Eagles of Death Metal Announce HBO Paris Attacks Documentary
The harrowing account of what the Eagles of Death Metal went through during the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, and their return to the city, is the subject of a new documentary that was directed by Colin Hanks. Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends) will air on HBO in February 2017.
According to a press release, the film opens with the attack at the Bataclan, a Parisian theater that saw 89 people killed during an Eagles of Death Metal concert, part of a coordinated spree throughout the city that led to the deaths of 130. Although their merchandise manager and three employees of their record company were among the casualties, the band miraculously escaped, but canceled the rest of their European tour.
Three weeks later, they returned to Paris to join U2, who were also playing Paris at the time of the attack and reached out to the group in its aftermath, onstage at the AccorHotels Arena to sing Patti Smith’s “People Have the Power,” and then they played their own song, “I Love You All the Time.” During that trip, they returned to the Bataclan, where a memorial to the victims had sprung up. “We are incredibly grateful to U2 for providing us the opportunity to return to Paris so quickly, and” frontman Jesse Hughes wrote, “to share in the healing power of rock ‘n roll with so many of the beautiful people — nos amis — of this great city.” In February 2016, they were back in Paris, playing a full show at the Olympia Theater at a concert that Hughes called his “sacred responsibility” to perform.
Hanks’ documentary chronicles this journey, and also delves deeper into the lifelong friendship between Hughes and non-touring band mate Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. The actor-director first met the band seven years ago while making his first documentary, All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records.
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