Ariana Grande kicks off European leg of the Sweetener World Tour in career-spanning show at London’s O2 Arena (nme.com).
It was the first time Grande has played the O2 since 2015, and her first UK arena show since the Manchester bombing in 2017, making it an emotional night. A woman of few words, her interaction with the crowd was limited to thanking the 20,000 attendees for being there, but later took to Twitter to express her thanks once again:
Updated 26th August 2019
Ariana Grande returns to Manchester to play poignant Pride show (theguardian.com).
She returned to the city in sparkling style on Sunday night, dazzling through a party playlist as she pledged her undying love to a place that has made her its own since the attack on 22 May 2017.
The honorary citizen of Manchester beginning the show at the Mayfield depot with a minutes silence and the words: “Let’s not be afraid, Manchester.” There were however some divided opinion about her as choice to headline the Pride event regards whether the increasingly profitable LGBT community was being exploited:
Some complained about a straight artist topping the LGBT event while others were angry at the price of tickets—£71 for a weekend pass, up from £30 last year.
With Grande replying that she had nothing to do with ticket pricing and that that Pride events have been headlined by artists “of all sexual orientations and genders, including straight allies like Cher and Kylie Minogue”, although her use of an aggregative, otherness the when stating “the gays have always had my heart” with much rainbow flag waving from her dancers during “Thank U, Next” was perhaps unfortunate. Manchester Pride: Ariana Grande responds to backlash (bbc.co.uk).
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