- Title: Sting set to reopen Bataclan venue on eve of November attacks anniversary
- Date: 12th November 2016
- Summary: ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (FILE - SEPTEMBER 13, 2010) (REUTERS) STING PERFORMING ON TOUR WITH BRITAIN'S ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
- Embargoed: 27th November 2016 17:30
- Keywords: Bataclan attacks November 13 Paris Sting concert theatre
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE / ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA / NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: PARIS, FRANCE / ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA / NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: France
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0025851U87
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Rockstar Sting will perform later on Saturday (November 12) in the first concert at the Paris Bataclan venue since Islamist militants killed 90 people there in November 2015.
His concert at the Bataclan theatre comes on the eve of the one year anniversary of the Paris attacks, which saw 130 people killed when several groups of gunmen and suicide bombers attacked the perimeter of the Stade de France sports stadium, a string of Paris cafes and the concert venue.
Security was high outside the theatre ahead of Sting's concert, and passers-by laid candles and flowers in memory of the victims at makeshift memorials.
Parisian Jean-Paul Belanger said he had lost several friends in the attack at the concert hall, and that he would have gone to the theatre himself that night had he not bought tickets to the France vs. Germany game taking place at the Stade de France.
"I needed to come back, in front of it, to show that we are stronger than they are. Alone, alone, to take a photo, I recognised them, I took a photo with Marc and Sting, and I'm also doing a report because I want the entire world, like with 9/11, we talk about it, and that we don't forget the people and the families who are affected," he said.
Local Pascal Todeschini, who manages a cafe next to the Bataclan, said businesses in the area had been affected by the theatre's closure and that he was glad it would reopen.
"It's important it reopens for the area, because we have to continue. The Bataclan is the little shining light of the area which provides work to all the stores, all the stores like us. So it's far from being insignificant for an area such as the 11th (district in Paris), it's really important for the Bataclan to be there," he said.
Proceeds from the November 12 concert will go to two charities catering to victims of the attacks of November 13, 2015, with some of those who were hurt in the attack being invited back to see the Sting reopener.
Paris will remember the November attacks on Sunday (November 13) with a series of commemorations taking place across the city in honour of the victims. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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