For one night, as afternoon faded TO evening, there was a place which held the one thing we don’t have enough of in this world, love. Old Trafford Cricket Ground was home to an incredible star-studded performance, featuring many well-known artists and groups. However, all of the music and lights were but a backdrop to the true highlight of the concert, one love.

I was able to watch about 2/3 of the show via livestream, and from the moment it started to play on my computer, I was just shocked. As each performance went along, there was nothing but an electric sense of togetherness, artists like Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Coldplay and many others, calling for love, peace and unity as they sang well-known songs to a crowd of enthusiastic fans. Watching this whole ordeal unfold was incredible, despite the fact that I was across the pond, staring at a screen. Through the screen, I could feel something powerful, something very difficult to put to words. I could feel the love.

Ariana Grande is an artist I can’t say I had any real interest in prior to the attack in Manchester. All I really knew was that she was a well-known pop singer, and that she sang songs that I kind of knew the melodies of, maybe. But as I watched her take the stage, I was filled with a cross between awe and an unbound respect. After having a concert attacked about a week before, here she was, organizing a benefit. And that alone would have been absolutely amazing, for her to be trying to reach out, and to help. But for her to take the stage, for her to sing her songs, to me it was more than brave, it was her way of fighting with absolutely everything she has, and of telling those responsible for taking innocent lives that she was not scared, and that she had power over hatred. That to me was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen.

I know that there have probably been thousands of pieces, tweets, articles, videos, and who knows what else thanking and praising Ariana for her work and dedication and bravery, and I don’t know what else to say other than well… here is another one. Watching from across the world, I couldn’t help but marvel at the power that she held and wielded to spread love rather than hate, to bring people together and to be the binding force of it all.

Every artist that played the stage at Old Trafford Cricket Ground that night joined an army, wielding guitars, microphones, drumsticks and voices against guns, bombs, threats and hatred. And hands-down, the music won. As the concert progressed, the feeling of unity in the crowd became palpable, even through a stream on the internet, the atmosphere itself must have been absolutely electric.

It takes a lot to get me to cry. But seeing Ariana sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow on that stage, tears streamed down my face. It amazes me that, despite being halfway around the world, I could connect with the power of music, and Ariana Grande absolutely showed strength, and a fighting will to continue and to show love in the face of terror attacks in both Manchester and London. Attacks that showed that there are people out there, people with true hatred and anger for others, people who would murder innocent children in order to press a twisted agenda, people who took life with no regard for families, for the lasting impact their actions would have on them, no human compassion at all.

But for a moment, love won. It was the only thing in that concert venue, shared between those on the stage and those around the stage, regardless of the fame, the money, race, religion, anything, there was just love. And watching this performance, I cried. I cried because there was, for a moment, a collection of people, across oceans, across boundaries, and across the world, who just got it. I couldn’t help but think of the environment this was in, the context, and it is undoubtedly the most emotional performance I have seen or will ever see despite the fact that I was not there in person. The entire concert was a testament to the true power of music, of people getting together to spread love at a time when love can be something hard to find. But for a moment, there was only one love in Manchester, one love that could be felt around the world.