VICE via YouTube Jesse Hughes (right) and Joshua Homme of Eagles of Death Metal speak about the November 13 terrorist attack at their concert at Paris’ Bataclan in their first interview since the carnage.
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Eighty-nine of the Paris attacks’ 130 deaths were at the band’s gig on November 13, where Islamist gunmen struck, firing indiscriminately at the crowd.
The concert massacre was one of six attacks in the city that night.
The coordinated terror attacks left 129 people dead and 352 injured.
Hughes broke down in tears as he spoke of the selflessness of those caught up in the horror, including 36-year-old merchandise manager Nick Alexander, from Colchester, Essex, who was killed.
Asked what he would say to the victims, he replied, “I sort of just want to get down on my knees and say, ‘Whatever you need.’ There’s nothing I can really say, because words fail to grasp the thing”. Nearly immediately, the gunpowder hit my nose.
Sound engineer Shawn London told Vice until the guns went off, it was a happy scene. “These kids were having a blast – they were having a great time. The smile, the dancing, the singing along with each song”, London said.
“Boot, whose also in the crew, he saw the gunman…cartridge run out so he took it out to put another one in and that’s when he was like, ‘Let’s go'”.
“That’s when I turned (and ran)”. He shot at me and missed. “We all just huddled on the [ground]. There’s blood all over”. Galindo ran offstage while the gunmen reloaded from their first round.
Speaking to Vice, the near 30-minute interview reveals first hand accounts from each member of the USA rock act and how they reacted to the siege.
Bassist Matt McJunkins became trapped in a room with fans, some wounded, with no way out.
“Everybody started going up into this room … to just escape the gunfire, naturally, instinctively”, he said.
“People started dropping to the ground”, he said. He and Cross were eventually reunited. Homme was not there at the time of the shooting.
Writing alongside a picture of him lighting a candle in church, he thanked people for their selfless actions and compassion during the terrifying events.
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Now the band has sat down with VICE for a wide-ranging and often wrenching video interview about what happened that night at Le Bataclan, when gunmen armed with rifles and grenades stormed the theatre.
