Three months after Eagles of Death Metal's concert at Paris' Bataclan was tragically cut short following a terrorist attack, the Southern California band returned to the French capital Tuesday night to finish what they started."Bonsoir Paris, we're ready for this!" frontman Jesse Hughes announced, taking the stage at Paris' L'Olympia concert hall before a crowd of survivors from the November attack. The performance marked the band's first full concert in the city since four armed Islamic extremists stormed the band's November 13 performance at Le Bataclan, killing 89 people, including EODM's merchandise manager, Nick Alexander.Though Le Bataclan remains closed, the band made good on their promise to complete their performance, which came days after the band kicked off their rescheduled European tour last weekend in Stockholm. Survivors of the attacks were offered free tickets to the Paris show, and though the surrounding area was locked down by police, a team of psychologists was also on hand for support, in the event the performance triggered survivor trauma during the emotional performance. Hughes expressed hope that the concert would be a therapeutic experience that would help begin the healing process for everyone affected by the attacks."I hope I can walk out on that stage and be stronger than I am being right now," Hughes told the AFP, vowing that the gig would be a "regular rock show." "I don't want to fall to pieces in front of everyone. That is my biggest fear. This is therapy for me. There's been just such an outpouring of support for us and love for us. It's overwhelming. I just don't want to let anyone down."EODM co-founder and drummer Josh Homme, who normally doesn't tour with the band and who was not present on the night of the attack, performed with his bandmates Tuesday night in a show of solidarity. The group performed a selection of original songs, including "Speaking in Tongues," ""Don't Speak (I Came to Make a Bang)," "Bag O' Miracles," and a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar." Watch below.Andrea Domanick is the West Coast Editor of Noisey. Follow her on Twitter.
Advertisement