U2 paid a touching tribute to the victims of November’s (15) terror attacks on Sunday night (06Dec15) as they returned to Paris for the first time following the Bataclan theatre concert horror.
U2 scrapped plans to perform in the French capital the night after the 13 November (15) atrocities, which included a massacre at an Eagles of Death Metal show at the Bataclan venue, where 89 gig-goers were killed.
U2 subsequently rescheduled their iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE show, the first of two Paris gigs, for Sunday and when frontman Bono first stepped onto the AccorHotels Arena stage, he shouted “Vive La France” in front of the more than 20,000 revelers.
The band dedicated its hit Pride (In the Name of Love) to those who lost their lives in the attacks by showing each of the 130 victims’ names within a blue, white and red peace and love symbol on the giant screen in the venue.
Bono also acknowledged the hundreds of others who have passed away due to terrorism and senseless acts of violence around the world, telling the audience, “Grief is like a wound that never fully closes. I am still feeling it and I was 14 when my mother left me but she left me as an artist and this wound became an opening into another world and I found these three (pointing to his band). Rock n’ roll saved me, these men saved me, you saved me. We can’t save you but our role tonight is to serve you. We have the privilege to be your servants this evening.
“We stand together with the families who lost their loved ones in Paris. We stand together with families in San Bernardino. We stand together with families in Beirut and Istanbul. We stand together before those with false ideologies of the god they serve.”
And although reports suggested Bono and his bandmates invited the Eagles of Death Metal to join them onstage as they returned to the city for the first time following the concert horror, the group did not make an appearance.
However, veteran musician Patti Smith served as a surprise guest, joining the band for three songs, including her anthem People Have the Power.
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