Sting pays tribute to victims of Paris Bataclan massacre a year after deadly terrorist attacks killed 130
Scores of survivors are among the crowd at the poignant event one year after 90 concert goers were gunned down
ROCK star Sting has officially reopened the Bataclan tonight - the famous Paris concert hall where jihadists massacred 90 people, marking the first anniversary of France's bloodiest terror attacks.
Many survivors of the Bataclan assault - the worst of the attacks across the city which left 130 dead - are in attendance at the poignant concert.
Appearing on stage to loud cheers, Sting spoke French to the packed crowd, saying: "We've got two important things to do tonight ... First, to remember and honour those who lost their lives in the attacks a year ago, and to celebrate the life and the music of this historic venue.
"So before we begin, I would like to ask that we observe one minute of silence ... We shall not forget them."
After the minute of silence, the star launched into a string of hits.
Sting began the emotionally charged concert with his song Fragile, singing: "Nothing comes from violence and nothing will."
Many in the crowd wept during the first song, but the singer then got the place on its feet clapping and stamping with Message In a Bottle.
"I'll send an SOS to the world," he sang. "Only hope can keep us alive."
Scores of survivors of the Bataclan assault attended the packed concert, the dominant event in a weekend of otherwise low-key commemorations.
Among them was Aurelien, determined to have a good night despite the pain of returning to the scene of so much horror.
"It's the first time I've been in a public space for a year. I haven't been to the cinema, to a concert, I get my shopping delivered -- I've always stayed at mine," said Aurelien, who did not want to give his full name.
"Tonight I'm taking my life back like it was before. It's a duty, there's an obligation to be here -- because there are 90 people who can't come anymore," he added, visibly moved, his hands trembling.
"It was very hard to be here at first, but now it's going a bit better -- I'm drinking my beer and I'm hoping to have a good time."
Georges Salines, who lost his 28-year-old daughter Lola at the Bataclan and was among more than 250 survivors and victims attending, said the concert was "almost a taking back of the space for music and fun from the forces of death".
The horror began on Friday November 13 last year when three suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the Stade de France national stadium.
Other Islamic State gangs opened fire on defenceless people on cafe terraces.
The worst nightmare was in the Bataclan, as US group Eagles of Death Metal played on stage.
Cowering or wounded concert goers were coldly shot dead one by one.
Nine people out of the around 400 injured in the rampage are still in hospital.
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Sting's hour-long concert sold out within minutes of going on sale on Tuesday.
"The whole world is going to see the Bataclan live again," said Jerome Langlet, of the venue's owners Lagardere Live Entertainment.
Jules Frutos, who has co-run the venue for the last 12 years, said: "We had to go on after such horror and not leave a mausoleum, a tomb."
Frutos said he rang Sting himself to ask him to play after the British singer told a journalist he was keen to help, having last appeared at the Bataclan with The Police in 1979.
Sting, 65, said he wanted to "celebrate the life and the music that this historic theatre represents".
He promised to donate proceeds to two charities set up to help survivors.
This morning France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls vowed to end "Islamist terrorism" once and for all.
"(People) are concerned, we owe them the truth. Yes, terrorism will strike us again," warned Valls in a statement published by several European newspapers.
"But yes, we have in ourselves all the resources to resist and all the strength to beat it. We Europeans will defeat Islamist terrorism!"
Tomorrow French President Francois Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will unveil plaques to the victims outside the national stadium, the Bataclan and bars and restaurants targeted that night.
The Bataclan, which dates to 1864, has been a temple of rock music since the 1970s, hosting stars such as Lou Reed, Genesis, The Clash, The Cure, and Prince.
The devastated, blood-stained interior has been completely replaced, from the seats to the floorboards, with identical fittings.
"We wanted to change everything so nothing would remain of that terrible night," said Langlet.
"We decide to change everything so nothing would change."
Survivors, including members of Eagles of Death Metal, will gather outside the venue again on Sunday morning when Hollande and Paris Mayor Hidalgo unveil a plaque inscribed with the names of the victims.
The Bataclan will reopen again on Wednesday for a series of concerts by British singer Pete Doherty, Senegalese star Youssou N'Dour and British Sixties legend Marianne Faithfull.
Sting also paid tribute to big names in the music world who died in the past year -- "David Bowie, Prince, Lemmy from Motorhead, Glenn Fry and yesterday Leonard Cohen" as he launched into the song 50,000.
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