Just over a fortnight before the anniversary of a horrific terror attack that left 90 concertgoers dead, Paris’ Bataclan concert hall has finally unveiled its vibrant new façade.
The venue has been closed since ISIS-affiliated gunmen attacked attendees of an Eagles Of Death Metal gig on November 13 last year, and its entrance has been covered from that point.
The facelift is part of Bataclan’s efforts to get back to just being a concert hall.
In a move that could very well be taken as “defiance”, Pete Doherty is scheduled to kick off proceedings with a gig on November 16. A regular cavalcade of stellar acts is set to take to the stage in the weeks after, including Meshuggah, Nada Surf, and The Flaming Lips.
Aussie metalcore juggernauts Parkway Drive will even be on deck in early April.
The façade’s unveiling coincides with survivors of the attacks revisiting the venue for the first time. Survivor Maureen, who didn’t provide a surname, said “I went back there – I didn’t have to, but it feels like a sort of victory over what we lived through that day.”
Victim advocate Caroline Langlade said “it’s just a room with walls where something tragic happened.
“It’s not the building itself which is tragic.”
