Bono has brought live music back to Paris.
On Sunday, U2 played the first of two major concerts in the French capital that had been scheduled for Nov. 14 and 15, but were canceled in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks of Nov. 13.
About 17,000 people attended the concert, which was held at the AccorHotels Arena, 2 miles southeast of the Bataclan, the venue in which 89 attendees of an Eagles of Death Metal concert were killed less than a month ago. The U2 concert was the first large-scale cultural event in Paris since the attacks, which left a total of 130 dead and hundreds of others wounded.
Bono honored the strength of the French people at the concert with stirring words throughout the concert, according to Variety. “Tonight, we are all Parisians,” he said, in French, at one point. “If you love liberty, then Paris is your hometown.”
The Eagles of Death Metal were rumored to be appearing alongside U2 at the concert, but Patti Smith performed instead.
U2 will be performing another sold-out concert at the AccorHotels Arena on Monday evening. The show — the last stop in the Irish band’s Innocence and Experience tour — will be broadcast on HBO at 9 p.m. EST. The Eagles of Death Metal announced on Monday that they were visiting Paris again, prompting speculation that they might join U2 for this second concert.
The concert represented the latest in a series of events marking the resurgence of Paris after the attacks; on Friday, the first of the three cafes targeted in the assault reopened.
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