Eagles of Death Metal - Still up on the Marquee - Les Eagles of Death Metal sont toujours là-haut sur la marquise {Paris Street Photo}
Eagles of Death Metal - Still up on the Marquee on 11/28/2015 - Les Eagles of Death Metal sont toujours là-haut sur la marquise le 28/11/2015. 3/130 © 2015 CHANT WAGNER
130 Street Photographies after the Paris Attacks - 130 photographies de rue, après les attentats de Paris - In Memoriam
15 days after the Paris Attacks, on November 28, you might have been surprised, like I was, that the rock group Eagles of Death Metal, whose name is associated forever with the Bataclan massacre could still be found on the marquee of the concert hall. It reinforces the feeling that there is something unfathomable and surreal about what took place, so much so that time has stood still...
It had never occurred to me to make an association between the name of the band and the deaths of 90 people at the Bataclan, but in this photo and from a certain perspective, I'm invited to do it.
Many spectators thought at the beginning of the mass shooting that the firing was part of the show. The word "death" and phrase "death metal" appear for fun and parody purposes in the name of the band but now seem to carry an altogether different, ominous, and premonitory meaning.
At the same time, the band have announced their intention to go back and be the first to play when the Bataclan reopens - now the managers estimate by the end of 2016 - so in another sense, it is perhaps fitting to demonstrate continuity. In the end, I see it mostly at this point in time as part and parcel of the memorial site that the area has become.
This photo is part of a series capturing the atmosphere of Paris after 11/13 in 130 pictures, one each day for each of the 130 Paris Attack victims.
Previously:
Woman with a Tricolor Turban - La femme au turban tricolore 2/130
