Rockers Eagles of Death Metal to return to US

PARIS: Eagles of Death Metal, the California rockers whose concert in Paris turned into a massacre, will cut short a European tour and return home, promoters said on Saturday.

The musicians all survived without physical injury but a crew member who is originally from England died in the attack, a person close to the band told AFP.

The band — known more for its raunchy humour than any political inclination — will cut short a tour that had been due to run until Dec 10 in Portugal.

The band had been due to play on Saturday night in Tourcoing in northern France before a show the following day in Brussels.

“The group is going to return,” likely on Monday, an official at promoters Nous Productions said.

The Deftones, another California band that had been present Friday night at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, will also head home, the promoter said.

The Deftones, known for experimental metal, had three shows scheduled at the Bataclan from Saturday to Monday. The group

was in the audience Friday, after posting pictures of Paris tourist sites on social media.

The Deftones wrote on Facebook that all band and crew members were accounted for and offered “prayers for those affected in these tragic events.”

The Bataclan, built in 1864 in a chinoiserie style, turned into a bloodbath Friday night after four black- clad attackers opened fi re with automatic weapons, killing at least 82 people.

Michael Dorio, the brother of drummer Julian Dorio, said the rockers were about six songs into their set when they heard gunfi re.

“It was so loud, it was louder than the band, and they hit the stage floor. As they got up to try to evacuate they saw men with machine guns just shooting anything and everything in the venue,” Dorio told WSB-TV in Atlanta, where he lives.

He said the band was able to head out of the back of the venue and could not see well due to the stage-lights.

Dorio’s wife Emily earlier wrote on Instagram: “I’m saying a million prayers that my husband comes home safe and I’m saying a million prayers for everyone who won’t.” — AFP