disappointments were the tiny acapella snippet of Cold Water, knowing that the drop is so good, and come on – for a band named Major Lazer, there were a distinct lack of actual lasers. Hopefully we’ll see Major Lazer back again soon, and kudos to Bestival for a great headline pick.

Ariana Grande & friends unite for One Love Manchester

Bestival 2016 – Major Lazer: Reviewed!