JOSHUA TREE MUSICIAN, ON STAGE, ESCAPES PARIS TERROR ATTACK

A Joshua Tree musician who was on stage in Paris when terrorists burst into the concert hall shooting automatic rifles Friday managed to escape safely. Dave Catching–who co-owns the recording studio Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree–was playing guitar for the rock band Eagles of Death Metal at the Bataclan music venue. About 9:45, when the band was playing their seventh song of the night, shots could be heard over the music as the gunmen entered the music hall. All of the band’s musicians—including Catching—escaped through a backstage door, but a crew member—Nick Alexander of London, who sold the band’s merchandise—is one of at least 89 people who were killed at the concert by four suspected ISIS gunmen. Concert goers who escaped told media outlets the carnage inside the concert hall was horrific as the gunmen targeted the disabled and anyone who tried to flee. French security forces eventually stormed the concert hall, at which time three of the terrorists blew themselves up with suicide bomb vests; the fourth was shot by French police. The Palm Desert-based band canceled the rest of their European tour and said they are returning home. The Bataclan concert hall was one of six locations in Paris attacked within 30 minutes by gunmen Friday night.