Irish rock band U2 paid tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks on their return on Sunday (December 6) to France, where two concerts had been canceled following the shootings.
But Eagles of Death Metal did not make a rumored appearance with U2.
The U2 Paris concerts were originally scheduled for Nov. 14 and 15, and were postponed after coordinated Islamic State attacks on the French capital killed 130 on Nov. 13.
The deadliest attack occurred at the Bataclan concert hall, where garage rock band Eagles of Death Metal had been playing, and it was rumored that the Californians would show up at the AccorHotels Arena with U2.
“Vive La France”, “Tonight we are all Parisians, ce soir nous sommes tous Parisiens”, U2 frontman Bono told the crowd.
“If you love liberty then Paris is your hometown. We have a few words to speak on the loss you are feeling tonight, I guess grief is like a wound that never closes.”
The names of the victims appeared in blue, white and red on the giant screen at the end of the concert.
Earlier, U2 had said on their website: “We’re back in Paris and it’s great to be here. 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.”
Patti Smith briefly shared the stage with U2 singing “People Have the Power” in front of an ecstatic crowd at the end of the two-hour gig.
Before the show began, security outside of the arena was high, with both police and armed men in military forces seen walking the streets. There was also a stringent bag check for all guests entering the arena.
U2 has a second date in Paris on Monday, and Eagles of Death Metal could appear then.
Many fans commented that showing up at the concert was symbolic and an important way for Paris to move on from what happened just over three weeks ago while others said they were not scared.
“Yeah, maybe it’s a special atmosphere. Everybody wants to move on and have fun and we don’t have to think about the past and just have fun and think about the future,” said Federic Vaz, a fan.
Another fan, Franck Marchal, said: “When there is such an intensity of trouble you have to live. So, you have to follow up your life as if…not like nothing happened, but to show that there is a resistance. I am French. Je suis Francais. But it’s very important to go on, so the cafe is open, life is going on and that’s the best way to resist and I believe that.”
With France in a state of emergency, there was a military presence on the streets walking around carrying machine guns and wearing uniforms, and police were also armed. But no incidents were reported.
