Eagles of Death Metal Talks Bataclan Siege in Emotional New 'Vice' Interview

Smiles. Laughter. Singing. Dancing.

It was a show like any other, a fun-filled evening for scores of rock music fans who headed out to see the American band “Eagles of Death Metal” take the stage in Paris the night of Nov. 13.

Until it wasn’t. Until a group of terrorists turned it into a night of infamy,

In their first interview since gunmen took over their now-infamous concert in Paris, “Eagles of Death Metal” has opened up about just what happened on the night of Nov. 13.

The band, which was formed in the Palm Desert area in 1998, was the headliner for the sold-out show at the Le Bataclan theater and was about an hour into its set when the attacks took place. Ultimately, dozens of the band’s fans were gunned down inside the venue.

They sat down with “Vice,” in an interview released Wednesday, and talked about the terror they went through; a terror they say they’ll never forget. Their words paint a picture of confusion, fear, bravery and heroism.

Describing how the scene unfolded to Vice, guitar player Eden Galindo says it took him a moment to realize just what was happening when the shots were first fired.

“At first I thought it was the P.A. cracking up, and then I realized real quick that it wasn’t,” he said in the interview, adding that he was able to make a mad dash to the side of the stage, eventually escaping when one of the shooters stopped to reload on ammunition.

[RELATED: View entire video on Vice here.]

Bassist Matt McJunkins wasn’t able to get out so quickly. He says he took shelter in one of the back rooms, along with a group of people.

“The gunfire got closer, it went on for 10, 15 minutes,” he described of the scene. “It just didn’t stop. and then it would stop, and there was this sense of relief, and then it would start up again. And then there was an explosion, it just shook the whole room, probably the whole building. And of course we didn’t know what that was.”

That explosion turned out to be one of the terrorists blowing himself up.

As for Drummer Julian Dorio, he says he immediately knew something was wrong when the shooting began, when the loud gunfire trumped the sound of the rock music.

“I kind of bailed off my stool almost immediately,” Dorio said. “ The gunpowder hit my nose. I turned, looked, sort of through my drum hardware, to the side of an amp, and that’s when the second round started. And I saw two guys out front, and that might just be the most awful thing ever, is them just relentlessly shooting into the audience.”

“That’s when I started crawling. I basically stayed on my chin crawling to the right side of the stage, behind the drum riser, keeping all that gear in front of me. “

Dorio was able to escape with some of other bandmates when a gunman paused momentarily.

Sound Engineer Shawn London had probably one of the first encounters with one of the gunman, as he was stationed in the very back of the music hall, right near the entry doors. He says it was a concert like any other, until that fateful moment.

“These kids were having a blast, they were having a great time… the smiles, the dancing, the singing along with each song, it’s heartfelt,” he described. “And then, out of nowhere, I just heard what I though were firecrackers directly behind me.”

London says two men came in the doors directly behind him, opening fire at random.

“I could see the gunman, and he looked right at me and he shot at me,” he said. “He missed.”

The engineer ducked behind his console, taking shelter until he saw a brief opportunity to escape when that gunman ran out of bullets.

“He stayed there and continued to shoot and shoot and slaughter and just scream at the top of his lungs ‘allahu akbar’ and that’s when I instantly knew what was going on.”

One of the most emotional moments in the Vice interview came with band co-founder Jesse Hughes, who is from Palm Desert, broke down in tears describing how he felt when leaving the venue.

“I felt so guilty in a way, that I had left Matt on the stage, and maybe Davey, too, and I didn’t want anything to have happened to them and I really needed them to have gotten off the stage because I didn’t see what happened when we got off.”

Hughes says he escaped with most of the other band members through the door by the stage, but not after first having a brief encounter with one of the gunman. Some of the fans in his dressing room were not as lucky.

“Several people hid in our dressing room, and the killers were able to get in and killed everyone of them,” he said. ”Except for a kid who was hiding under my leather jacket.”

As for what’s next for the band? They tell Vice the tour will continue, and that they will get back to Paris sooner, rather than later.

“I cannot wait to get back to Paris,” Hughes said. “I cannot wait to play, I want to come back. I want to be the first band to play in the Bataclan when it opens back up. I was there when it went silent for a minute. Our friends when there to see rock and roll and died. I want to go back there and live.”