Sting Reopens Bataclan One Year After Paris Attacks
One day before the one-year anniversary of the Paris terror attacks, Sting took the stage at the city’s reopened Bataclan, the music venue where 89 people were killed during an Eagles of Death Metal concert.
“We have two tasks: to honor victims who lost their lives and to honor music and life,” Sting said from the Bataclan’s stage, adding in French, “We will not forget them.”
The singer followed that with a minute of silence to remember the victims of the November 13th, 2015 terror attack. According to the BBC, Sting’s set opened with his …Nothing Like the Sun track “Fragile,” which boasts the lyric “Nothing comes from violence and nothing will.” Sting also opened his brief September 11th, 2001 concert in Tuscany, Italy with the track.
Over 1,500 people attended the venue’s reopening Saturday night, with 1,000 tickets selling out in less than 30 minutes; hundreds of tickets were also held for survivors of the November 13th attack.
All proceeds from Sting’s Bataclan show are being donated to two victims associations representing survivors and the family of those killed in the ISIS attack.
A heavy security presence as well as a throng of media covering the event accompanied the Bataclan’s reopening. The venue underwent eight months of refurbishments in order to be ready for Sting’s performance, the first musical act at the venue since Eagles of Death Metal’s show almost a year ago.
Sting’s concert kicked off a stream of performances scheduled for the Bataclan, with the Libertines’ Pete Doherty, Youssou N’Dour and Marianne Faithful set to play the venue this week.