Haunting songs and jokes in a warm tribute for the British victim of Bataclan

A Peaceful Noise Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Last weekend, the Bataclan theatre in Paris reopened its doors a year after three gunmen massacred 90 attendees at the Eagles of Death Metal concert, in the name of the terror group Isil.

Now completely refurbished, the famed rock venue held an anniversary show that was headlined by Sting and attended by survivors and families of the fallen. However, with extra-strict security, psychologists on standby and confusion over the alleged barring of that band’s controversial frontman, Jesse Hughes, tensions were clearly still running high.

Under such circumstances, it was difficult to see how another remembrance concert, this time in London, would play out.

Staged in the memory of Nick Alexander, the 35-year-old merchandise seller from Colchester, who was the only Briton killed in the attacks, A Peaceful Noise was organised by his older sister, Zoe, as a “celebration of unity, peace, and rock and roll”. Thankfully, it more than satisfied its brief.

Outside the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, an old school friend of Zoe’s summed up the mood. “A lot of my family and friends were asking if it was safe for me to come,” he said. “But fear isn’t what tonight’s about.”

Many of those attending had known Nick, including those on stage: Noughties indie band Maxïmo Park, folk singer Frank Turner, Supergrass’s Gaz Coombes and Travis frontman Fran Healy. Surprise guests came in the riotous form of Chas & Dave and even the aforementioned Hughes – who this time was let in without a hitch.

The line-up had been thoughtfully curated, and nearly every song played felt hauntingly appropriate (“I want to live in a world where I belong / I want to live / I will survive”, Healy cried early on in an unamplified version of 1999 hit Turn). Coombes dusted off Mansize

Rooster, a song he hadn’t played in 15 years, because it was one of Nick’s favourites. An emotional Hughes, meanwhile, recalled joking with his late tour buddy about Britney Spears and retro sitcom Bewitched. It all helped to conjure a warm and loving portrait of a man whose name, since last year, has been associated with tragedy.

After a year of further terror attacks, performers spoke about how such incidents have given rise to Right-wing populism, with jibes directed at US president-elect Donald Trump. Turner urged the crowd to fight for “decency and taking care of each other”. Maxïmo Park rounded off the night with a swashbuckling set, before inviting everyone back onstage for a defiant rendition of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World, backed by photographs of Nick and names of the other Bataclan victims. It was a fitting finale to an evening that turned fear and hatred away at the door.