The Killers and Imagine Dragons perform at Vegas Strong gig

The Killers and Imagine Dragons honoured the lives lost in October’s (17) Las Vegas massacre by performing at the Vegas Strong Benefit Concert.
Gunman Stephen Paddock targeted concert-goers at the Route 91 Harvest festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino on 1 October (17), killing 58 people and injuring more than 480, before taking his own life.
Stars gathered at the T-Mobile Arena on Friday (01Dec17) to remember the victims, with comedian Carrot Top opening the show and introducing a heartfelt video message from local residency star Celine Dion.
“We dedicate tonight’s show to all the victims and their families and to the first responders and to the doctors and nurses who are working around the clock to save lives, and to so many heroes who did whatever they could to help complete strangers at a time of desperate needs (sic),” she said in the pre-recorded message.
All proceeds from the concert will go to the Vegas Shooting Victims Fund, which the My Heart Will Go On hitmaker had previously donated to.
Country star Jason Aldean also sent in a message for Friday’s Vegas Strong Benefit Concert, and told the crowd: “Be louder than the bad guys.”
Aldean, who welcomed a baby boy with his wife Brittany on Friday, was headlining the Route 91 music festival on the night of the shooting.
Meanwhile, Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds took a moment to address the crowd before their set.
“Today, more than ever, I am proud to be from this city,” he said. “Music shows that there is nothing that should divide us. Tonight, we are one. We are Vegas Strong.”
Entertainers Penn & Teller, David Copperfield, Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, and Boyz II Men also performed at the emotional gig, before Wayne Newton introduced Elton John via video link, as he belted out Your Song and led the audience in a singalong of his hit Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.
Fellow Sin City natives The Killers brought the night to a close, playing Be Still while the names of the people killed in the shooting were displayed on the big screen, and wrapped up the gig with When You Were Young and Somebody Told Me.
“There’s enough love in this room tonight to light up Las Vegas,” frontman Brandon Flowers gushed.