Orlando, Florida: They came in thousands, grieving and shocked by the Pulse nightclub massacre and taking comfort in being together on a hot, sticky Orlando night.
Highly emotional, this was a crowd still coming to terms with a killing spree in the early hours of Sunday morning which left 50 dead, including the gunman, and another 53 injured.
And as the vigil began in the grounds of the downtown Dr Phillips Centre for the Performing Arts, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer confirmed an investigative marvel – just a little more than 24hrs after the massacre ended at about 5am Sunday, all the victims had been identified and their next of kin formally notified.
The release of the names, in batches through the course of Monday affected some who attended the vigil more than they had anticipated.
Kim Amellin stood in the crowd, explaining a Six Degrees of Separation connection with the victims – "I didn't know any of them, but seeing the names and pictures and hearing their stories, we realised that we had connections."
Mili Adorno, a visitor from New York, was discomfited by the fact that she had been among patrons at the club on the Wednesday prior to the killings and had planned, along with her sister to return to the club on the night of the gunman's attack.
"I went home and changed to go out for the evening, but I sat on the sofa for a rest and you know, I didn't get up again – I was beat. And my sister had food-poisoning, so she didn't get there either."
Like many others in the crowd, Dwayne Wesley-Campbell and his partner Ron Campbell had patronised the club which had served as an LGBT community hub, particularly for fundraising during the AIDS epidemic – and on Monday evening Wesley-Campbell was still puzzled by the gunman's choice of target.
"I can't figure out what the connection is – the men kissing each other that offended him happened in Miami, not here; and it's a 2hr drive from his home in Fort Pierce to Orlando – why this town and this club?"
The vigil became serial speeches by community leaders on strength and unity in the aftermath of the attack; and urgent demands for gun control and tolerance before an audience draped in rainbow colours as people snacked on water and cookies distributed by volunteers. They came with placards and flowers – and many wrote messages on huge strips of paper paved to walkways that flanked the art centre grounds.
Speaking directly to the local LGBT community, Teresa Jacobs who is mayor of Orange County, which adjoins Orlando, raised a cheer when she told them they would never be alone.
"We will stand beside you to fight for your right to be who you are. This is not your fight - this is our fight. This is America's fight," she said.
But the biggest cheer came from the crowd when Barbara Poma and Ron Legler, the owners of Pulse night club, or dance bar as some referred to it, gathered on the state with some of their staff and promised to restore the shattered club to continue its role as a place of safety for the LGBT community.
Legler led the crowd in a chant of "Peace! Love! Pulse!" and demanded that audience members to engage in a group hug with their neighbours and club manager Neema Bahrami lead a chant of " We are here to stay!".
Silence fell as the names of the victims were read, interrupted only by quiet sobbing and as the vigil finished, the bells in a nearby church tolled 49 times and the Orlando Gay Choir sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" and closed the event with the Beatles' "Let It Be".
