Paris attacks: Bataclan rockers cut short tour, will return to US

Eagles of Death Metal performing in California in 2014. REUTERS

PARIS (AFP) - 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 Saturday.

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

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

"The group is going to return," an official at promoters Nous Productions told AFP.

The Deftones, another California band that had been present Friday night at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, will also return 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 Bataclan, built in 1864 in a chinoiserie style, turned into a bloodbath Friday night after four black-clad attackers opened fire with automatic weapons, killing at least 82 people.

The band itself was reported to be safe.

David Ian Hughes, the brother of frontman Jesse Hughes, wrote on Facebook that he spoke to the artist and "the band is ok" but that few other details were known.

"I'm saying a million prayers that my husband comes home safe and I'm saying a million prayers for everyone who won't," Emily Dorio, the wife of drummer Julian Dorio, wrote on Instagram before reporting that her husband was safe.

Mary Lou Dorio, the drummer's mother, told The Washington Post that the band was able to escape but that some members of their crew had not yet been found.

The band itself issued a statement on Facebook as the tragedy unfolded, saying: "We are still currently trying to determine the safety and whereabouts of all our band and crew. Our thoughts are with all of the people involved in this tragic situation."

Despite its name, Eagles of Death Metal plays bluesy garage rock and not death metal. The band has collaborated with top artists including Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame.

Hailing from Palm Desert in southern California, Eagles Of Death Metal have two consistent members - 43-year-old Hughes and 42-year-old Josh Homme, who is also known for his band Queens of the Stone Age.

The band's lyricism - and shows - are often known for lasciviousness, with the two men seeing themselves in the tradition of sex, drugs and rock and roll.

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