France says show must go on with call to go to concerts

Paris: France declared that the show must go on Monday, with the public urged to go back out to bars, concerts and restaurants in defiance of the terror attacks on Paris.

Culture minister Fleur Pellerin said musicians would "never stop putting on concerts" and claimed that in the face of "barbarism... culture is our biggest shield and our artists our best weapon".

As the French capital still reeled from Friday attacks in which 129 people died, some were coming up with inventive ways of thumbing their noses at the extremists. Music fans shared their favourite memories at the Bataclan rock venue on Twitter, while others started a social media campaign to get the US group on stage at the time, Eagles of Death Metal, to the top of the UK charts.

Amid emotional declarations that live music must go on in the shocked city, the hashtag #MonPlusBeauSouvenirDuBataclan (My most beautiful memory of the Bataclan) became one of the top trending topics on Twitter in France, with many sharing photos and videos of singers and bands who had played there such as Ed Sheeran,Arctic Monkeys and the late Jeff Buckley.

Pellerin said the government was preparing a special fund to help get live entertainment up and running again and to aid with the cost of new security measures.

"French people will not stop going to concerts and sharing these moments of joy together which bind us all together," she said.

All major concerts, including a show by the rock group U2, were cancelled in the aftermath of the attack, but Paris' two biggest venues said they planned to reopen on Tuesday. US star Prince cancelled his entire European tour -- due to include dates in Vienna, Britain, Sweden and Paris -- "in light of the tragic events", the Interconcerts ticket company said.

"We have to turn the lights back on," Alexandre Cammas of the trendy Fooding guide said, as made he made a plea with Parisians to return to cafes, restaurants and entertainment venues as the city's museums and concert halls began to reopen on Monday.

Almost all of those who died beyond the Bataclan were shot on cafe terraces and the French government at first urged people to stay indoors with one suspect still on the run.

With newspaper headlines proclaiming France was at war with the terrorists -- and clearly mindful of Napoleon's maxim that an "army marches on its stomach" -- the guide called on people to go out and eat and drink on Tuesday night so "that which makes FranceFrance should not be betrayed by our fears".