Bono: Paris was first 'direct hit on music'

Jayme Deerwester | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Irish rockers U2 visit Bataclan after Paris attacks The members of Irish rock group U2 brought flowers on Saturday night to pay their respects at the Bataclan, where more than a hundred people were gunned down late Friday during a concert in Paris by the US band Eagles of Death Metal. U2 cancelled tw

For Bono, the Parisian attacks by ISIL mark a new low.

"If you think about it, the majority of victims last night are music fans," he said in a Saturday phone interview with Irish radio host Dave Fanning. "This is the first direct hit on music that we’ve had in this so-called War on Terror. And it’s very upsetting. These are our people. ... The cold-blooded effect of this slaughter is deeply disturbing and that's what I can't get out of my head.”

On Friday night, U2 was in Paris rehearsing at the Bercy Arena, a few miles away from the Bataclan where 87 people died at the Eagles of Death Metal concert. "Our security locked it down quickly and we got our crew out of there safely. Then we watched TV like everyone else in disbelief at what was happening."

Shortly afterward, French authorities canceled U2's two weekend shows due to the three-day national mourning period. "I understand perfectly why," he said. "And our fans are the kind of people who understand."

He realizes it could have easily happened at a U2 concert. “This could be me at a show, you at a show," he told Fanning. "It’s a very recognizable situation. All our thoughts are with the Eagles of Death Metal fans.”

Bono says it's up to French authorities when they can reschedule their show, which was to have been broadcast live on HBO Saturday. But he hopes that day is soon. "I think music is very important and that U2 has a role to play," he explained. I can’t wait until we get back to Paris and play. And that's the feeling we're getting from fans: 'These (terrorists) will not set our agenda; they'll not organize our lives for us.”

U2 found themselves in a similar situation in 2001. "We were the first big band allowed back into New York after 9/11. The feeling in Madison Square Garden was unbelievable. The feeling was, 'This is who we are. You can't change us. You're not going to turn us into haters. You're not going to change the way we go about our lives.' I hope that will be the feeling at Bercy when we get back there."

Of the ISIL terrorists that carried out the attacks, he said, "These people have robbed their religion. It's nothing to do with Islam."

Bono then told a story about visiting a 2003 music festival in the desert of Timbuktu, Mali, in western Africa. "There was tension from the extremists," he recalled. "There were rocket launchers at the edge of the festival grounds, which wasn't very rock 'n' roll. Within a few weeks, Mali had been taken over by the extremists. The inn where we stayed was turned into the hall of Islamic justice. Musicians were having their hands cut off in the same hotel where we slept and ate. They hate music. They hate women. They hate all the things that we love. This is an illness in the world and we just can't give into it."