The US rock band Eagles of Death Metal appeared onstage in the French capital less than a month after the deadly attacks during their performance in Paris. According to Pitchfork, U2 performed at the Accorhotels Arena in Bercy in show postponed after the attacks on November 13. After reports that Eagles of Death Metal would join the Irish rock band, U2 released a statement, saying:
Some people have been saying that Eagles of Death Metal will appear on stage with U2 tonight. This is not the case. We have another surprise guest planned for tonight’s show.
While revealing a tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks, U2 brought out Patti Smith to share powerful renditions of “Gloria” (from Horses) and “People Have The Power” (from Dream of Life). Smith recently performed the 1988 hit single alongside U2 in London’s O2 Arena.
Near the end of the concert, Eagles of Death Metal joined the Irish rockers onstage and U2 singer-songwriter Bono embraced Eagles of Death Metal singer Jesse Hughes. “They were robbed of their stage three weeks ago,” he said, “and we would like to offer them ours tonight,” said singer Bono. After an emotional joint interpretation of “People Have The Power”, U2 left the stage to Eagles of Death Metal, who performed a song that has embraced a new special meaning, their “I Love You All the Time.”
In remembrance of the recent tragedy, the AccorHotels Arena featured an immense French flag composed of the victims’ names. U2 frontman Bono told the Irish Independent:
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.
British pop star Noel Gallagher recently joined U2 onstage at London’s O2 Arena for collaborative performance of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” from U2’s The Joshua Tree and a cover of “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles. The band has now announced the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour 2015 to follow-up to their successful, record-setting 360° Tour.
Bono commented that the band will “try to have a completely different feeling from night one to night two, and have some fun playing with the idea of innocence and experience”. U2 added more days to their tour in response to the unprecedented demand illustrated by the a record-setting 118,000 fans waiting online to purchase tickets to the band’s four performances at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
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