On the back cover and at the start of the video, Eagles of Death Metal presents a reminder of the tragic events that occurred at their concert on November 13, 2015, when “gunmen entered the [Bataclan concert hall] and opened fire on the crowd, leaving 89 people dead.” During U2’s Paris concert on December 7, EODM returned to a concert stage for the first time with a joint performance of Patti Smith’s “People Have the Power”. In a classy move, they were then given the stage to close U2’s show with “I Love You All the Time”. This can be seen on U2: Innocence + Experience: Live in Paris. On February 16, 2016, the band, this time featuring a rare live appearance of co-founder Joshua Homme on drums, played the Olympia to “complete their show”.
While they take the stage, “Il Est Cinq Heures, Paris S’Eveille” can be heard on the speakers and singer/guitarist Jesse Hughes understandably has trouble containing his emotions. The name of the band is misleading, as they are quite simply a rock ‘n’ roll band meant to deliver fun through songs that feature loud guitars and silly lyrics about love and sex and other things, as show opener “I Only Want You” reveals to those new to them. Before concluding it, they take a moment of silence.
“Complexity,” a song from Jesse under the pseudonym Boots Electric, finds keyboards by Tuesday Cross added to the arrangement. Julian Doro is invited to play drums while Homme mainly sings back-up vocals on the DVD’s title track. They deliver a double drum attack on “Cherry Cola” and throughout the remainder of the show. Jesse smashes his guitar during “I Got A Feelin (Just Nineteen)” after breaking a string or more and tosses it into the crowd, making for a very nice souvenir. Set-closer “Wannabe in L.A.” finds kids crowd-surfing.
Hughes came out solo, brandishing a guitar painted in the colors of the French flag, to start the encore with “Bag O’ Miracles”. Skipping a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar that was played according to setlist.fm, the rest of the band joins him for their version of Duran Duran’s “Save A Prayer.” The night ended with ‘Speaking In Tongues”. The crowd seemingly at their wildest moshing about. Hughes walks off, appearing in the balcony, trading guitar licks with Dave Catching, then returning to the stage to close out the show.
There are the usual three audio options from Eagle: Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS Surround Sound. Choosing the last, the DTS track made good use of the surrounds and presented a strong dynamic range. Hughes’ vocals are always clear. The subwoofer delivers, from the drums to Matt McJunkins’ bass guitar. There are three Bonus Tracks from their October 10, 2015 performance at Los Angeles’ Teragram Ballroom with “Anything ‘Cept The Truth”, “Bad Dream Mama”, and “Shasta Beast”.
I didn’t know more than a song by EOMD, but certainly enjoyed the high-energy performance they delivered here and am now a fan of their throwback ’70s rock. If you like that genre, they are well worth checking out.
