Manchester bombing: Simple Minds arena gig goes ahead because cancelling 'would have felt cowardly'

Artists including Take That and Blondie chose to postpone some of their UK dates

Simple Minds frontman James Kerr (Getty)

Simple Minds continued with their scheduled performance in Manchester less than 24 hours after a terror attack in the city, telling fans it would be "cowardly" not to.

While several gigs have been cancelled in the wake of the suicide bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert, frontman Jim Kerr told fans that it had "made them want to go out and play music more than ever".

He told the audience at Bridgwater Hall: "This morning we woke, there was a decision to be made - do we play or do we cancel and leave town?"

"I'm sure if we would have done that everyone would have understood. It would have been a disappointment, but we would have felt cowardly just leaving town - especially Manchester, a place that's been great to Simple Minds since the earliest days."

He added: "Thanks very much for coming to see us but prior to starting, of course we just want to take one minute, meditate, play a bit of music and think of the victims last night and their family."

Several artists have chosen to postpone their UK shows out of respect to the victims of the Manchester Arena attack.

In a post on Twitter Take That said: "Out of respect to all of the people and their families that were affected by the horrific incident last night at the Manchester Arena we have decided to postpone our show tonight in Liverpool. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all."

Debbie Harry posted on behalf of Blondie, writing: "Out of respect for the victims of the terrible attack at the Manchester Arena we will not go ahead with the performance scheduled at the Round Chapel in Hackney, London."

It is currently unclear as to whether Ariana Grande's scheduled date in London for 25 May will take place, but AP reports that the remainder of her world tour has not been completely cancelled.

A person close to the situation reportedly said that Grande and her team are "more focused on the victims at the moment, not the tour."