Following the horrific attack at Le Bataclan in Paris on Friday (Nov.13), the venue’s co-manager Dominique Revert said the historic theater will reopen.
“It will reopen, no question about it,” Revert told Billboard. “Hearts will be heavy for a few months, a few years. But we will reopen. We will not surrender.”
Apart of a deadly string of coordinated terrorist attacks in the French capital, the Le Bataclan has housed hundreds of legendary artists, as well as accumulating a known staple residency for the arts. The night of the brutal barrage of identified ISIS terrorists, California rock band Eagles of Death Metal were playing a concert when gunmen stormed the theater and opened fire on those in attendance. The fatal massacre left 89 dead, the largest accounted death toll in the citywide attacks, which totaled the lives of 129 deaths, 352 injured and over a hundred in critical condition.
Eagles of Death Metal’s merchandise manager Nick Alexander, Mercury Records’ Thomas Ayad, Universal Music Group’s Marie Mosser and Manu Perez and French music journalist Guillaume B. Decherf were among the fallen victims in the venue. The band expressed their condolences in a statement: “Although bonded in grief with the victims, the fans, the families, the citizens of Paris, and all those affected by terrorism, we are proud to stand together, with our new family, now united by a common goal of love and compassion.”
Despite the tainted memories that only time and healing will suffice for the state of Paris, the Le Bataclan will remain a mainstay in music.