Irish Band U2 Lays Flowers Near Site of Attack in Paris

"This is the first direct hit on music that we’ve had," Bono says.

Irish rock band U2 visited the Bataclan in Paris Saturday and laid flowers at the site of the deadly hostage siege a night earlier that has stunned France.

U2 was in Paris to perform on Nov. 14 and 15 for televised live concerts by Live Nation and HBO. The shows were postponed after the Paris attacks and U2 said they would perform again "at an appropriate time."

 
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

... thank You Too to be my guiding light ... your music is my religion ... #paris #walkon #nomore #u2 #u2ietour #bono

Posted by Maurizio Tarchetti on Saturday, November 14, 2015

"We watched in disbelief and shock at the unfolding of events in Paris, and our hearts go out to the victims' and their families across the city tonight," the band wrote on its website on Friday. 

The multiple terrorist attacks that unfolded in Paris, killed 129 people and injured 352, police said. Bataclan was the site of the biggest casualties where concertgoers were attending a show by American band Eagles of Death Metal.  

U2 frontman Bono spoke out about the terrorism in an interview with RTÉ2fm radio in Ireland on Saturday morning.

"Our first thoughts at this point are with the Eagles of Death Metal fans," he said. "This is the first direct hit on music that we’ve had in this so called war on terror or whatever it’s called. It’s very upsetting. These are our people. This could be me at a show. You at a show, in that venue. It’s a very recognizable situation for you and for me and the coldblooded aspect of this slaughter is deeply disturbing and that’s what I can’t get out of my head."

He added that he did not want terrorists to "set our agenda" and he looked forward to playing music again in Paris.

"I remember U2 was the first big act back into New York after 9/11," Bono said.

In playing at Madison Square Garden the feeling then was "this is who we are, you can’t change it," Bono said. "You’re not gonna turn us into haters or you’re not gonna turn us around in the way we go about our lives. That was the feeling of Madison Square Garden back then and I hope that will be the feeling at Bercy when we get back there."

Contact Us