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The Eagles Of Death Metal Returned To Paris To Play For Attack Survivors

by Sean Levinson
Getty Images

Rock band Eagles of Death Metal returned to Paris for a concert on Tuesday, three months after 89 of their fans were killed in the same city.

Many people from the crowd at the Olympia Bruno Coquatrix theater were survivors of November's attack at the Bataclan theater, which has yet to reopen following the massacre committed by Islamic extremists, the BBC reports.

The band stopped in the middle of its opening song to hold a moment of silence 89 seconds long -- one second for each deceased victim.

Several attendees needed crutches, walking sticks or canes, according to The New York Times.

One wheelchair-bound guest received a hug from Eagles of Death Metal front-man Jesse Hughes during the show.

Attendee Audrey Guiny was forced to quit her job as a first-aid worker after she was shot in the foot at the Bataclan concert.

The 24-year-old told The New York Times,

There is joy, there is fear. I would have regretted not being here for the band and for those who were killed.

Psychologists were stationed at the entrance, offering support to attendees overcome with emotion.

One man wearing a shirt with the name Priscilla and the date of the attack left after just 45 minutes of music.

Security was heavily ramped up to guarantee safety.

Guards administered two body searches and checked all bags before permitting entry, and police closed down half of the traffic on the street in front of the theater.

The band's performance, however, gave no notion of fear or anxiety.

Hughes began the show by yelling to the crowd,

Bonsoir Paris, we're ready for this!

He later went on to smash his guitar before the crowd. He even climbed up to the balcony to play another guitar and declared near the end of the show he felt so alive, it was difficult to leave the stage.

Queens of the Stone Age front-man Josh Homme manned a second drum kit for the night.

At one point, Hughes gestured to Homme and called him his best friend before speaking to the crowd.

Pointing toward the audience, he said,

But I have got a whole sh*tload of best friends here, too.

The band is currently on a European tour that began in Stockholm, Sweden over the weekend.

The group made its first return to Paris after the attacks in early December, joining U2 on stage to play Patti Smith's "People Have the Power."

Here's Hughes doing a solo cover of The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" toward the end of Tuesday's performance.

Citations: Eagles of Death Metal Return to Paris for Concert (The New York Times), Eagles of Death Metal play in Paris for attack survivors (BBC), Eagles of Death Metal wow Paris with cathartic survivors show (Yahoo! News)