Manchester poet Tony Walsh treats One Love Concert-goers to recital on tram home
MANCHESTER poet Tony Walsh was mobbed by fans after reciting his poignant ode to his home city on a tram after Ariana Grande’s One Love concert in Manchester.
Tony Walsh recites This Is The Place poem on packed tram
Mr Walsh captured the mood of the defiant city when he performed ‘This Is The Place’ in the wake of the Manchester Arena suicide coming which killed 22 people and left scores more injured.
And when he recited the moving poem again on a packed tram on Sunday night the response was electrifying.
Poet Tony Walsh gives an impromptu recital on a Manchester tram
Footage has emerged showing Mr Walsh, known as Longfella, reading it to an emotional crowd as he made his way home from the benefit concert at Old Trafford.
Fellow travellers asked him to read it as he went back into the city on a busy Bury-bound Metrolink service carrying people away from the stadium.
Tony Walsh summed up the mood of the city in the wake of the Manchester Arena suicide bombing
Always remember, never forget, forever Manchester
Passengers urged others to be quiet as the performance poet read it aloud in his own unique style.
There were huge cheers when he delivered the last line: “Because Greater Manchester gives us such strength from the fact that this is the place, we should give something back.
“Always remember, never forget, forever Manchester.”
Ariana Grande wowed Manchester with her One Love concert in the wake of the attack at her gig
There is then a noisy rendition of the “Manchester la la la” football chant led by the poet himself.
Although written before the suicide bombing that devastated the city a fortnight ago, the poem, which documents they city’s achievements, traits and history in typically Mancunian parlance, has become a symbol of the city’s defiance in the face of terror.
Mr Walsh said he had regularly been stopped in the street afterwards with people thanking him and wanting a hug.