All of the band members survived in the attack, but merchandise manager Nick Alexander was killed.
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Members of the band, which goes by the acronym EODM, described terrifying moments on stage as they looked for escape routes.
“I can not wait to get back to Paris, I can not wait to play”, said band co-founder Jesse Hughes to VICE founder Shane Smith.
Homme, who wasn’t onstage with the band when the terrorist attacks took place, insisted he will be with his bandmates when they return to Paris, adding: “We don’t really have a choice”. “I think about Nick, who protected a friend of his”, says Homme, who also fronts Queens of the Stone Age. He chose the room, and once inside he and others “started grabbing chairs to barricade the door”.
“I see the pops go off, the lights flashing. then just to have to make the decision whether to run across the stage or go in a room”, McJunkins said.
He went on to say: Several people hid in our dressing room and the killers were able to get in and killed every one of them except for a kid who was hiding under my leather jacket..
Lead vocalist and band founder Jesse Hughes broke down as he spoke about how he dashed offstage to save himself from gunfire-then felt guilty for leaving his bandmates, not knowing what would happen to them.
Hughes told Vice he “cannot wait” to get back to Paris.
Shawn London was among the first to realize what was happening, he told Vice news in the band’s first interview on the attacks.
London said he came face-to-face with the gunman, who shot at him but missed hitting the consul.
“The power of the band off the stage through the PAs is hard to trump and the initial shots were so powerful for me…”
Speaking to Vice, he said: “I saw the shooter. It hit my console and buttons went flying everywhere”, he said. “This guy was holding her and keeping pressure on her wound”, he said.
Eagles of Death Metal say they’ve been overwhelmed by the support they’ve received across the globe since the night of the attacks, yet they admit there’s little they can do to ease the suffering of those who lost loved ones on November 13th.
Despite the tragedy, the band intends to finish its tour.
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And they also pledged to donate the royalties from covers of their music to the victims’ families, challenging music streaming services such as iTunes and Spotify to do the same.
