Manchester Arena to reopen next month with memorial concert

LONDON – Noel Gallagher will headline a concert in honour of victims of the Manchester Arena bombing, as the venue reopens next month for the first time since the deadly attack.

The former Oasis frontman’s band High Flying Birds will be joined by The Courteeners, Blossoms and Rick Astley at the Sept. 9 We Are Manchester show.

The lineup also includes poet Tony Walsh, known as Longfella, whose poem “This is the Place” has become a defiant symbol of the city.

Twenty-two people died and more than 200 were injured when a suicide bomber detonated a backpack full of explosives after an Ariana Grande concert on May 22.

Sue Murphy, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, said Wednesday that the venue’s reopening was a symbol of the city’s “defiant and resilient spirit.”