As you undoubtedly have heard, terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, November 13, 2015 left 352 people wounded and 129 dead, including 87 that were at concert venue Le Bataclan for an Eagles of Death Metal show. Countless musicians shared their thoughts on twitter as the incidents unfolded, including viral tweets from Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, P!nk, Sam Smith, Blake Shelton, Ellie Goulding, Fall Out Boy and Jared Leto.
Several musicians posted on Facebook about the times they’ve played Le Bataclan, Jeffrey Mercel for instance, who wrote “I had the chance to play Le Bataclan just once in my years with Mercury Rev – back in the spring of 2011. I remember sitting in the hall listening to Low as they sound checked that afternoon, feeling like I was gonna levitate right out of my red velvet seat…I’m gonna try and hold onto that memory. Thinking good thoughts for the people of Paris tonight.”
MGMT posted an open letter on facebook reading in part:
“MGMT are fortunate enough to have played Le Bataclan four times, including three consecutive nights in the fall of 2010.
The people of France and Paris have always loved us back. Grateful isn’t a word that adequately describes our feelings.
Three people instrumental in our reaching and loving France were at the Eagles of Death Metal show last night at Le Bataclan:
Delphine, our wonderful record label French bulldog, who fought tooth and nail for us to do the things we wanted to do; to be crazy; to go on French TV wearing Thanksgiving costumes with a vat of pudding; who took us to marvelous places in Paris; she was at Le Bataclan. She is okay. Unharmed somehow.
Arnaud, part of the pair of French live music promoters who saw us play a show at Glasslands in NYC in 2007 and said “we want to bring you to France”. They did. Arnaud and his partner Pascal placed a big bet on us and we have never forgotten. Arnaud was shot in the chest last night. We have heard he made it to the hospital, had surgery and will survive.
And we also just found out Nick Alexander, who was one of the top crew members and merch sellers MGMT has had and one of the nicest guys in rock. He sold merch for us on our two European tours in the Fall of 2010, including those three nights at Le Bataclan. We are crushed to find out Nick is one of the victims of last night’s insanity who didn’t make it. If you have a t-shirt from that tour, wear it proudly to honor Nick”
Others are more pointed on facebook. Billy Bragg posted some thoughts – “all the more shocking by the fact that these murderers deliberately targeted people who were socialising on a Friday night. The language of the communique issued by ISIS, seeking to portray those at the Bataclan concert as “idolaters” attending “a party of perversity” gives us a chilling insight into the mind of these killers” – along with a cartoon by Charlie Hebdo’s Joann Sfar reading, “Friends from the whole world, thank you for #prayforParis, but we don’t need more religion! Our faith goes to music! Kissing! Life! Champagne and joy! #Parisisaboutlife.” Musicians such as Warren Haynes used Facebook and twitter to announce show cancellations:
Meanwhile fans have launched an online campaign aiming to put Eagles of Death Metal’s hard rock cover of Duran Duran’s 1982 ballad “Save A Prayer” at the top of the UK singles chart. The song is about a one-night stand but its chorus – “‘Don’t say a prayer for me now, save it till the morning after” – has taken on new meaning following the attack. The cover is taken from Eagles of Death Metal latest album, Zipper Down, released October 3, 2015, and the band performed the song with Duran Duran on Britain’s recently revived TV program TFI Friday on October 30th. Visit their facebook page at Eagles Of Death Metal For No.1.
Among the countless other social media posts by musicians:
https://www.instagram.com/p/-C_enSR2Va/
https://www.instagram.com/p/-C_jxnnk1y/
The Future Heart 