Besides Ariana Grande, who has canceled the rest of their European leg of her concert tour, more artists with gigs in London are following suit. New York Daily News reported that Blondie, as a mark of respect for victims of the Manchester Bombing, canceled their London concert scheduled on Tuesday night.
On the same night, Take That was supposed to hold a concert in Liverpool which the group canceled. They also canceled their Thursday to Saturday gig at the Manchester Arena where the tragedy took the lives of 22 people and injured 50 more concertgoers.
The majority of the victims were young people. They are the target of terrorists who linked events such as rock concerts as immoral behavior where genders mix while dancing and clothing are considered immodest by Islamic standards. Terror groups consider death as a penalty for those kinds of behavior.
No change in plans
However, other artists said they will honor their concerts. Among them is Celine Dion, who will hold a concert on June 25 at the Manchester Arena, and also her concerts in Stockholm, Paris, Copenhagen, and London, according to her publicist.
There are also no changes in the upcoming stops of the ongoing Guns N’ Roses tour in Dublin, Madrid, Munich, Paris, Lisbon, Zurich, and London.
Also pushing through with his Liverpool gig on June 2 at the Echo Arena is Phil Collins. Iron Maiden, a heavy metal band, will go ahead with its Cardiff show on Wednesday and on May 27 and 28 in London.
Fans of Justin Bieber, who shares the same manager as Ariana Grande, are requesting the Canadian singer to cancel his July concert at Hyde Park in London.
For the shows that would still push through, the venues such as the 02 arena in London, said it would beef up security measures.
Abedi likely was just a mule
Meanwhile, British authorities arrested three more suspects in the Manchester bombing. The arrest indicates that the identified suicide bomber, 22-year-old Salman Abedi, likely did not work alone but was likely a mule.
The explosive device he used, which had nuts and bolts, was built by someone else.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said that Abedi probably went to Syria and has ties with ISIS which had claimed responsibility for the explosion. He cited reports from British authorities that a British national of Libyan descent went to Libya and likely to Syria where he became radicalized and decided to carry out the attack, New York Post reported.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced the deployment of 3,800 troops on the streets of Britain so the police could be free to focus on investigative and patrol work.
