Paris attacks one year on: Sting to reopen Bataclan with sold-out concert

A performance from Sting will reopen the Bataclan concert hall on the 12 November, on the eve of the anniversary of the Paris attacks that killed 130 people across the French capital, including 89 at the music venue.

Tickets for the concert, which will be the first at the Bataclan since the attack last November, sold out within 30 minutes of going on sale.

Sting said he would perform at the venue to"remember and honour" those who lost their lives in the attacks and to "celebrate the life and music that the historic theatre represents".

The Bataclan, which has hosted hundreds of artists from Metallica to the Clash, was awarded a grant of £255,000 in order to renovate the building after the attack. The US band Eagles of Death Metal were performing to a crowd of around 1,500 people when jihadists stormed the building on the evening of 13 November 2015.

In an emotional announcement, the venue's director Jerome Langlet said he hoped the theatre will once again be one of Paris' leading music venues.

"Thank you to Sting for being there, for showing that we've managed, that we've picked ourselves up, that we're moving on, that the Bataclan lives again," Langlet said.

"Thank you to him for getting people talking about it in France and internationally, for showing that in spite of what happened − we can never forget it, we'll always mourn − that we're moving forward."

Daniel Psenny, a journalist for the French newspaper Le Monde who witnessed the siege at the Bataclan last year, said in an interview with IBTimes UK that the venue reopening was symbolic for Paris.

"I think that the Bataclan reopening is a symbol that shows the world life is starting again in Paris. Some are for and some are against it reopening. Personally I think we have to move forward and reopen the venue, and start again."