As the awful massacre at the Bataclan theater in Paris unfolded last Friday, one of the first tidbits of information to dribble out over social media was that the members of Eagles Of Death Metal, the band that was performing when attackers stormed the building and began firing into the crowd, had made it out safe. (Their merch manager and several record-label representatives, among the 89 total people killed in the Bataclan attack, were not so lucky.)
Understandably, the band has been laying low ever since, trying to process what happened to them and their fans at what—at first—appeared to be a typical Friday-night rock show. Now the band has released its first statement about the attack, which was sent out in a press release earlier this morning. It’s presented in its entirety below.
While the band is now home safe, we are horrified and still trying to come to terms with what happened in France. Our thoughts and hearts are first and foremost with our brother Nick Alexander, our record company comrades Thomas Ayad, Marie Mosser, and Manu Perez, and all the friends and fans whose lives were taken in Paris, as well as their friends, families, and loved ones.
Although bonded in grief with the victims, the fans, the families, the citizens of Paris, and all those affected by terrorism, we are proud to stand together, with our new family, now united by a common goal of love and compassion.
We would like to thank the French police, the FBI, the U.S. and French State Departments, and especially all those at ground zero with us who helped each other as best they could during this unimaginable ordeal, proving once again that love overshadows evil.
All EODM shows are on hold until further notice.
Vive la musique, vive la liberté, vive la France, and vive EODM.